1993 NL Awards Ballot

November 23rd, 2008 by Admirals GM

Rank your top 3 in each category

 

 

NL MVP: Really, a ton of solid candidates without any clear cut leader.

 

Jonathan Rodgers, 3B, Detroit: .350/35/106; 3rd in BA, 7th in HR.  Also: 3rd in Hits (214), 7th in Doubles (44), 7th in Runs (109), 1st in XBH (83), 6th in OBP (.417), 1st in SLUG (.607), 2nd in OPS (1.024), 2nd in VORP (89.2).  Detroit finished 6th in their division, and lost over 100 games this year.  Comment: Can he Andrew Dawson himself to some MVP votes?

 

Denny Turner, 1B, St. Louis: .302/41/124; 3rd in HR, 3rd in RBIs.  Also: 5th in SLUG (.567), 10th in OPS (.927).  St. Louis finished 2nd in their division, just missing the division title and the Wild Card.  Comment: The Savages' main offensive force; Turner is just a rookie.

 

Keith Whitfield, LF, El Paso: .369/28/95; 1st in BA (in the NL and all of EWB).  Also: 8th in Hits (193), 3rd in Runs (113), 1st in OBP (.463), 6th in SLUG (.563), 1st in OPS (1.027), 1st in VORP (97.6).  El Paso finished 2nd in their division, but won the Wild Card.  Comments: this is Whitfield's 2nd batting crown; won the AL MVP in 1991 and I'm not sure if we've ever had win MVPs in each league.  It is established that he's an asshole.

Mike Davies, SS, Philadelphia: .287/22/68/42; 4th in SB.  Also: 3rd in BB (101).  Philadelphia won their division.  Comment: the biggest offensive force on the Quakers' division winning team, Davies was limited to just 109 Games thanks to injury.
 
Don Kelly, RF, El Paso: .325/32/108; 9th in HR.  Also: 10th in Runs (108), 3rd in BB (101), 3rd in OBP (.428), 7th in SLUG (.557), 4th in OPS (.985), 3rd in VORP (77.6).  El Paso finished 2nd in their division, good enough to win the Wild Card.  Comment: This is the first time in his professional career Kelly lead the NL in VORP despite playing a full season, a remarkable streak that goes back to 1985.
 
Shannon Townsend, 1B, New York: .337/41/130; 7th in BA, 3rd in HR, 2nd in RBI.  Also: 5th in Hits (207), 2nd in Runs (117), 3rd in XBH (77), 2nd in SLUG (.598), 3rd in OPS (.992), and 4th in VORP (69.2).  New York finishe 2nd in their division, just missing the playoffs.  Comment; New York faded badly in the last week, but you can't blame Townsend who played well.
 
Joe Warren, RF, Austin: .312/44/113; 1st in HR (tie), 8th in RBI.  Also: 4th in SLUG (.574).  Austin won their division, finished with the best record in the NL.  Comment: Might be something of a sentimental favorite, given that he's never won the award and he led the Marhsalls to the World Championship last year.  Put up his numbers in just 142 games, due to injury.

Chad Church, RF/CF, Cincinnati: .283/30/116/16; 6th in RBIs.  Also: 6th in XBH (73).  Cincinnati won their division.  Comment: perhaps the biggest offensive force on the division winning Rebels squad.
 
Dan Dawson, C, Cincinnati: .338/19/94; 6th in BA.  Also: 1st in Hit by Pitch (16), 4th in OBP (.421), 8th in OPS (.948), 7th in VORP (63.0).  Cincinnati won their division.  Comment: or perhaps instead it was Dawson rather than Church who was the Rebel's greatest offensive force.

 

Justin Johnston, 1B, Boston: .323/44/145; 1st in HR (tie), 1st in RBI.  Also: 4th in Hits (209), 4th in Ks (133), 3rd in SLUG (.583), 7th in OPS (.950), 5th in VORP (67.3).  Boston finished 4th in their division, but at 83-79, they were competitive most of the year.  Comment: trying to singlehandedly make up for the loss of Valentin, Lewis, and Tablyn this past offseason; Johnston is just a rookie.

 

Albert Perez, RF, Montreal: .289/38/117; 5th in HR, 5th in RBIs.  Also: 9th in SLUG (.535), 3rd in K's (134).  Montreal finished last in their division.  Comment: like Johnston and Turner, just a rookie.

 

Marv Cartwright, 1B, Indianapolis: .325/31/116; 10th in BA, 6th in RBIs.  Also: 1st in Hits (222), 7th in Ks (123).  Indianapolis finished 5th in their division.  Comment: a free agent to be with high Justin-metric scores but relatively low Saber-metric scores; that could make him a bargain.

 

Tom Campbell, SP, Pittsburgh: 17-4, 2.19 ERA, 82.8 VORP; 1st in Wins, 1st in ERA, 1st in VORP.  Also: 1st in Win% (.810), 1st in IP (234), 5th in Ks (178), 3rd in WHIP (1.06), 1st in Home Runs allowed (DID NOT GIVE UP A SINGLE HR ALL YEAR, in 234 IP; that's unbelievable), 1st in QS (29), 1st in QS% (.853).  Pittsburhg finished 4th in their division at 78-84.  Comment: 3rd time he's led the league in ERA.  This year might have been a huge boost to his Hall of Fame credentials: despite having a 2.75 lifetime ERA, his career wins are fairly low due to playing for the lowly Crusaders throughout his career.


NL BOB GIBSON AWARD
 
Tom Campbell, SP, Pittsburgh: 17-4, 2.19 ERA, 82.8 VORP; 1st in Wins, 1st in ERA, 1st in VORP.  Also: 1st in Win% (.810), 1st in IP (234), 5th in Ks (178), 3rd in WHIP (1.06), 1st in Home Runs allowed (DID NOT GIVE UP A SINGLE HR ALL YEAR, in 234 IP; that's unbelievable), 1st in QS (29), 1st in QS% (.853).  Pittsburhg finished 4th in their division at 78-84.  Comment: 3rd time he's led the league in ERA.  This year might have been a huge boost to his Hall of Fame credentials: despite having a 2.75 lifetime ERA, his career wins are fairly low due to playing for the lowly Crusaders throughout his career.
 
Luis Altagracia, SP, St. Louis: 15-9, 2.94 ERA, 66.1 VORP; 4th in Wins, 3rd in ERA, 2nd in VORP.  Also: 8th in Win% (.625), 3rd in IP (220.2), 2nd in WHIP (1.02), 2nd in K/BB (4.55), 4th in QS (22), 3rd in QS% (.667), 4th in CG (2), 1st in ShO (1).  St. Louis finished 2nd in their division, just missing the playoffs.  Comment: last year's winner.
 
Victorio Aguire, SP, St. Louis: 14-4, 2.77 ERA, 53.2 VORP; 7th in Wins, 2nd in ERA, 3rd in VORP.  Also: 2nd in Win% (.778), 3rd in K's (194), 1st in WHIP (1.01), 1st in K/BB (5.11), 1st in K/9 (10.33), 3rd in QS% (.667).  St. Louis finished 2nd in their divisioin, just missing the playoffs.  Comments: A 22-year-old rookie.  He might have given Tom Campbell a run for his money on the award, but an injury knocked him out for the year on 8/20.  St. Louis's pitching staff is out of this world if you include Dan Morgan as well.
 
Norman Banks, SP, New York: 16-7, 3.65 ERA, 35.6 VORP; 3rd in Wins.  Also: 4th in Win % (.696), 7th in QS (21), 8th in QS% (.636).  New York finished 2nd in their division, just missing the playoffs.  Comment: Newly acquired as a free agent from Austin, Banks pitched well for the 5 Points, but faded badly down the stretch, just as the entire team did.
 
Miguel Gonzalez, SP, Cincinnati: 15-10, 3.34 ERA, 38.4 VORP; 4th in Wins, 10th in ERA.  Also: 10th in Win% (.600), 1st in BB (126), 10th in K/9 (7.17).  Cincinnati won their division.  Comment: Gonzalez is the pitcher who just got edged out last year by teammate (and fellow SP) Scott Laws for the Angel Rosa Award.
 

Hee-seop Pak, SP, Cincinnati: 15-1, 2.71, 43.4 VORP; 4th in Wins, his 2.71 ERA would rank 2nd in the league, but he doesn't have enough IP to qualify (9 IP short -- has 153, needs 162).  Also: he had a 1.26 WHIP, 21 QS (ranks 7th, despite making just 24 starts), and 87.5 QS%, (would rank 1st).  Cincinnati finished 1st in their division.  Comment: an interesting case; I almost overlooked him in compiling my list.  Pak is a 32-year-old journeyman who hadn't had a VORP above 1.0 since 1990.  Pak wasn't injured on the year, and didn't spend time in the bullpen, and yet he was limited by managerial decisions to just 24 starts (mostly, this limitation occurred early in the year).  Was absolutely lights-out during the stretch run, having an ERA around 1.50 in August and around 1.00 in September.  Should get at least some votes.

 

*NOTE: In my judgment, no NL relief pitcher is worthy of serious Gibson consideration this year.

 

NL FIREMAN AWARD
 
Ruben Flores, RP, Indianapolis: 35 Saves (81.4 Save %), 3.38 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 8.16 K/9; ranked 5th in Saves.  Indianapolis finished 5th in their division.  Comment: first full time season as a closer for the 34-year-old Flores, who has been a middle reliever prior to this.

Reynaldo Salinas, RP, Austin: 46 Saves (88.5%), 3.65 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 6.62 K/9; ranked 1st in Saves.  Austin won their division and had the best record in the NL.  Comment: An interesting career trajecotry.  Salinas was Austin's closer back in his rookie year of 1986, when he saved 39 games.  Ever since then, though, he's been relegated to middle relief.  Now, with the departure of Ned Gordon, Salinas got another chance to close at age 31, and ended up leading the league in saves.
 
Greg Novak, RP, Dallas: 40 Saves (85.1%), 4.38 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 4.96 K/9; ranked 2nd (tied) in Saves.  Dallas finished 3rd in their division.  Comment: the rare closer with 1 Stuff (4 Control, 4 Movement).  Given the 4.38 ERA, maybe it's understandable why it's so rare.
 
Gary Olson, RP, New York: 39 Saves (95.1%), 2.89 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 8.37 K/9; ranked 4th in Saves.  New York finished 2nd in their division, just missing the playoffs.  Comment: the runner up for the award last year, I'm pretty sure he's the only candidate on the list both in 1992 and 1993.
 
Cesar Mejia, RP, Washington D. C.: 40 Saves (93%), 3.88 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 7.48 K/9; ranked 2nd (tied) in Saves.  Washington D.C. finished 3rd in their division, and were playoff contenders throughout the year.  Comment: 2nd straight successful year as a closer.
 

NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR
 
Cliff Sparks, Washington D.C.: The 63-year-old Sparks has managed the Diplomats since 1990, and led the team to a remarkable 20 game improvement this year, up from 64-98 in 1992 to 84-78 in 1993.  Though the Diplomats finished 3rd, they were competitive throughout the year.  This is something of an Arte-How-candidacy: you look at the Diplomats' roster, and you don't really see much talent at all.  How this team was competitive is beyond me.  For instance, their cleanup hitter is catcher Caroll Holden, a fill-in for the injured Ken Hamilton who batted .233/14/75 on the year (Hamilton hit only .201).  Aside from Mejia, their bullpen is filled with guys with 5 ERAs.  The 20 game improvement was the biggest in all of baseball.
 
Armando Ortiz, Philadelphia: It's hard to see how Ortiz got the Philadelphia job in the first place.  He had success in the minors back with Sacramento of the PCL in the early 1970s, and also won a minor league championship with Spokane in the NWL in 1983, but aside from this if you look at his minor league record you see LOTS and LOTS of last place finishes: he seems to have finished last just about every year from 1973-1978 and then again from 1984-1990, for a variety of teams.  At any rate, somehow or other Ortiz was made the interim manager of Chicago last year when they fired Tom Kelly; he was then let go after the season, only to be scooped up by Philly G.M. John Dennis.  Under Ortiz, the Quakers saw a 16 game improvement, from 74-88 in 1992 to 90-72 in 1993, good enough to win Philadelphia their first division title since 1978.  And this is despite the team trading away Henry Winman this past offseason; despite the complete demise of former prospect Anthony Miller's skills; and despite major injuries to OF Lowell McDaniel and team star Mike Davies at SS.  When things counted most, Philadelphia especially turned things up a notch: they went 19-9 in August and 16-10 in September to slip past New York.
 
Salvador Villalobos, Cincinnati: Villalobos, who's been with the Rebels since 1989 (when they also made the playoffs), oversaw a 7 game improvement this year, going 83-79 in 1992 and now 90-72 in 1993.  He has developed a lineup with perhaps the best capacity for batting average outside of Omaha -- 3 starters hit above .320, and the team as a whole batted .282 despite being without a DH.  He oversaw the development of a nice young group of starting pitchers, led by Miguel Gonzalez, Nolan Nelson, and Scott Laws.  He didn't panic when ace Blair Mitchell went down to injury in the middle of the pennant race in September, or when OF Jonathan Heller (who was batting .346) went down in early July.  And, perhaps most remarkably of all, he got the year of a lifetime out of journeyman starter/reliever Hee-seop Pak. 
 
Ricardo Pacheco, Austin: A strong candidate for the award last year who came up short, Pacheco is probably even a more compelling candidate this year.  For one thing, Austin had the best record in the NL in 1993.  For another thing, they did this despite some major losses in the offseason: 1B Cliff Webb, SP Norman Banks, and Closer Ned Gordon.  Pacheco also oversaw the development of young stars Jim Spencer, David Waters, and ace Bill Fitzpatrick.  Also, there's a history of giving the manager of the year award to someone the year AFTER they win the World Series.  Austin had the best record in the NL this year.
 

Marcos Cabral, El Paso: Cabral had a lot of success in the minors back in the 1970s and early 1980s -- 3 Minor League Championships and 6 playoff appearances -- but none really to speak of since 1982.  Nevertheless, El Paso handed the reigns to Cabral as a 61 year old EWB rookie this year, and Cabral responded by leading the Iron Horses to the playoffs via the Wild Card.  El Paso saw a 10 game improvement, from 80-82 in 1992 to 90-72 in 1993.  There's no doubt that El Paso has talen, but Cabral was able to get the team to play to their talent level in a way that their former manager was not.  He got MVP-caliber years out of Keith Whitfield and Don Kelly, got an All Star appearance out of Jose Garza, and perhaps most important of all, he got rookie CF Carl Borton to set the table for the big bats behind.  Also, he used 43-year-old Ron "Tugboat" Taylor as a closer, and got surprisingly good results: 19 Saves and an ERA under 2.00.
 

NL EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
 
John Dennis, Philadelphia: As noted above, the hiring of manager Armando Ortiz was a highly questionable move, and it was greeted with extreme skepticism in Philadelphia.  Hard to argue with the results though.  Dennis had the guts to make a huge, huge trade this offseason: giving up face of the franchise and one of the most talented players in the game in OF Henry Winman in exchange for 26-year-old SP Julian Acuna, who went 14-8 with a 3.97 ERA this year.  (I also note that scouts say that Winman's talent has dropped a significant amount, even if he still is a solid player, and this has to be taken into account when considering the trade.)  Letting Winman go freed up money to sign free agent 1B Cliff Webb.  Now, by most accounts, Webb wasn't an especially sought after free agent -- this is evidenced by the fact that he wasn't signed until February.  Still, Dennis decided to give the 30-year-old Webb a massive 7 year, $40M contract.  Whether this was a good contract probably remains to be seen, but we can at least say that Webb had a productive first year in Philadlphia, going .292/22/87 and exhibiting the kind of leadership that goes with winning a World Championship (as Webb did in 1992 with Austin).  Dennis also deserves credit a year later for the Luis Tejada free agent signing, given that Tejada continues to be a solid ace.
 
Dan Alexander, Cincinnati: Alexander is kind of a hard case to evaluate, just because Cincinnati depends on homegrown players to a truly remarkable extent.  Look at their starting lineup and every single Rebel has spent their entire ML career with Cincinnati, with the one exception of Dan Johnson, who himself has been with the team since 1988.  The same is true for 4 of the 6 Cincinnati starting pitchers who saw action on the year, with the most significant exception being Blair Mitchell, who was acquired in a trade from Denver back in 1991.  So then, in evaluating Alexander, this is what you have to take into account: he basically didn't make too many moves himself (aside from perhaps drafting these players).  Sometimes, no move at all is the best move, and that looks to be the case for the Rebels given that they're in the playoffs this year.

 
Travis Garner, Austin: Coming off a World Championship, Garner would have been excused if he had shelled out the big bucks to keep veterans like Cliff Webb, Ned Gordon, and Norman Banks on the team.  But he didn't do that.  He let each of those stars go, and yet Austin had an identical record in 1993.  By letting those stars go, Garner opened the door to playing time for youngsters with potential, and the longterm future of the Marshalls looks the better because of it.  In addition to the moves he didn't make, there are the moves Garner did make.  During the season, he traded a couple of scrub OFs to land SP Nicholas Knowles from Las Vegas.  While Knowles was 3-5 with a 6.32 ERA with the renegades, he really found himself with the Marhsalls going 12-7 with a 3.38 ERA.  Also, there's the odd case of 2B Conan Woley.  Coming off the Webb departure, Austin decided to respond by moving their present 2B Orlando Torres to 1B, and then signed Worley as a free agent to fill the gap at 2B.  Well, the 37-year-old Worley had sat out of all of 1992 as an unsigned free agent, and hadn't been a full time starter in years.  Given a chance, he performed decently this year, going .248/11/49 and putting up a VORP of 8.3.  His 484 AB were the most he had since 1987.  An unconventional signing, but one that paid off.  And again, it needs to be repeated that Austin did have the best record in the NL this year.

Dave Baker, El Paso: There is no quesiton that Baker has made El Paso very much his franchise.  His signing of manager Cabral was somewhat controversial (although not nearly as much as the signing in Philadelphia), but it's paid off.  If Baker ends up winning the award, it will be largely on the basis of the moves he made two years ago: signing Jose Garza (the reigning NL MVP), Keith Whitfield (the AL MVP), and Jon Houston (present staff ace) all as free agents.  He remained agressive during the season, with mixed results.  For one thing, he acquires SP Ben Mullen from the New York 5 points just before the trading deadline, and Mullen responded by going 4-4 with a +5 ERA.  (Mullen is slated to be El Paso's 3rd starter in the playoffs.)  He claimed veteran C Wilson Rocha off waivers away from the Los Angeles Gargoyles, and Rocha was a typical aged backup catcher in response.  He traded for 3B Javier Martinon, and Martinon responded by batting under .200; Baker liked what he saw enough to give Martinon a 3 year extension.  This much has to be said about Baker: unlike say Dan Alexander of Cincinnati, Baker is a real mover-and-shaker.  When the moves payoff, as they did this year given the playoff appearance, Baker earns a lot of the credit.