Kevin Youkilis and Aramis Ramirez have won the Aaron Award which allegedly goes to the top offensive performers in each league. Probably worth noting that Youkilis was 10th and Ramirez 18th in OPS among all major leaguers this year. They fall to 18th and 29th, respectively, when you go by runs created. There are other, more elaborate measures of offensive performance, of course, but I don't think any of them will do Youkilis or Ramirez any favors.
Of course, if you're actually trying to reward something that is entirely measurable in an objective fashion, having it decided by a fan vote seems pretty ridiculous, which is how the Aaron award is decided. In the AL, that's going to naturally benefit Youkilis, who (a) plays for arguably the most popular team; and (b) is better known and/or better liked than the guys who may have better arguments than he does (i.e. A-Rod, Milton Bradley, Carlos Quentin, Grady Sizemore).
The NL result is simply inexplicable. Albert Pujols' season actually happened in real life and not just in some sim on my computer, right? I mean, did anyone actually see him go .357/.462/.653? How about Chipper Jones, Lance Berkman, David Wright, Chase Utley, and even Manny Ramirez, if you want to cut him some slack in terms of playing time?
Again, it's a fan vote, so I can only get so upset. I'll save my vitriol for the writers when they woof their awards in the coming weeks.
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3 comments:
2 biggest fanbases is all this is.
Remember, Fukudome started the all-star game.
Kind of surprised Red Sox nation didn't make a push for Varitek. What is interesting is that Yankee fans did not make a push for A-rod - I suspect if Jeter, Posada, or even the Giambino were having great offensive seasons that they'd get some love from Yaankee fandom.
That's because RSN -- hi! -- knows that Tek sucked this year.
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