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| Photo of Alex Bregman - Taken by Daniel Millhouse |
So, now that the season is done, it's that time of year for me to announce the winners of the Millhouse 2019 Major League Baseball Awards. Yes, I usually announce them before the official awards are announced, but I was pretty set on my picks and promise that I was not swayed by the official vote. I've also included a list of my preseason picks for comparison purposes.
To those that have won a Millhouse Award, feel free to email and the next time you're in the Menifee, California area, I will buy you a coffee or beer, your choice.
Also, worth noting, my preseason prediction for the World Series was the Houston Astros vs. Washington Nationals/Philadelphia Phillies during the preseason.
American League:
MVP - My pick is Alex Bregman. This one was a neck-to-neck one for me because Mike Trout deserved it just as much about. If you're a sabermetrics guy (which I am not), Trout let the American league in Offensive Wins Above Replacement (Offensive WAR), but Bregman led the American League in Overall WAR. Bregman played both third base and shortstop this season and was the most important position player on a star-studded team that nearly won the World Series. Trout had more homers (45 to Bregman's 41), but Bregman scored more runs, drove in more RBI's, and had a slightly higher batting average.
Overall Picks - Alex Bregman, 2. Mike Trout, 3. DJ LaMahieu, 4. Marcus Semien, 5. George Springer
Preseason Picks - Alex Bregman, 2. Mike Trout, 3. Aaron Judge, 4. George Springer, 5. Mookie Betts.
Cy Young - Justin Verlander is my pick, but his teammate, Gerrit Cole, was pretty close to winning this one as well. Definitely one of the best one-two punches in the American League in the last several years, both pitchers were key to the Astros going to the World Series; between the two of them they started 77 of the 162 regular season games. Verlander nudges out the award over Cole, although Cole established himself as possibly the most desirable free agent this off-season.
Overall Picks - Justin Verlander, 2. Gerrit Cole, 3. Charlie Morton, 4. Shane Bieber, 5. Lucas Giolito
Preseason Picks - Justin Verlander, 2. Chris Sale, 3. Corey Kluber, 4. Charlie Morton, 5. Mike Clevinger
Rookie of the Year - Yordan Alvarez is my pick and was a pretty clear-cut winner for this one. I usually ding rookies who don't get a large portion of their first season on the Major League roster, but Alvarez squeezed a whole season worth of stats into his partial season. Called up in June, he still hit .313 with 27 homers and 78 RBI's.
Overall Picks - Yordan Alvarez, 2. John Means, 3. Eloy Jimenez, 4. Luis Arraez, 5. Brandon Lowe
Preseason Picks - Jesus Luzardo, 2. Yusei Kikuchi, 3. Vlad Guerrero Jr., 4. Eloy Jimenez, 5. Brandon Lowe
Fireman of the Year - Aroldis Chapman
Manager of the Year - Rocco Baldelli
Breakout Player of the Year - Tim Anderson (preseason pick - Tim Anderson)
Silver Sluggers - C Mitch Garver, 1B Jose Abreu, 2B DJ LaMhieu, 3B Alex Bregman, SS Marcus Semien, OF Mike Trout, George Springer, Mookie Betts, DH Nelson Cruz
National League:
MVP - Christian Yelich is my pick for the National League. He was a 40/30 player (homers/stolen bases) who led the National League with a .329 batting average, had 100 runs scored, 97 RBI's, and had an incredible .429 on base percentage. Bellinger won this award, but Yelich meant more for his team and carried them on his shoulders for a while.
Overall Picks - Christian Yelich, 2. Anthony Rendon, 3. Cody Bellinger, 4. Nolan Arenado, 5. Ronald Acuna Jr.
Preseason Picks - Nolan Arenado, 2. Christian Yelich, 3. Manny Machado, 4. Freddie Freeman, 5. David Peralta
Cy Young - Jacob deGrom is my pick. Not too many times you'll see a Cy Young Award winner with 11 wins unless he's a reliever, but deGrom pitched on the Mets and still put up great numbers. If he played on a playoff team, he would have put up more wins, easily.
Overall Picks - Jacob deGrom, 2. Kirby Yates, 3. Max Scherzer, 4. Hyun-Jin Ryu, 5. Jack Flaherty
Preseason Picks - Max Scherzer, 2. Aaron Nola, 3. Jacob deGrom, 4. Patrick Corbin, 5. Walker Buehler
Rookie of the Year - This was a pretty big no-brainer with Pete Alonso smacking 53 homers in his rookie season. The Polar Bear edges out Matt Soroka who would be one of my top-10 picks for the Cy Young this year. Breaking the rookie record for homers while having 120 RBI's pretty much solidified this for me.
Overall Picks - Pete Alonso, 2. Matt Soroka, 3. Fernando Tatis Jr., 4. Dakota Hudson, 5. Bryan Reynolds
Preseason Picks - Chris Paddack, 2, Pete Alonso, 3. Brendan Rogers, 4. Victor Robles, 5. Luis Urias
Fireman of the Year - Kirby Yates
Manager of the Year - Craig Counsell
Breakout Player of the Year - Ketel Marte
Silver Sluggers - C JT Realmuto, 1B Freddie Freeman, 2B Ozzie Albies, 3B Anthony Rendon, SS Trevor Story, OF Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger, Ronald Acuna Jr.
