2019 Millhouse Major League Baseball Awards

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.

2018 Major League Baseball Millhouse Awards

Mike Trout - Photo taken by Daniel Millhouse

Before all the awards are announced and I fall too far behind the media outlets, I give you the 2018 Major League Baseball Millhouse Awards. As a bonus, I give you a comparison of my pre-season compared to what actually happened.

American League:

MVP: J.D. Martinez...Admittedly, I did not see Martinez being in competition for a possible triple crown in the American League. He had the power, but I did not foresee his average being so high.

Runners Up: 2. Mookie Betts, 3. Jose Altuve, 4. Mike Trout, 5. Francisco Lindor.

Preseason Prediction: 1. Manny Machado, 2. Mike Trout, 3. Aaron Judge, 4. Francisco Lindor, 5. Mookie Betts...Looking at my preseason predictions, I didn't do so bad. Aaron Judge's injury knocked him out of contention. Being traded to the Dodgers took out Machado's chances.

Cy Young: Blake Snell...Definitely didn't see him challenging for the Cy Young Award, especially pitching for Tampa Ray. In any other season Verlander would have been the front runner.

Runners Up: 2. Justin Verlander, 3. Gerrit Cole, 4. Edwin Diaz, 5. Corey Kluber.

Preseason Prediction: 1. Corey Kluber, 2. Justin Verlander, 3. Chris Sale, 4. Luis Severino, 5. Gerrit Cole...I was pretty spot on with Verlander, Kluber, and Cole. Severino would probably be the sixth or seventh place guy if I went that deep. 

Rookie of the Year: Miguel Andujar...Just missed hitting .300 with 30 homers and he plays in one of the toughest cities for a rookie to start their career in. To top it off, Andujar wasn't the top projected Yankee rookie prior to the season.

Runners Up: 2. Shohei Ohtani, 3. Gleyber Torres, 4. Joey Wendle, 5. Daniel Palka.

Preseason Prediction: 1. Gleyber Torres, 2. Willy Adames, 3. Joey Wendle...This was definitely the year of impact rookies. Gleyber Torres's stats would have won a Rookie of the Year award in most seasons. Adames did well, but didn't play a full enough season. Ohtani, as predicted, ended up hurting himself while pitching.

Fireman of the Year: Edwin Diaz...I would not have predicted that he would be even one of the top five closers, let alone a top 10. I was wrong 57 saves later.

Runners Up: 2. Blake Treinen, 3. Aroldis Chapman, 4. Craig Kimbrell, 5. Jose Leclerc 

Manager of the Year: 1. Bob Melvin...He got so much out of the lowest payroll in baseball.

Runners Up: 2. AJ Hinch, 3. Kevin Cash, 4. Alex Cora, 5. Aaron Boone

Most Improved Player: Whit Merrifield...He hit .304, stole 45 bases, scored 88 runs, and hit 12 homers. And no one noticed.

Silver Sluggers: C - Yan Gomes, 1B - Edwin Encarnacion, 2B - Jose Altuve, 3B - Alex Bregman, SS - Francisco Lindor, OF - Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Khris Davis , DH - J.D. Martinez

League Review: The majority of my runners up predictions came true. The award winner for each category came out of nowhere. I think anyone would be lying if they said that they saw Ian Snell being in contention of the Cy Young. I believe Mookie Betts is the front runner to win with the baseball writers, but how can you write off a hitter who almost won the triple crown? As far as Andujar possibly winning the Rookie of the Year, I would have thought his teammate was the more likely candidate to win the award. 

As far as the American League standings, I did fairly well if you take a look at my preseason predictions. The Mariners were a surprise and the A's doing as well as they did was also a surprise. But I did have the Yankees, Red Sox, Astros, and Indians all going to the playoffs. 

National League:

MVP: Christian Yellich...I had in in my preseason top five and drafted him in my fantasy leagues. He even did better than expected, taking a triple crown race to the final game of the season. He hit .326, 36 homers, 110 RBI's, and stole 22 bases. 

Runners Up: 2. Nolan Arenado, 3. Javy Baez, 4. Trevor Story, 5. Max Scherzer.

Preseason Prediction: 1. Nolan Arenado, 2. Paul Goldschmidt, 3. Bryce Harper, 4. Christian Yellich, 5. Max Scherzer...Goldschmidt would probably be sixth if I went that deep. He still had a great season. Bryce Harper fell off from a batting average standpoint, dropping his MVP candidacy. Yellich's homers surprised me and Trevor Story challenging his teammate, Arenado, for best player on the Rockies was a bit surprising too.

Cy Young: Max Scherzer...This is the closest race for an award this season. It was a coin flip between deGrom and Scherzer, but I felt Scherzer edges him out because of his dominance. He had 300 strike outs exactly, leading the league. Scherzer also led the league in wins on a team that underachieved, led the league in WHIP, and was third in ERA. 

Runners Up: 2. Jacob deGrom, 3. Aaron Nola, 4. Kyle Freeland, 5. Miles Mikolas.

Preseason Prediction: 1. Max Scherzer, 2. Clayton Kershaw, 3. Jacob deGrom, 4. Aaron Nola, 5. Robbie Ray...It really didn't surprise me that Kershaw ended up having injuries that knocked him out of the top five. Scherzer, deGrom, and Nola still remained in the top five at the end of the season. A Rockies pitcher (Freeland) was the pleasant surprise and one that I cheer about. I tend to secretly root for Rockies pitchers, although, I'm not a big fan of theirs. I just want someone to succeed in pitching in the Colorado air.

Rookie of the Year: Ronald Acuna Jr...This was the preseason favorite prediction for so many news outlets and it looks like he lived up to the hype. I just didn't foresee that a 19-year-old would challenge him so closely.

Runners Up: 2. Juan Soto, 3. Harrison Bader, 4. Franmil Reyes, 5. Jorge Alfaro.

Preseason Predictions: 1. Lewis Brinson, 2. Ronald Acuna Jr., 3. Jorge Alfaro...Being a fan of the Lake Elsinore Storm, I was happy that alumnus, Franmil Reyes, did so well in his time in the Majors.

Fireman of the Year: Raisel Iglesias...Some may argue about this choice, but he still managed to rack up 30 saves on a team that performed horribly. He had a 2.38 ERA and had a 1.07 WHIP. 

Runners Up: 2. Josh Bader (yes, I know he's not a full-time closer), 3. Felipe Vazquez, 4. Sean Doolittle, 5. Kenley Jansen.

Manager of the Year: Craig Counsell...Look how far he took a team that still needed a little help in their starting pitcher before being considered a contender for the National League title winner.

Runners Up: 2. Brian Snitker, 3. Bud Black, 4. Joe Madden, 5. Mike Schildt

Most Improved Player: David Peralta...He hit 30 homers, nearly hit .300, and had 87 RBI's, all while in the shadow of his teammate, Paul Goldschmidt. Max Muncy is a close second, hitting 35 homers after not even playing in the majors in 2017.

Silver Sluggers: C - J.T. Realmuto, 1B - Jesus Aguilar, 2B - Scooter Gennett, 3B - Nolan Arenado, SS - Trevor Story, OF - Christian Yellich, David Peralta, Charlie Blackmon

League Review: The National League had some surprises for the season. A 19-year-old who played like a veteran, several Rockies players vying for awards (Story and Freeland), Christian Yellich nearly winning the triple crown (where did that power come from?), and the Atlanta Braves youngsters playing like veterans and earning a playoff spot. It should be noted that my preseason prediction blog posting even featured a photo I took of Christian Yellich while he was a Marlin. Oh, just in case Yellich was so bored that he came across my season predictions while surfing the internet on a sleepless night, I apologize for the typo (I accidentally referred to him as Christina Yellich, which was by total error on my part since I'm a fan of his and not trying to stir up controversy like Jim Rome - see Jim "Chris" Everett footage on YouTube).