Post by Bish on Jan 14, 2024 0:13:12 GMT -5
2009 HOFFBL Team Awards
Best Team: Atlanta Braves (60-21)
Notes: Gotta hand it to Brian for having the best record in the league even if he probably won’t finish with the best overall record. I still feel like there are better teams out there such as the Red Sox, D’Backs, and our Phillies. Also factor in that they won’t have Pedro for the rest of the year. Either way, enough about that. The Braves are the 4th best team in run prevention and they score the 11th most runs. That’s pretty good. Keep in mind they dumped Carlos Lee to bring their payroll down…many folks thought there would be a significant drop off, and yet they are on pace to win even more games this season. Wild.
Worst Team: Cincinnati Reds (18-63)
Notes: The Reds are nearly a -300 run differential team at the break. Not too shabby. This will be another team that is being contracted, right? Hard to keep up these days. Bullington, Shields, Votto, Altuve and J.D. Martinez are nice foundational pieces, but aside from that, there simply isn’t much here to be excited about in the future.
AL Best Farm System: Los Angeles Angels (182 Points)
Notes: Styro jumped ship so he could team up with Mike Trout and the rest of the gang. The Angels are simply more loaded than the Twins at this point despite what the point system says. Blackmon, DJ LeMahieu, and Emilio are ALL brilliant hitters. Pelfrey is a big time arm that just came up. Team is really set up. Hopefully this ignites a fire in Styro’s ass to be more active and excited about the league!
NL Best Farm System: Chicago Cubs (127 Points)
Notes: Play is tied for first at the break AND has the top farm system in the National League. This is what an elite GM can do. I think we mostly know the Cardinals are better, but nobody panics/mismanages a team more than the Stool man! The Cubs have a couple of my old pals in Nick Adenhart and Jemile Weeks. Both are going to be cornerstone pieces of the next iteration of these Cubs teams. Moreland and Matty Carp are both nice hitting prospects as well. Robertson is an elite bullpen arm. Cubs are secretly reloading up for their next run. It’ll be interesting to see what Play does.
2009 HOFFBL Awards
AL MVP: 3B Chipper Jones (Tigers)
Notes: Chip proved me wrong last year, and won the AL MVP going away last season. I’m not betting against a man that’s putting up even better numbers this season after a record-setting type year the season before. This is a guy that’s on pace for another 80+ extra base hit season WITH 75+ steals. He just clubbed his 600th dinger this season as well. Truly a remarkable career, and he’s looking to add his 2nd MVP to his long list of growing accolades. Truly an all time great here. Matt Holliday, Manny Ramirez, and Branyan (on pace for 66 dingers!) are in the running.
NL MVP: LF Kelly Johnson (Mets)
Notes: Honestly a tough call between quite a few guys, but Kelly Johnson has the edge. He’s on pace for 44 doubles, 10 triples, and 24 home runs. Those are really nice numbers. Plenty of guys to contend with a weaker NL field as usual…you have guys like Chooch, Scott, Beltran, Burroughs, Pod, Wells, Vidro, Matsui, and Kemp. It’s a deep field with no true standout. I’m interested in who can get on a major run and take home the honors.
AL Cy Young: SP Kerry Wood (Orioles)
Notes: Kerry Wood is 13-1 with an ERA of 1.48. He has quite simply been dominant, and he’s looking to continue that during the 2nd half. He wants his first Cy Young and he’s on a solid squad that can deliver that for them. It’s crazy, though. The Orioles were legitimately the only team that I thought could beat my juggernaut last season, and yet now they are going to miss the playoffs. It’s crazy what can happen in a year’s time! Anyway, Josh Johnson is in the running here. Should be an interesting race between these two great young pitchers.
NL Cy Young: SP Odalis Perez (D’Backs)
Notes: Odalis was my pick at the break last season, and I’m sticking with him here. I still think Ben Sheets can take it home with a dominant last three months, but he would have to be nearly perfect again for that to take place. Seems unlikely since he will still be missing a couple of weeks. Odalis is the pick as he has an ERA of 1.68 and is the 2nd toughest guy to get on base against. On a really strong team, he should be able to finally finish the job for my guy Galo. Cornejo, Oliver Perez, and Ryan Rupe are in the running. Ben Sheets is a dark horse because he’s Ben Sheets. Liriano deserves some serious respect as well pitching the way he is in Colorado.
AL Rolaids Relief Man: CL Ugueth Urbina (Blue Jays)
Notes: The team obsessed with relievers the most, finally might have a guy that will win this! Urbina has been truly unbelievable. He has pitched in 40 innings, allowing only 28 base runners, and ONLY 3 earned runs. This reminds me of the Chad Cordero season from a year ago. Dominant stuff. He’s the front runner by a good margin here.
NL Rolaids Relief Man: CL Jose Valverde (Braves)
Notes: Valverde has been tasked with closing games for the Braves, and he’s yet again done one heck of a job. He’s only blown two saves and has saved the other 27 games just fine. He now has 238 saves and counting for the Atlanta Braves. There are many guys in the running. Will be interesting to see who is the best reliever by season's end.
Best Team: Atlanta Braves (60-21)
Notes: Gotta hand it to Brian for having the best record in the league even if he probably won’t finish with the best overall record. I still feel like there are better teams out there such as the Red Sox, D’Backs, and our Phillies. Also factor in that they won’t have Pedro for the rest of the year. Either way, enough about that. The Braves are the 4th best team in run prevention and they score the 11th most runs. That’s pretty good. Keep in mind they dumped Carlos Lee to bring their payroll down…many folks thought there would be a significant drop off, and yet they are on pace to win even more games this season. Wild.
Worst Team: Cincinnati Reds (18-63)
Notes: The Reds are nearly a -300 run differential team at the break. Not too shabby. This will be another team that is being contracted, right? Hard to keep up these days. Bullington, Shields, Votto, Altuve and J.D. Martinez are nice foundational pieces, but aside from that, there simply isn’t much here to be excited about in the future.
AL Best Farm System: Los Angeles Angels (182 Points)
Notes: Styro jumped ship so he could team up with Mike Trout and the rest of the gang. The Angels are simply more loaded than the Twins at this point despite what the point system says. Blackmon, DJ LeMahieu, and Emilio are ALL brilliant hitters. Pelfrey is a big time arm that just came up. Team is really set up. Hopefully this ignites a fire in Styro’s ass to be more active and excited about the league!
NL Best Farm System: Chicago Cubs (127 Points)
Notes: Play is tied for first at the break AND has the top farm system in the National League. This is what an elite GM can do. I think we mostly know the Cardinals are better, but nobody panics/mismanages a team more than the Stool man! The Cubs have a couple of my old pals in Nick Adenhart and Jemile Weeks. Both are going to be cornerstone pieces of the next iteration of these Cubs teams. Moreland and Matty Carp are both nice hitting prospects as well. Robertson is an elite bullpen arm. Cubs are secretly reloading up for their next run. It’ll be interesting to see what Play does.
2009 HOFFBL Awards
AL MVP: 3B Chipper Jones (Tigers)
Notes: Chip proved me wrong last year, and won the AL MVP going away last season. I’m not betting against a man that’s putting up even better numbers this season after a record-setting type year the season before. This is a guy that’s on pace for another 80+ extra base hit season WITH 75+ steals. He just clubbed his 600th dinger this season as well. Truly a remarkable career, and he’s looking to add his 2nd MVP to his long list of growing accolades. Truly an all time great here. Matt Holliday, Manny Ramirez, and Branyan (on pace for 66 dingers!) are in the running.
NL MVP: LF Kelly Johnson (Mets)
Notes: Honestly a tough call between quite a few guys, but Kelly Johnson has the edge. He’s on pace for 44 doubles, 10 triples, and 24 home runs. Those are really nice numbers. Plenty of guys to contend with a weaker NL field as usual…you have guys like Chooch, Scott, Beltran, Burroughs, Pod, Wells, Vidro, Matsui, and Kemp. It’s a deep field with no true standout. I’m interested in who can get on a major run and take home the honors.
AL Cy Young: SP Kerry Wood (Orioles)
Notes: Kerry Wood is 13-1 with an ERA of 1.48. He has quite simply been dominant, and he’s looking to continue that during the 2nd half. He wants his first Cy Young and he’s on a solid squad that can deliver that for them. It’s crazy, though. The Orioles were legitimately the only team that I thought could beat my juggernaut last season, and yet now they are going to miss the playoffs. It’s crazy what can happen in a year’s time! Anyway, Josh Johnson is in the running here. Should be an interesting race between these two great young pitchers.
NL Cy Young: SP Odalis Perez (D’Backs)
Notes: Odalis was my pick at the break last season, and I’m sticking with him here. I still think Ben Sheets can take it home with a dominant last three months, but he would have to be nearly perfect again for that to take place. Seems unlikely since he will still be missing a couple of weeks. Odalis is the pick as he has an ERA of 1.68 and is the 2nd toughest guy to get on base against. On a really strong team, he should be able to finally finish the job for my guy Galo. Cornejo, Oliver Perez, and Ryan Rupe are in the running. Ben Sheets is a dark horse because he’s Ben Sheets. Liriano deserves some serious respect as well pitching the way he is in Colorado.
AL Rolaids Relief Man: CL Ugueth Urbina (Blue Jays)
Notes: The team obsessed with relievers the most, finally might have a guy that will win this! Urbina has been truly unbelievable. He has pitched in 40 innings, allowing only 28 base runners, and ONLY 3 earned runs. This reminds me of the Chad Cordero season from a year ago. Dominant stuff. He’s the front runner by a good margin here.
NL Rolaids Relief Man: CL Jose Valverde (Braves)
Notes: Valverde has been tasked with closing games for the Braves, and he’s yet again done one heck of a job. He’s only blown two saves and has saved the other 27 games just fine. He now has 238 saves and counting for the Atlanta Braves. There are many guys in the running. Will be interesting to see who is the best reliever by season's end.
