Major League Baseball’s awards were finally announced this week. Let’s discuss how the Yankees fared!
Gold Glove Award
No Yankees were named Gold Glove Award winners. They had three finalists, though! Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge, and Masahiro Tanaka were among the three finalists in left field, right field, and the pitcher spots, respectively. Tanaka was the only one that I think had a real chance. I think he actually should have won. Judge was never going to beat out Mookie Betts. It was Betts’ year. Gardner maybe could have won in left, but the writers ultimately went with Alex Gordon for the sixth time. I wasn’t mad about that one.
Tanaka, though, probably should have won. He’s been outstanding at defending his position since he came to the Yanks. He made his first non-pickoff-attempt error this season, which I think is what gave his defense national attention. Kind of weird that what might have made everyone more aware of his error defense was an error. Oh well. It would have been nice for him to get a little recognition for that.
Silver Slugger Award
The Yankees didn’t have any Silver Slugger Award winners and they didn’t really have anyone that deserved it over who won. Maybe full seasons of Didi Gregorius and Aaron Judge would have allowed them to receive more consideration? I doubt they would have won over Francisco Lindor or Mookie Betts, regardless. Maybe Giancarlo Stanton could have been in consideration for DH? JD Martinez also had an unreal season (he won TWO silver sluggers), so I doubt that could have happened either. Next year!
Rookie of the Year
This was the award that has drawn the most ire from Yankee fans because it was the one where a Yankee had a legitimate chance to win. Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres were both finalists for the award, and many- myself included- believed Andujar should have won. If you consider Rookie of the Year to be the MVP among rookies, like I do, then you believe Andujar should have won. That’s not the way it’s ever really been voted on, though, so I was not surprised for one second that they gave the award to Shohei Ohtani. I also don’t think he was at all far behind Andujar if you’re voting for it like an MVP award anyway. I completely understand Ohtani winning it, even though I would have personally given it to Miggy.
Feel free to snag a “Rookies of the Year” t-shirt or sweatshirt to commemorate Andujar and Gleyber’s awesome seasons.
Manager of the Year
Nobody thinks Aaron Boone should have won this award. Oakland A’s manager Bob Melvin ultimately came away with the hardware here, but any of the three finalists (Melvin, Alex Cora, Kevin Cash) would have been understandable recipients. I think my vote would have gone to Cash, but I have a feeling the BBWAA really hates the bullpenning thing, so I didn’t expect Cash to win it.
Boone did receive a pair of third-place votes. I don’t think Boone was as bad as Twitter says, but he certainly wouldn’t have been in my top three if I were voting. I don’t get to vote, though, so I guess that doesn’t matter. Ultimately, Boone won 100 games in his first year as a manager, so getting a couple of down-ballot votes isn’t all that unreasonable. I expect him to be better in year two.
Cy Young Award
The Yankees had no major Cy Young candidates. If Aroldis Chapman hadn’t missed any time, perhaps he could have gotten a few throw-in votes, but they’re always hesitant to vote for relievers, which I understand.
Luis Severino, though, did get one fifth-place vote (from Bill Madden, who is a New York guy), to earn a ninth-place finish overall. He was the front-runner for the award on July 6, but from July 7 through the rest of the season, he was probably the worst starting pitcher in baseball. I think if he had been somewhere about halfway between the best and the worst pitcher in baseball in the second half, he might have been a finalist again. I hope to see him put together a full season in 2019 and end up right back near the top of the list.
MVP
The Yankees did not have any true MVP candidates. Had Judge not missed two months with the broken wrist, I am sure he would have been right up there with Betts, Mike Trout, and the others. Four Yankees received votes for the first time since 2012 (Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Rafael Soriano, Raul Ibanez (?!?!?)), though! Judge, Stanton, Gregorius, and Aaron Hicks all received MVP votes.
Judge finished the highest of his teammates after receiving a pair of seventh and tenth place votes (12th overall). He would have gotten serious consideration if not for the missed time.
Stanton was next, receiving an eighth and a tenth place vote. I expect him to finish higher next year.
Didi got a ninth and a tenth place vote. Brendan Kuty gave him the tenth place vote and some guy from Tampa named Martin Fennelly gave him the ninth place one. Hm. Gregorius missed a bit too much time and did nothing for the month of May to get more consideration than that.
Hicks got a tenth place vote. It came from Marc Carig of The Athletic. I like that guy and it is cool that Hicks got a little recognition. Hicks was the only Yankee that Carig voted for if that means anything to you.
The overall results can be found here and each individual ballot is here.