Welcome to the Royals Award Show
Before I start handing out Brettys, let me make good on a promise I’ve forgotten for two posts: Folks, as many of you are aware, Tango Tiger has put together a Fans’ Scouting Report. But as many of you may not know, the entries for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Florida Marlins are quite low. He needs your help. If you’re a baseball fan with some time, and especially if you’re a fan of one of those two teams, go to Tom’s Fans’ Scouting Report and fill it out for teams you’re familiar with.
Now, to the Brettys. Sources for the stats: ESPN, BPro, THT, FanGraphs
The George Brett Most Valuable Royal Award
And the Bretty goes to… Mark Teahen!
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Stat, Number, Team rank:
AVG, .290, 3rd
OBP, .357, 5th
SLG, .517, 1st
OPS, 0.874, 2nd
HR, 18, 1st
SB, 10, 1st-T
H, 114, 4th
R, 70, 4th
RBI, 69, 2nd
RC, 73.5, 2nd
RC27, 6.89, 2nd
Win Prob. Added (WPA), 2.89, 1st
Batting Win Shares, 16.8, 1st
Fielding Win Shares, 2.5, 3rd-T
VORP, 28.9, 1st
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Many have touched upon Teahen’s surprising season this year (such as this at THT by Royals blogger extraordinaire Craig Brown), so I won’t go there. I will say that when talking about Teahen as the Royals’ MVP, you have to consider his limited playing time. A Triple-A demotion among other things has limited Teahen to a mere 109 games (393 AB). That considered, his taking first in several counting stats like HR and SB as well as placing high in R, H and RBI is all the more impressive.
Esteban German got real consideration here but, as Buddy Bell has a phobia of playing young talent, he saw very little time.
Teahen’s VORP/PA:0.0658
German’s VORP/PA: 0.0819
Still, Bell didn’t play German and did play Teahen, so this is the way it came out.
A moderately-distant third? David DeJesus. Fourth? Probably Mark Grudzielanek (especially considering the defense) or Emil Brown.
The Kevin Appier Starting Pitcher Award
And the Bretty goes to… Luke Hudson!
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Stat, Number, Team rank:
ERA, 5.12, 1st
W, 7, 2nd
K, 64, 2nd
K/9, 5.65, 2nd
WHIP, 1.44, 1st
VORP, 7.5, 1st
WPA, 1.22, 1st
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I’d prefer not to talk about it.
Had Odalis Perez pitched in KC all year, he would have made a very serious bid at the award (and did make a decent case for himself anyway), and Mark Redman of course made a run here. I’d call Redman the runner up, Perez third place, and I’ll stop talking about starting pitching right away.
The Dan Quisenberry Relief Pitcher Award
And the Bretty goes to… Joe Nelson!
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Stat, Number, Team rank:
ERA, 4.43, 3rd
SV, 9, 2nd
K, 44, 5th
K/9, 8.87, 1st
WHIP, 1.37, 2nd
VORP, 8.3, 2nd
WPA, 1.22, 1st
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Joel Peralta really made a run for things, and probably would have been given the Bretty if Nelson wasn’t the closer to wrap up the last few months. Plus Nelson comes out to “Iron Man”—gotta give him that. Ambiorix Burgos’ team-leading saves put him… well, I have to admit, I glanced at his name every now and then. Jimmy Gobble also had a real decent run this season. I’m calling Peralta a very strong runner-up and giving Gobble the bronze Bretty.
The Angel Berroa Incredibly Bad Royal Award
And the Bretty goes to… Angel Berroa!
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Stat, Number, Team rank:
AVG, .234, 18th
OBP, .259, 23rd
SLG, .333, 17th
OPS, 0.592, 20th
HR, 9, 5th
SB, 3, 7th-T
H, 111, 5th
R, 45, 5th-T
RBI, 54, 4th
RC, 33.8, 11th
RC27, 2.30, 22nd
Win Prob. Added (WPA), -3.36, 26th
Batting Win Shares, -2.4, N/A (although I’d guess last place)
Fielding Runs Against Avg. (FRAA), -10, N/A (although I’d guess very close to last)
VORP, -16.6, 32nd
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He’s established the award, he gave it a whole new meaning, and he continues to defend it.
Some of my rankings might be off by one or two because I kept having to skip past pitchers when I counted. And no, I’m not joking about pitchers hitting better than Berroa.
In any event, it’s pretty difficult to explain just how bad Angel Berroa is (although, click this if you really want the gory details), and I can’t add much to his numbers. I will say that the only reason he’s even close to the top in the counting stats like HR, SB, H, R and RBI is because Buddy Bell plays him far too much. And, in that spirit, here’s a quote that would be pretty hilarious if it wasn’t spoken in all seriousness [hat tip to Royals Review]:
“[Berroa] is still going to be a heck of a player,” Bell said. “Blanco has got a long way to go even before he considers himself in Angel Berroa’s category.” -kcroyals.com
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That’s all I’ve got. Feel free to dispute my Brettys, hand out a couple of your own, or melt the Brettys down to gold and sell them.
Reader Comments and Retorts
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I think considering his numbers I could make the case that he at least deserved a shot at becoming an everyday starter, perhaps at 2B, 3B, even shortstop. And even if he is a utility player, I think he's a shot at being a supersub that deserves to start three or four games a week. And with the Royals' odd lineups and configurations, that should have been pretty possible.
I was wrong in calling German 'young'. I should have said future potential or something like that. Because German certainly has more playing potential than Mark Grudzielanek at second, Berroa at short, etc. I guess the joke should have been Buddy Bell doesn't like playing for the future.
Joey Gathright! His OPS fell 100 points when no one thought it could get lower! I would have given it to someone that cratered more but no one else was young and failed to live up to promise.
Though he's still plenty young enough to have promise going forward, Andrew Sisco's 2006 sure failed to live up to the promise his 2005 season engendered.
I was considering going with Angel Salazar or Buddy Biancalana or even Onix Concepcion, but I decided Berroa reflected well for my fellow under-30s.
Concepcion and Biancalana at least fielded the position fairly well. Berroa might the worst shortstop in the league at the plate and in the field. Giving Berroa's playing time to a no-hit, good-glove shortstop would actually improve the team.
Amen. Andres or the other Angel suits me fine, and at least can't be worse.
(Whispers: or play Mark Teahen there.)
Garth, I think you're crazy when you suggest that, but I wonder myself what Grudzielanek would do at short. I figure you'll get behind any idea that provides more playing time for Esteban German.
Teahen has to get healthy and keep hitting before I'll believe that Royals must find a way to shoehorn him into the lineup.
At least for a look-see. And, of course, provided that it involves Mark Teahen playing short once a season.
David Howard springs to mind here. And there's also Jackie Hernandez for the old timers like me.
Joey Gathright! His OPS fell 100 points when no one thought it could get lower! I would have given it to someone that cratered more but no one else was young and failed to live up to promise.
Kinda unfair to Hamelin - at least he actually had the one-year wonder season. Gathright's still short that.
Any fear of trying Alex Gordon there instead? Or just that if concerns about fielding mess up his hitting, you would rather mess up Teahen? Though one would expect that if Gordon starts in AAA and Teahen is somewhere between his 1st and 2nd halves and Berroa is that bad that someone would trade a better SS for Teahen.
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