This is Brock Hanke’s FINAL Ballot for 1996. I’m in the middle of convention season, so I didn’t have time to write comments. I can hear the cheering from here.

1. Barry Bonds
2. ARod
3. Chuck Knoblauch
4. Jeff Bagwell
5. Ken Caminiti
6. Ellis Burks
7. Ken Griffey, Jr.
8. Barry Larkin
9. Brady Anderson
10. Jim Thome
11. Kevin Brown
12. Bernard Gilkey
13. Mike Piazza
14. Pat Hentgen

1996 Ballot:

1. Alex Rodriguez, SS, Seattle Mariners: top five OPS+, 1st in AL RC, adds +8 defense from shortstop
2. Barry Bonds, LF, San Francisco Giants: 2nd in OPS+, 1st in NL RC, adds +10 defense in left
3. Kevin Brown, P, Florida Marlins: 215 ERA+ is crazy good
4. Mark McGwire, 1B, Oakland Athletics: leads AL with 196 OPS+
5. Ken Griffey Jr., CF, Seattle Mariners: +32 on defense plus a pretty good bat (154 OPS+)
6. Jeff Bagwell, 1B, Houston Astros: top 3 in NL in both OPS+ (178) and RC (156)
7. Ken Caminiti, 3B, San Diego Padres: Just a smidge behind Bagwell in every category
8. Mike Piazza, C, Los Angeles Dodgers: top five OPS+ while wielding "the tools of ignorance"
9. Jim Thome, 3B, Cleveland Indians: still holding his own at third while posting a 167 OPS+
10. Gary Sheffield, RF, Florida Marlins: awful defense (-16) keeps him behind the other big bats
11. Chuck Knoblauch, 2B, Minnesota Twins: does everything well
12. Ellis Burks, CF, Colorado Rockies: the +12 defense gets him on the ballot as much as the 149 OPS+
13. Pat Hentgen, P, Toronto Blue Jays: top pitcher in the AL
14. Barry Larkin, SS, Cincinnati Reds: sneaks onto the ballot once more

15. Frank Thomas, 1B, Chicago White Sox: 2nd in AL in OPS+ but dragged down by playing time and poor defense
16. Brady Anderson, CF, Baltimore Orioles: as an O's fan, I would have loved to find room for him on the ballot
17. Edgar Martinez, DH, Seattle Mariners
18. Greg Maddux, P, Atlanta Braves
19. Mo Vaughn, 1B, Boston Red Sox
20. John Smoltz, P, Atlanta Braves: beats out Bernard Gilkey and Mariano Rivera for the top 20

1. Alex Rodriguez
2. Mark McGwire
3. Ken Caminiti
4. Mike Piazza
5. Kevin Brown
6. Jim Thome
7. Barry Larkin
8. Barry Bonds
9. Roberto Alomar
10. Gary Sheffield
11. Chuck Knoblauch
12. Ivan Rodriguez
13. Brady Anderson
14. John Smoltz

Comment: When I made my preliminary ballot I used a 3 year average of DRA fielding runs to adjust the batter and pitcher values. Since then i have done some thinking and have concluded that a 3 year average is more appropriate for predicting future performance, but that current year value is better reflected by using current year fielding runs saved and thus current year value. So i have recalculated my WARR values accordingly. My final ballot for 1996 is as follows:

1. Barry Bonds 9.31 WARR
2. Ken Camaniti 8.89 WARR
3. Alex Rodriguez 8.16 WARR
4. Kevin Brown 7.88 WARR
5. Robbie Alomar 7.67 WARR
6. John Smoltz 7.63 WARR
7. Roger Clemens 7.55 WARR
8. Albert Belle 7.31 WARR
9. Chuck Knoblaugh 6.94 WARR
10. Jim Thome 6.87 WARR
11. Greg Maddux 6.86 WARR
12. Pat Hentgen 6.74 WARR
13. Jeff Bagwell 6.72 WARR
14. Tom Glavine 6.45 WARR

The rest of the top 20
Bernard Gilkey
Alex Fernandez
Chuck Nagy
Ellis Burks
Mike Piazza
Edgar Martinez

1. Barry Bonds - top 3 hitter, still a stand-out baserunner and solid defender
2. Alex Rodriguez - among the best fielding SS in MLB, by far the best hitting SS in MLB; led MLB in AVG, 12th in OBP, 5th in SLG
3. Ken Griffey, Jr. - slots #3 through 8 were really close; Griffey compares well offensively to the rest of the pack while having the best defensive year of his career (though I believe TZ overrates him, it's still enough to propel him over Knoblauch, etc.)
4. Chuck Knoblauch - by fWAR, it's a top 20 modern-era 2B season
5. Ken Caminiti - top 5 bat and solid defense; season compares favorably to the offensive season of a typical HOF 3B
6. Jeff Bagwell - top 5 bat
7. Mike Piazza - top 10 bat, bump for position
8. Jim Thome - top 10 bat, slight bump for playing a decent 3B
9. Bernard Gilkey - excellent, overlooked all-around play
10. John Smoltz - impressive work over 250+ IP; K%/BB% was (at the time) one of the best ever
11. Mark McGwire - best bat
12. Barry Larkin - best SS
13. Kevin Brown - best ERA+
14. Gary Sheffield - 2nd best bat

Pat Hentgen completed 10 games and pitched solidly for a huge amount of innings; Ellis Burks played good 'D' and put up huge numbers (albeit at Coors); Frank Thomas and Albert Belle put up big production at the plate but were docked for defense/position.

All fell just short of the top 14.

1996 Ballot

1) Barry Bonds - best bat, decent fielding
2) Ken Caminiti - small postseason bump
3) Alex Rodriguez - great hitting season for a shortstop
4) Kevin Brown - best pitcher
5) John Smoltz - huge postseason bonus (15% of total innings)
6) Mike Piazza - C bonus, small postseason bonus
7) Greg Maddux - huge postseason bonus (15% of total innings)
8) Jeff Bagwell - big bat, okay glove
9) Pat Hentgen - best AL pitcher
10) Ken Griffey Jr - great all-around season
11) Barry Larkin - A-Rod was better hitting and fielding
12) Roger Clemens
13) Chuck Knoblauch
14) Bernard Gilkey - good fielder

15) Gary Sheffield - big bat, bad glove
16-20) Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Brady Anderson, Jim Thome, Ken Hill
21-25) Roberto Alomar, Steve Finley, Lance Johnson, Frank Thomas, Mark McGwire
26-29) Alex Fernandez, Charles Nagy, Juan Guzman, Ellis Burks

Here's the RPA rated top players with the runs produced above the median:

1. Gary Sheffield 64.68 runs
2. Mark McGwire 61.07 runs
3. Frank Thomas 60.54 runs
4. Barry Bonds 56.58 runs
5. Jeff Bagwell 56.42 runs
6. Jim Thome 48.27 runs
7. Albert Belle 44.80 runs
8. Mike Piazza 44.49 runs
9. Edgar Martinez 42.43 runs
10. Greg Maddux 41.87 runs
11. Brady Anderson 41.23 runs
12. John Smoltz 38.95 runs
13. Bernard Gilkey 36.53 runs
14. Ken Caminiti 36.16 runs
15. Alex Rodriguez 35.01 runs
16. Mo Vaughn 34.37 runs
17. Ken Griffey, Jr. 34.14 runs
18. Kevin Brown 33.39 runs
19. Pat Hentgen 32.75 runs
20. Roger Clemens 31.60 runs
21. Barry Larkin 30.97 runs

1996 Ballot :
1. Barry Bonds
2. Alex Rodriquez
3. Ken Griffey Jr.
4 .Kevin Brown
5. Roger Clemens
6. Ken Caminiti
7. Barry Larkin
8. Jeff Bagwell
9. Mike Piazza
10. John Smoltz
11. Gary Sheffield
12. Ellis Burks
13. Jim Thome
14. Gary Maddux

neilsen - since you haven't voted in a while you should have some comments. Your ballot isn't that controversial but I would be interested to know why Clemens and not Pat Hentgen.

1996 MMP ballot.

1. Alex Rodriguez. Top SS and all-around MLB player.
2. Kevin Brown. Top pitcher.
3. Pat Hentgen. Top AL pitcher. Most MLB IP, but less effective than Brown.
4. Chuck Knoblauch. Top 2B, having his career year.
5. Barry Bonds. Top MLB OF.
6. Mike Piazza. Top C.
7. Ken Caminiti. Top 3B.
8. Roberto Alomar. My system likes 2B for some reason.
9. Ken Griffey Jr. Top CF; not sure about high defensive WAR.
10. John Smoltz. Next best P,
11. Greg Maddux. and his teammate.
12. Jeff Bagwell. Top 1B.
13. Albert Belle. Top AL LF.
14. Gary Sheffield. Top RF.

Voted recently, haven't voted yet: Tubbs, Binkley, John Murphy

DL, I won't be putting in a ballot for this season. I tried to put one together earlier this week but couldn't put a good one together & will be far too busy the rest of the week, so do not extend the deadline for me

I'll have something by today.

I was able to take what I started & finish. One thing that stood out to me was how gawdy the power and walk totals got. With 94 & 95 being strike shortened we see the full effect here of power and patience overtake the game. The numbers are also getting sillier. No postseason bonus but small credit for playing on a Division-contender

1. A Rodriguez wow this kid is for real, I remember the MVP debate of him vs. Juan Gone & not being on a contender hurt
2. Bonds 40/40
3. Griffey
4. Knoblauch easy to forget how good this ding dong was
5. Caminiti
6. Larkin good as MVP but lost in shuffle of power hitters
7. K Brown sub 2.00 in this silly era
8. Bagwell very consistent like Griffey & Bonds
9. Smoltz
10.B Anderson
11.Thome
12.Hentgen
13.Piazza catcher bonus
14.McGwire

Honorable mention: Gilkey, Burks, Sheffield, Maddux, Vaughan, Edgar, R Alomar

It is interesting how many of these top choices came from non-contenders

1996 MMP ballot:

1. Barry Bonds
2. Alex Rodriguez - AL MMP
3. Ken Caminiti
4. Mike Piazza
5. Kevin Brown - MMPitcher
6. Jeff Bagwell
7. Ken Griffey Jr.
8. John Smoltz
9. Barry Larkin
10. Mark McGwire
11. Pat Hentgen - AL MMPitcher
12. Chuck Knoblauch
13. Greg Maddux
14. Jim Thome

15-20. Bernard Gilkey, Gary Sheffield, Tom Glavine, Brady Anderson, Ellis Burka, Roger Clemens.

Official 1996 MMP Ballot (no postseason bonuses):

1) Ken Caminiti: Best ML player and third baseman.
2) Jeff Bagwell: Best ML first baseman.
3) Barry Bonds: Best ML left fielder.
4) Alex Rodriguez: Best ML shortstop and AL player.
5) Mike Piazza: Best ML catcher.
6) Chuck Knoblauch: Best ML second baseman.
7) Bernard Gilkey: Best NY Met.
8) Gary Sheffield: Best ML right fielder.
9) Barry Larkin: Best NL shortstop.
10) Mark McGwire: Best AL first baseman.
11) Ken Griffey, Jr: Best ML center fielder.
12) Kevin Brown: Best ML pitcher.
13) Roberto Alomar: Best Baltimore Oriole.
14) John Smoltz: Best Atlanta Brave.

Best AL pitcher: Pat Hentgen.

closed

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