2009 MMP Ballot

1) Zack Greinke - once in a decade pitching performance. Best pitching season since 2000 Pedro Martinez.
2) Chase Utley - great baserunning year, strong postseason makes him the top position player
3) Joe Mauer - C bonus, postseason bump
4) Albert Pujols - good fielding season
5) Ben Zobrist - very good glove year
6) Hanley Ramirez - big dropoff from the top 5
7) Tim Lincecum - best NL pitcher
8) Derek Jeter - Jeter's best fielding season? Postseason bonus.
9) Chone Figgins - best infield glove
10) Ryan Zimmerman - great glove
11) Josh Johnson
12) CC Sabathia - strong postseason
13) Evan Longoria - another strong fielder
14) Roy Halladay
15) Dan Haren

16-20) Chris Carpenter, Troy Tulowitzki, Adam Wainwright, Jair Jurrjens, Franklin Gutierrez
21-27) Matt Cain, Javier Vazquez, Cliff Lee, Jon Lester, Jason Bartlett, Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Gonzalez

Here's the RPA top rated players for 2009, listed in order of the runs produced over the median:

1. Albert Pujols 57.00 runs
2. Chase Utley 45.56 runs
3. Prince Fielder 42.46 runs
4. Ryan Braun 41.48 runs
5. Jason Bay 41.34 runs
6. Shin-soo Choo 41.17 runs
7. Zack Greinke 40.11 runs
8. Adrian Gonzalez 38.69 runs
9. Ben Zobrist 36.30 runs
10. Joe Mauer 35.60 runs
11. Chris Carpenter 35.48 runs
12. Kevin Youkilis 34.03 runs
13. Derrek Lee 33.56 runs
14. Joey Votto 33.56 runs
15. Justin Verlander 32.93 runs
16. Jayson Werth 31.48 runs
17. Carl Crawford 30.90 runs
18. Hanley Ramirez 30.46 runs
19. Mark Teixeira 30.45 runs
20. Matt Holliday 30.14 runs
21. Tim Lincecum 29.80 runs
22. Jason Bartlett 28.77 runs
23. Ryan Howard 28.62 runs
24. Ichiro Suzuki 28.07 runs
25. CC Sabathia 28.04 runs

Actually, Greinke would have an even better season just six years later, in 2015. Compared to 2009, he pitched 7 fewer innings, but shaved an entire half run off his ERA and added 17 points to his ERA+. His W/L was also better, but that's much more strongly related to his team's capability. I'll still have him below Albert Pujols, and maybe some others, because the IP involved are only 229.1. They'd only be 222.2 in 2015. Those are his two HIGHEST IP in his career so far, I believe. - Brock Hanke

Actually, Greinke would have an even better season just six years later, in 2015.

That's part of the problem of handing out retroactive awards: we know the future. Mark Fidrych didn't win the 1976 CY (hell, he had a good argument for MVP) because voters figured, "Ahh, he's young, he'll have other chances." (No, he wouldn't.)

Well, here's Brock Hanke's unlikely combination of WAR and Win Shares into rankings. This time for 2009. Zack Greinke, #1 in WAR, is #22 in Win Shares, and ends up 8th. Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun are 3rd and 6th in Win Shares, but 24th and 25th in WAR, so they end up 9th and 10th. What else is new?

1. Albert Pujols
2. Joe Maurer
3. Chase Utley
4. Hanley Ramirez
5. Ben Zobrist
6. Adrian Gonzalez
7. Chone Figgins
8. Zack Greinke
9. Prince Fielder
10. Ryan Braun
11. Derek Jeter
12. Evan Longoria
13. Ryan Zimmerman
14. Kevin Youkilis
15. Troy Tulowitzki

2009 Final ballot

Based 0n WARR (which includes post season adjustment adj+ or adj -

1. Albert Pujols 12.5 WARR adj+
2 Chase Utley 8.98 WARR adj+
3 Zack Greinke 8.38 WARR
4 Jason Bay 7.30 WARR
5. Joe Maurer 7.17 WARR adj +
6. Roy Halladay 7.13 WARR
7. Adam Wainwright 6.76 WARR adj +
8. Dan Haren 6.69 WARR
9. Ryan Zimmerman 6.65 WARR
10. Hanley ramires 6.58 WARR
11. Josh Johnson 6.58 WARR
12. Jair Jurrgens 6.56 WARR
13. Ryan Braun 6.49 WARR
14. Tim Lincecum 6.40 WARR
15. Jason Werth 6.29 WARR adj+

Rest of the top 20
16. Javier Vazquez
17. Cliff Lee adj+
18. Chris Carpenter adj-
19. Ben Zobrist
20. CC Sabathia adj+

Okay, that's twice now. It's MAUER not Maurer.

I would like to officially apologize to Joe MAUER and Hanley RAMIREZ for not editing my post sufficiently well to catch the fact that I had misspelled their names.

2009 Ballot

1. Joe Mauer, C, Minnesota Twins: one of the greatest hitting seasons we've ever seen from a catcher; league-leading OPS+ of 171 and RC of 138
2. Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals: dominates the senior circuit with 189 OPS+ and 165 RC
3. Zack Greinke, P, Kansas City Royals: huge year with 205 ERA+ in 229 IP
4. Hanley Ramirez, SS, Florida Marlins: big bat and not actually a liability on D this year (+2 fielding)
5. Chase Utley, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies: does everything well, like +10 baserunning and +12 fielding
6. Felix Hernandez, P, Seattle Mariners: 171 ERA+ in 238 IP
7. Prince Fielder, 1B, Milwaukee Brewers: 2nd in NL with 166 OPS+ and 150 RC
8. Ben Zobrist, 2B/OF, Tampa Bay Rays: the legend of Zobrist Super Utility Man begins here
9. Roy Halladay, P, Toronto Blue Jays: 239 IP to lead the AL
10. Tim Lincecum, P, San Francisco Giants: 171 ERA+ is 2nd in the NL
11. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, San Diego Padres: 162 OPS+ and +15 fielding
12. Derek Jeter, SS, New York Yankees: the old man can still put up a 125 OPS+ and 123 RC while playing 150 games at short
13. Chris Carpenter, P, St. Louis Cardinals: 182 ERA+ leads the NL but 192 IP is low even for this era
14. Adam Wainwright, P, St. Louis Cardinals: 233 IP leads the NL to go with a 155 ERA+
15. Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Colorado Rockies: 131 OPS+ and +13 fielding, positional adjustment keeps him ahead of Zim

16. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, Washington Nationals: 133 OPS+ and +22 fielding
17. Kevin Youkilis, 1B/3B, Boston Red Sox
18. Jair Jurrjens, P, Atlanta Braves
19. Mark Teixeira, 1B, New York Yankees
20. Ryan Braun, LF, Milwaukee Brewers

I would like to officially apologize to Joe MAUER and Hanley RAMIREZ for not editing my post sufficiently well to catch the fact that I had misspelled their names.

Also Jair Jurrjens and Jayson Werth but I had to look up Jurrjens.

I see Mauer misspelled often as Maurer by Twins fans and it always irritates me.

Final ballot

1. Albert Pujols - top NL position player; 180 wRC+ in his final MVP-caliber season
2. Chase Utley - excels in every area (top 10 in offense, fielding, baserunning), plus those 5 World Series homeruns
3. Joe Mauer - top AL position player; 171 wRC+ as catcher
4. Ben Zobrist - all-around great player; led MLB in fWar
5. Zack Greinke - top hurler; docked slightly for innings pitched
6. Hanley Ramirez - .342/.410/.543 back when he played SS and fielded moderately well
7. Prince Fielder - one of the top three offensive contributors
8. Adrian Gonzalez - massive offense in an extreme pitchers' park
9. Justin Verlander - possibly his best season, cleared 10K per 9IP in over 240 innings
10. Tim Lincecum - his second and last MVP-caliber year, docked slightly for amount of IP
11. Derek Jeter - post-season bump
12. Evan Longoria - stellar 3B play
13. Ryan Zimmerman - just a notch below Longoria
14. Franklin Gutierrez - extra-ordinary fielding season combined with above average offense
15. Chone Figgins - buoyed by fielding / position, hangs on to bottom slot despite poor post-season

2009 MMP ballot (now giving small post-season bonus based upon cWPA)

1. Albert Pujols (25.90)
2. Zack Geinke (20.08) - AL MMP
3. Joe Mauer (19.64) - AL MMPosition Player
4. Ben Zobrist (17.68)
5. Chase Utley (15.55)
6. Evan Longoria (13.22)
7. Brian McCann (12.90) - again boosted by excellent BP framing numbers
8. Hanley Ramirez (12.61)
9. Adrian Gonzalez (12.59)
10. Roy Halladay (11.36)
11. Ryan Braun (11.36)
12. Tim Lincecum (11.22) - NL MMPitcher
13. Chone Figgins (10.72)
14. Ryan Zimmerman (10.57)
15. Troy Tulowitski (10.25)

16-25. Chris Carpenter, Josh Johnson, Yadier Molina, Prince Fielder, Dan Haren, Matt Holliday, Felix Hernandez, CC Sabathia, Carl Crawford, Jon Lester.

Official 2009 MMP Ballot (no postseason bonuses):

1) Albert Pujols: Best ML player and first baseman.
2) Joe Mauer: Best AL player (close to topping Pujols for best ML player) and catcher.
3) Hanley Ramirez: Best ML shortstop.
4) Prince Fielder: Best AL first baseman.
5) Chase Utley: Best ML second baseman.
6) Ryan Braun: Best ML left fielder.
7) Zack Greinke: Best ML pitcher.
8) Pablo Sandoval: Best ML third baseman.
9) Adrian Gonzalez:
10) Roy Halladay:
11) Ben Zobrist: Best AL second baseman.
12) Chris Carpenter: Best NL pitcher.
13) Kevin Youkilis:
14) Evan Longoria: Best AL third baseman.
15) Tim Lincecum:

That's part of the problem of handing out retroactive awards: we know the future. Mark Fidrych didn't win the 1976 CY (hell, he had a good argument for MVP) because voters figured, "Ahh, he's young, he'll have other chances." (No, he wouldn't.)

Heh. Our crystal ball works a whole lot better than the writer's. :-)

writers', not writer's

Last day to vote

Final ballot-no postseason credit but some small credit for playing for a Division-contender
1. Pujols--clearly #1 for me
2. Mauer-well played Mauer, sorry had to say it...I'll show myself out
3. Utley--final year of excellent, underrated peak
4. Grienke--best pitcher but don't quite have him as high as WAR does
5. Zobrist--I often find myself discounting Zobrist's & Utley's defense some but they still place high
6. Teixeira--#6 through 15 are pretty close, put up MVP like campaign in first year in NY but WAR doesn't agree
7. Jeter--not as hurt by glove this year
8. Fielder
9. Lincecum--best NL pitcher
10.Longoria--being double play fodder hurt ranking
11.Felix Hernandez
12.Adrian Gonzalez--I really thought once he left San Diego that he'd regularly hit 40
13.Hanley Ramirez
14.Ryan Zimmerman
15.Tulowitzki

Polls are closed