1) Roy Halladay - best pitcher, then postseason no-hitter and a decent NLCS
2) Josh Hamilton - best regular season player, decent ALCS but rest of playoffs were stinky
3) Robinson Cano - playoff bump
4) Evan Longoria - small playoff bump
5) Ubaldo Jimenez - good pitching in Colorado
6) Adrian Beltre
7) Josh Johnson - great rate stats make up for lower innings
8) Joe Mauer - C bonus
9) Felix Hernandez - best AL pitcher
10) Troy Tulowitzki
11) Brett Gardner - fangraphs downgrades his glove a little and this season is all glove
12) Albert Pujols - not good at defense. 2nd best bat to Votto
13) Carl Crawford
14) Adam Wainwright
15) Ryan Zimmerman - strong glove

16-20) Jose Bautista, Chase Utley, Joey Votto, Roy Oswalt, Tim Hudson
21-25) Cole Hamels, Carlos Ruiz, Jason Heyward, Clay Buchholz, Andres Torres
26-30) Alexei Ramirez, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez, Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee

1. Josh Hamilton - AL MMP, toss-up between JH and Votto for best bat in MLB
2. Evan Longoria - great offense and superior defense
3. Joey Votto - NL MMP, best bat (tied)
4. Carl Crawford - all around excellence
5. Albert Pujols - 3rd best bat, just ahead of Bautista
6. Robinson Cano
7. Joey Bautista - great offense
8. Adrian Beltre
9. Roy Halladay - best pitcher, solid post-season
10. Miguel Cabrera
11. Matt Holliday
12. Ryan Zimmerman
13. Shin-Soo Choo
14. Carlos Gonzalez
15. Cliff Lee - post-season bump

Just missed - Brett Gardner

Big bat, no glove - Paul Konkerko

Others worth mentioning - Jayson Werth, Adrian Gonzalez, Aubrey Huff, Troy Tulowitzki, Felix Hernandez, Ubaldo Jimenez, Ricky Weeks, Andres Torres

2010 Final Ballot

WAR framework using value added runs, DRS for defense, post season adjustment based on WPA during the post season (adj + or adj-), fewer replacement runs (WARR)

1. Robinson Cano 8.57 WARR adj +
2. Josh Hamilton 8.17 WARR adj -
3. Albert Pujols 8.03 WARR
4. Roy Halladay 7.89 WARR adj +
5. Evan Longoria 7.63 WARR adj -
6. Joey Votto 7.29 WARR adj -
7. Jose Bautista 7.03 WARR
8. Miguel Cabrera 6.81 WARR
9. Troy Tulowitzki 6.69 WARR
10. Felix Hernandez 6.61 WARR
11. Tim Hudson 6.41 WARR adj +
12. Adrian Beltre 6.40 WARR
13. Brett Gardner 6.34 WARR adj -
14. Ubaldo Jiminez 6.31 WARR
15. Adam Wainwright 6.26 WARR

Rest of the top 20
Carlos Gonzalez
Jason Heyward
Josh Johnson
Chase Utley
Ryan Zimmerman

2010 Ballot

1. Felix Hernandez, P, Seattle Mariners: the King earns his crown with a 174 ERA+ in an AL-leading 249 IP
2. Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals: 173 OPS+ leads NL, +8 fielding pushes him ahead of Votto
3. Josh Hamilton, LF/CF, Texas Rangers: best position player in the AL
4. Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds: 144 RC leads the majors but +3 fielding doesn't match Pujols or Hamilton
5. Roy Halladay, P, Philadelphia Phillies: best pitcher in the NL
6. Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Detroit Tigers: AL-leading 178 OPS+ but gives back a fair amount on defense (-5 fielding)
7. Robinson Cano, 2B, New York Yankees: top ten OPS+ (141) and +16 fielding from the keystone
8. Jose Bautista, RF, Toronto Blue Jays: Joey Bats emerges with a 164 OPS+ and 139 Runs Created
9. Adam Wainwright, P, St. Louis Cardinals: 160 ERA+ in 230 IP
10. Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Colorado Rockies: top ten in OPS+ (138) and +19 fielding from shortstop, playing time keeps him behind Cano
11. Ubaldo Jimenez, P, Colorado Rockies: 161 ERA+ in 221 IP
12. Evan Longoria, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays: top ten OPS+ (143) and +20 fielding from the hot corner
13. Clay Buchholz, P, Boston Red Sox: 187 ERA+ leads MLB but low IP (173) hurts his cause
14. Adrian Beltre, 3B, Texas Rangers: nearly identical to Longoria with 141 OPS+ and +19 fielding
15. Josh Johnson, P, Florida Marlins: 180 ERA+ leads NL but low IP (183) hurts his cause

16. Joe Mauer, C/DH, Minnesota Twins: top ten OPS+ (140) while wearing the tools of ignorance
17. Carlos Gonzalez, CF/RF, Colorado Rockies: best Gonzalez this year despite tough competition from Adrian and Gio
18. Matt Holliday, LF, St. Louis Cardinals
19. CC Sabathia, P, New York Yankees
20. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, Washington Nationals

2010 Ballot Using BBRefWAR with Defense regressed 25%
1) Roy Halladay(8.1) - Dead heat with Hamilton, but the postseason NH pushes him over the edge.
2) Josh Hamilton(8.0) - I'll say best offensive player in baseball but several are close.
3) Ubaldo Jimenez(7.4) - Huge year on the mound in a tough park to do that in.
4-10 were incredibly difficult to rank. I wouldn't argue with any alternate ranking of these players with respect to each other.
4) Robinson Cano(7.0) - Solid defender and easily the best offensively at a premium position.
5) Felix Hernandez(7.1) - Best Pitcher in the AL and its not close.
6) Albert Pujols(7.0) - Huge Bat and better than average 1B.
7) Jose Bautista(7.1) - Huge bat and adequate in the field.
8) Josh Johnson(6.8) - Career season.
9) Evan Longoria(6.8) - Nice offense and defense package and narrowly edged out Beltre at 3B.
10) Miguel Cabrera (6.8) - Would be higher if he were even adequate defensively.
11) Joey Votto(6.7) - One of his best offensive years.
12) Adam Wainwright(6.6)- One of Wainwright 4 relatively equal career years. Definitely one of the elite pitchers in baseball.
13) Adrian Beltre(6.5) - Love those two-way players.
14) Joe Mauer(5.6) - Slight bump in positioning relative to his WAR rank for being the best catcher by a long shot.
15) Carl Crawford(6.4) - Career year for Crawford.

Close, but not quite: Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Zimmerman, Tim Hudson, Clay Buchholtz, Roy Oswalt.

Final 2010 Ballot.

1) Robinson Cano: 103 R,41 2b, 29 hr, 109 RBI, 141 OPS+, +16 RField, decent postseason
2) Albert Pujols: 115 R, 39 2b, 42 HR, 118 RBI, 130 BB, 173 OPS+, 350 TB, the slip in fielding from prior years cost him the top spot
3) Evan Longoria: 22 hr, 15 sb, 143 OPS+, +20 RField
4) Josh Hamilton: 40 2b, 32 HR, 100 RBI, 170 OPS+, +11 Rfield
5) Joey Votto: 106 R, 36 2b, 37 HR, 113 RBI, 91 BB, 171 OPS+, 1st of four straight years leading in OPS.
6) Jose Bautista: 109 R, 35 2b, 54 HR, 124 RBI, 100 BB, 164 OPS+, Shazam
7) Roy Halladay: 167 ERA+ in 250 IP, 219 K. Most systems see Doc as above the King. I'm not as certain as they are. There is that postseason no-no though
8) Felix Hernandez: 2.27 ERA, 174 ERA+ in 249 IP. 232 K
9) Carl Crawford: He who shall not be named
10) Ubaldo Jimenez: 2.88 ERA, 161 ERA+, 214 K in 221 IP…in Colorado. The out of nowhere player of the year and the best season for a Rockies pitcher I ever saw.
11)Adrian Beltre: 49 2b, 28 HR, 102 RBI and between knee drops hits and pats on the head maybe the most entertaining player of the year
12)Adrian Gonzales
13)Jason Werth
14)Cliff Lee
15)CC Sabathia

Honorable mentions in order:Brett Gardner, Ryan Zimmerman, Tim Hudson, Josh Johnson, Miggy, Papi

2010 Final Ballot Amended

DL, please ignore post 3, as I miscalculated a very important part of my evaluation. And i would rather embarrass myself than have an incorrect ballot. :-) Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.


WAR framework using value added runs, DRS for defense, post season adjustment based on WPA during the post season (adj + or adj-), fewer replacement runs (WARR)

1. Robinson Cano 8.55 WARR adj +
2. Josh Hamilton 7.71 WARR adj -
3 Roy Halladay 7.60 WARR adj +
4. Evan Longoria 7.38 WARR adj -
5. Joey Votto 6.93 WARR adj -
6. Tim Hudson 6.62 WARR adj +
7. Felix Hernandez 6.61 WARR
8. Albert Pujols 6.53 WARR
9. Brett Gardner 6.53 WARR adj -
10. Adam Wainwright 6.48 WARR
11. Chase Utley 6.47 WARR adj+
12. Josh Johnson 6.33 WARR
13. Ubaldo Jimenez 6.29 WARR
14. Troy Tulowitzki 6.24 WARR
15. Jose Bautista 6.11 WARR

Rest of the top 20
16. Miguel Cabrera
17. Carl Crawford
18. Jason Heyward
19. Michael Bourn
20. Adrian Beltre

Official 2010 MMP Ballot (no postseason bonuses):

1) Robinson Cano: Best ML player and second baseman.
2) Albert Pujols: Best NL player and ML first baseman.
3) Evan Longoria: Best ML third baseman.
4) Adrian Gonzalez
5) Josh Hamilton: Best ML left fielder.
6) Jose Bautista: Best ML right fielder.
7) Joey Votto
8) Carl Crawford
9) Miguel Cabrera: Best AL first baseman.
10) Paul Konerko AL
11) Troy Tulowitzki: Best ML shortstop.
12) Matt Holliday: Best NL left fielder.
13) Joe Mauer: Best ML catcher.
14) Roy Halladay: Best ML pitcher.
15) Ubaldo Jiménez

Best AL pitcher: Felix Hernandez

Grandma, do you think you're being a little harsh on pitchers? Your top pitcher is at 14 and your top AL pitcher doesn't even make the ballot. Everyone else has at least one pitcher in the top ten.

Grandma, do you think you're being a little harsh on pitchers?

For the MMP elections (unlike the HoM, FWIW), no. In fact, I think many of you are too generous around here with the more contemporary hurlers, Chris With that said, I have explained myself a few times here and I doubt anybody's mind will be changed. :-)

Happy New Year to one and all!

FWIW, I did have a pitcher as high as #5 in the election just before this one, which was close to what the average top pitcher was on the other ballots.

Fair enough. Thanks for responding, Grandma.

1) Josh Hamilton: Best player on the AL West champions, fantastic ALCS
2) Robinson Cano: Best season by one of the best 2B of all-time, awesome postseason
3) Roy Halladay: Best player on the NL East champions, solid in the postseason
4) Evan Longoria: Best player on the AL East champions, mediocre in the postseason
5) Joey Votto: Best player on the NL Central champions, although horrible in the postseason
6) Ubaldo Jimenez: Greatest season ever by a COL pitcher, did not make the postseason
7) Albert Pujols: One of the best NL hitters, did not make the postseason
8) Troy Tulowitski: Best season by the best offensive SS of the decade, did not make the postseason
9) Josh Johnson: Career year by a pitcher who had a very short career, did not make the postseason
10) Jose Bautista: The AL "Where-The-Hell-Did-He-Come-From Player of the Year," did not make the postseason
11) Adam Wainwright: Best season by one of the best SP of the decade, did not make the postseason
12) Felix Hernandez: One of the best seasons by one of the best SP of the decade, did not make the postseason (101 losses)
13) Miguel Cabrera: Not one of his best seasons but still good to finish 2nd in MVP, did not make the postseason
14) Aubrey Huff: The NL "Where-The-Hell-Did-He-Come-From Player of the Year," solid postseason
15) Brett Gardner: 2nd best player on the AL Wild Card, terrible in the postseason

Here's Brock Hanke's frozen ballot for 2010. The usual approach; the usual disconnects between Win Shares and WAR. This time, though, the disconnects have set a new record. Prince Fielder, ranked tied for 16th in Win Shares with Shin-Soo Choo, is ranked, on the list in the header, dead last in WAR, 91st place, with 1.5 Wins Above Replacement. But the actual situation is much, much worse. I went to BB-Ref, and sorted through Play Index for Batter WAR and Pitcher WAR for 2010. After all, at the 1.5 WAR range, there are a lot of players who aren't on the header at all, not to mention about 15 ties at 1.5 WAR itself. Well, combining batters and pitchers, Fielder actually ranked tied for 290th place! Really. WAR thinks that Fielder, who had a basic Prince Fielder season, is close to being the 300th best player in the game, no better. Win Shares has him ranked 16th. Now, THAT is a disconnect, and it involves no pitching. Anyway, aside from the story of the Fielder who cannot Field, here's my list:

1. Robinson Cano
2. Evan Longoria
3. Albert Pujols
4. Josh Hamilton
5. Jose Bautista
6. Carl Crawford
7. Joey Votto
8. Miguel Cabrera
9. Adrian Beltre
10. Roy Halladay
11. Troy Tulowitzki
12. Aubrey Huff
13. Shin-Too Choo
14. Felix Hernandez
15. Joe Mauer

Close election. I'm blocked from posting the reminder to the Yahoo group at the moment. Can someone else do that please?

My 2010 MMP ballot:

1. Josh Hamilton (19.16)
2. Albert Pujols (15.83) - NL MMP
3. Evan Longoria (15.69)
4. Carl Crawford (14.54)
5. Robinson Cano (14.42)
6. Jose Bautista (14.31)
7. Joey Votto (14.15)
8. Adrian Beltre (12.48)
9. Miguel Cabrera (12.15)
10. Roy Haladay (12.03) - MMPitcher
11. Brett Gardner (11.50)
12. Josh Johnson (11.19)
13. Shin-Soo Choo (10.85)
14. Joe Mauer (10.71)
15. Troy Tulowitski (10.65)

16-25. Felix Hernandez (AL MMPitcher), Ryan Zimmerman, Brian McCann, Ubaldo Jimenez, Chase Utley, Andres Torres, Adam Wainwright, Clay Buchholz, Roy Oswalt, Jim Thome).

2010 All-Pro Team:

c- Joe Mauer
1b - Albert Pujols
2b - Robinson Cano
3b - Evan Longoria
ss - Troy Tulowitski
lf - Josh Hamilton
cf - Andres Torres
rf - Jose Bautista
dh - Jim Thome

sp - Roy Halladay, Josh Johnson, Felix Hernandez, Ubaldo Jimenez, Adam Wainwright
rp - Brian Wilson

Here's my RPA rated top MLB players for 2010, with the run value, above the median:

1. Josh Hamilton 49.64 runs
2. Joey Votto 44.36 runs
3. Carl Crawford 44.33 runs
4. Jason Heyward 39.22 runs
5. Kevin Youkilis 38.89 runs
6. Ubaldo Jimenez 36.66 runs
7. Miguel Cabrera 35.98 runs
8. Matt Holiday 34.98 runs
9. Aubrey Huff 34.10 runs
10. Jayson Werth 31.72 runs
11. Albert Pujols 31.59 runs
12. Justin Morneau 31.00 runs
13. Tim Hudson 30.89 runs
14. Adam Wainwright 30.64 runs
15. Andrew McCutchen
16. Dan Uggla 29.71 runs
17. Jim Thome 28.95 runs
18. John Danks 26.39 runs
19. Daric Barton 26.29 runs
20. Paul Konerko 26.08 runs

Where does RPA rank Halladay, Longoria and Cano?

Final ballot-no postseason credit but some small credit for playing for a Division-contender
1. Pujols--top 5 or 6 were pretty close
2. Cano
3. Longoria
4. Votto
5. Hamilton--had a very interesting up and down career and often so it was so goes Hamilton, so goes the Rangers
6. Halladay
7. Beltre--bet on himself and became a better player
8. Cabrera
9. Jimenez--amazing season by Rockies pitcher
10.Bautista
11.Crawford
12.Wainwright
13.Mauer--catcher bonus
14.C Gonzalez
15.Price

Caiman does not include defense in his rankings. Kind of defeats the whole purpose.

One hour left

Balloting is closed

Caiman did include defense!

I had Halladay just outside the top at +24.16 runs
I had Longoria at +21.66 runs and Cano at + 14.32 runs

I would love to know what is going on with your assessment of Cano.