BBTF's Hall of Merit Discussion :: Most Meritorious Player: 2015 Ballot

Hall of Merit
— A Look at Baseball's All-Time Best

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Most Meritorious Player: 2015 Ballot

Here are the specific rules for this election:

Candidate Eligibility: Any North American professional baseball player is eligible for the Most Meritorious Player (MMP) award including players on independent teams. Voters should consider the player’s on-field contribution to Major League Baseball (MLB) team(s) in that season only. If part of the season was spent outside MLB, that value may be considered as well. However, the player’s on-field contribution should be judged in relation to the highest level major league, not relative to a minor league. A season may include playoff or World Series games but does not include spring training or exhibition games. No credit will be given for games not played due to injury, wartime service or contract holdouts.

Ballot Length: For 2015, each voter should rank 15 players.

Voter eligibility: All voters who did not vote in the previous year’s election must post a preliminary ballot in the ballot discussion thread at least 2 days before voting ends. All voters must fill out a complete ballot. Voters must briefly explain their ballot choices. One person, one vote; anyone determined to have voted with multiple accounts will be banned and their votes will be disallowed. The MMP ballot committee has authority to exclude any ballot that does not meet these requirements.
Scoring: Points will be given in descending order with the highest-ranked player receiving 15 points, the second highest 14 points, and so on until the last player on the ballot receives 1 point. The player with the highest point total will be named the Most Meritorious Player. In case of a tie, the tiebreaker will be number of 1st place votes. If the first tiebreaker does not determine a winner the players will share the title of Most Meritorious Player.

Balloting will close at 4pm EST on 6 January 2016.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 5 January 2016.

DL from MN Posted: December 22, 2015 at 10:56 AM | 18 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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1. DL from MN Posted: December 22, 2015 at 11:47 AM (#5118506)

Posting early due to holiday break

2. DL from MN Posted: January 02, 2016 at 12:16 PM (#5124242)

Ouch, not one ballot yet. Might have to give extra time.

3. Qufini Posted: January 02, 2016 at 02:19 PM (#5124311)

Thanks for the reminder, DL. I forgot all about this thread in the midst of the HoM discussions. Also, after further reading, I flipped Harper and Trout from my prelim.

2015 Ballot

1. Bryce Harper, RF, Washington Nationals: dominates the senior circuit with 195 OP+ and 161 RC
2. Mike Trout, CF, Los Angeles Angels: ho-hum, just another dominant season leading the AL in OPS+ and R
3. Josh Donaldson, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays: the challenger to the AL crown falls just short
4. Jake Arrieta, P, Chicago Cubs
5. Zack Greinke, P, Los Angeles Dodgers: Arrieta edges out Greinke due to 7 extra IP, or roughly 1 game
6. Dallas Keuchel, P, Houston Astros: Keuchel is 1st in AL ERA+ and IP
7. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks: another quietly great season in the desert
8. David Price, P, Detroit/Toronto: Price is 2nd and 3rd in AL ERA+ and IP
9. Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds: good (+6 fielding), not great glove holds him behind Goldschmidt (+18)
10. Clayton Kershaw, P, Los Angeles Dodgers: 175 ERA+ in 232 IP
11. Manny Machado, 3B, Baltimore Orioles: a great combination of offense (131 OPS+, 113 RC) and defense (+13 fielding)
12. Buster Posey, C, San Francisco Giants: 135 OPS+ and 70% of his games at catcher
13. Nelson Cruz, RF, Seattle Marines: even better than he was in 2014
14. Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Detroit Tigers: missing time hurts his chances but 170 OPS+ is still 2nd in AL
15. Anthony Rizzo, 1B, Chicago Cubs: 144 OPS+ and 124 RC

16. Sonny Gray, P, Oakland Athletics: 3rd in AL ERA+ with 147
17. Nolan Arenado, 3B, Colorado Rockies: 124 OPS+ and +18 fielding
18. AJ Pollock, CF, Arizona Diamondbacks: 132 OPS+ and +14 fielding
19. Chris Davis, 1B, Baltimore Orioles: 146 ERA+ and 121 RC pushes him ahead of the Blue Jays big bats
20. Wade Davis, RP, Kansas City Royals: a 0.94 ERA and 444 ERA+ deserves attention

4. lieiam Posted: January 03, 2016 at 03:13 PM (#5124804)

I haven't voted for a while now... but with the Holidays I've managed to make the time (plus I was more motivated as I was especially curious to see what I came up with for this past year). No post season bonus and a 10% catcher bonus (if 100% playing catcher, and adjusted accordingly).

For 2015 I did my "uber stat blender" method using:
baseball reference WAR, fangraphs WAR, baseball gauge WAR, win shares and win shares above bench.

1 Harper, Bryce 9608
2 Trout, Mike 9464
3 Donaldson, Josh 8126
4 Arrieta, Jake 8098
5 Greinke, Zack 7966
6 Goldshmidt, Paul 7822
7 Votto, Joey 7398
8 Machado, Manny 7035
9 Kershaw, Clayton 6966
10 Keuchel, Dallas 6481
11 Cain, Lorenzo 6424
12 Rizzo, Anthony 6347
13 Posey, Buster 6105
14 Pollock, A.J. 6095
15 Cespedes, Yoenis 6064

16 Scherzer, Max 6061
17 McCutcheon, Andrew 6026
18 Bryant, Kris 5931
19 Price, David 5782
20 Davis, Chris 5735

5. John (You Can Call Me Grandma) Murphy Posted: January 03, 2016 at 06:14 PM (#5124878)

Official 2015 MMP Ballot (no postseason bonuses):

1) Bryce Harper, RF: Best ML player and right fielder by a comfortable amount.
2) Mike Trout, CF: Best AL player and ML center fielder.
3) Josh Donaldson, 3B: Best ML third baseman.
4) Paul Goldschmidt, 1B: Best ML first baseman.
5) Joey Votto: Not that far away from being the best ML first baseman himself.
6) Manny Machado, 3B
7) Buster Posey, C: Best ML catcher.
8) Jake Arrieta: Best ML pitcher by a sliver.
9) Anthony Rizzo, 1B
10) Zack Grienke, SP
11) Lorenzo Cain, CF
12) A.J. Pollock, CF: Best NL center fielder.
13) Wade Davis, RP: Best AL pitcher and ML reliever.
14) Dallas Keuchel: Best AL starting pitcher.
15) Nelson Cruz, RF: Best AL right fielder.

Happy New Year!

6. DL from MN Posted: January 04, 2016 at 11:26 AM (#5125170)

2015 ballot

1) Zack Greinke - phenomenal pitching year, a little postseason credit but he doesn't need it to outclass everyone. Best year for a pitcher 2012-2015 combined
2) Mike Trout - Harper and Trout are very close, Fangraphs doesn't like Harper's glovework
3) Bryce Harper - baseball's best hitter
4) Josh Donaldson - small postseason bonus
5) Jake Arrieta - bad postseason, no bonus
6) Paul Goldschmidt
7) Lorenzo Cain - moves up with solid, long postseason run
8) Clayton Kershaw - another terrific season but not quite enough for the top honors
9) Max Scherzer
10) AJ Pollock
11) Dallas Keuchel - best AL pitcher
12) Kevin Kiermaier
13) Buster Posey - best C
14) Manny Machado
15) Joey Votto - second best bat

16-20) Jason Heyward, Kris Bryant, Yoenis Cespedes, David Price, Brandon Crawford
21-25) Sonny Gray, John Lackey, Mookie Betts, Ian Kinsler, Adrian Beltre

7. DL from MN Posted: January 05, 2016 at 02:00 PM (#5126221)

I'm going to extend one week and post on the Yahoo site. Balloting closes 1/13 now.

8. Michael J. Binkley's anxiety closet Posted: January 05, 2016 at 02:18 PM (#5126252)

edit : noticed error in my spreadsheet - will fix and resubmit ballot.

9. Michael J. Binkley's anxiety closet Posted: January 05, 2016 at 02:45 PM (#5126292)

2015 MMP ballot

I use a combination of WAR systems (BRef, FG, BGauge), add in game calling//blocked pitches from BProspectus and I give a 20% bonus for time played at catcher, and no postseason credit.

1. Bruce Harper, RF, Was
2. Zack Greinke, SP, LAD - NL MMPitcher
3. Mike Trout, CF, LAA - AL MMP
4. Jake Arrieta, SP, ChC - I guess he'll have to "settle" for the official Cy Young award
5. Josh Donaldson, 3b, Tor - best MLB 3b
6. Buster Posey, C, SF - best MLB catcher
7. Paul Goldschmidt, 1b, Ari - best MLB 1b
8. Clayton Kershaw, SP, LAD - Not even best pitcher on his own team this year. Clearly he sucks. :)
9. Joey Votto, 1b, Cin
10. Dallas Keuchel, SP, Hou - AL MMPitcher
11. Manny Machado, 3b, Bal
12. Max Scherzer, SP, Was
13. A.J. Pollock, CF, Ari - best NL CF
14. Lorenzo Cain, CF, KC
15. Kevin Keirmaier, CF, TB

16-25: David Price, Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward, Russell Martin, Anthony Rizzo, Madison Bumgarner, Andrew McCutchen, Chris Davis, Mookie Betts.

Only net result of the edit was Keuchel and Machado switched spots.

10. DL from MN Posted: January 05, 2016 at 02:55 PM (#5126304)

Counting that for Bryce Harper

11. Michael J. Binkley's anxiety closet Posted: January 05, 2016 at 08:27 PM (#5126596)

Yeah, Bryce - #%*¥ing autocorrect.

12. caiman Posted: January 05, 2016 at 08:35 PM (#5126601)

Here's my RPA list with the number of calculated runs produced above the average player:

1. Bryce Harper 63.44 runs
2. Paul Goldschmidt 53.25 runs
3. Mike Trout 48.51 runs
4. Zack Greinke 38.90 runs
5. Clayton Kershaw 38.36 runs
6. Jake Arrieta 37.23 runs
7. Nelson Cruz 36.64 runs
8. Josh Donaldson 33.96 runs
9. Joey Votto 32.75 runs
10. Chris Davis 32.44 runs
11. Matt Carpenter 32.23 runs
12. Jose Bautista 31.77 runs
13. Andrew McCutchen 31.54 runs
14. Edwin Encarnacion 29.16 runs
15. Kris Bryant 27.48 runs
16. A.J. Pollock 27.31 runs
17. Miguel Cabrera 27.03 runs

13. toratoratora Posted: January 05, 2016 at 08:38 PM (#5126603)

Final ballot:

1-Harper: 195 OPS+,1.109 OPS+,plus baserunner, plus fielder
2-Grienke: 225 ERA+
3-Arrieta: 222 ERA+, you can separate these two with a hair
4-Trout: 176 OPS+,41 HR, plus fielder
5-Donaldson: 155 OPS+, average defense, Trout and Josh are as close as Jake and Zach
6-Goldschmidt:21 SB, 33 HR, 1.005 OPS+, neutral defense
7-Votto: 1.000 OPS+, 29 HR, 143 BB
8-Kershaw: 301 K's, 175 ERA+
9-Machado: 131 OPS+, stellar defense
10-Posey: Catcher bonus bumps him into the field. 135 OPS+
11-Keuchel: AL best pitcher, 216 K, 162 ERA+
12-Rizzo: Plus Defense, 144 OPS+
13-Pollock: 39 SB, 132 OPS+, great defense at premium position
14-Scherzer: 276 K, 144 ERA+
15-Cain: Terrific Defense, 126 OPS+

Honorable Mention:
Davis
Bryant
Grandy
Cruz
Price

14. DL from MN Posted: January 07, 2016 at 01:22 PM (#5128434)

Reminder - If you have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 12 January 2016

15. DL from MN Posted: January 11, 2016 at 11:20 AM (#5131025)

Voted recently, haven't voted yet

Yardape
EricC
bjhanke

Mr C voted for 2015 MMP also

16. DL from MN Posted: January 12, 2016 at 09:45 AM (#5131812)

Only 7 ballots but I'm closing tomorrow

17. DL from MN Posted: January 13, 2016 at 02:31 PM (#5133228)

90 minutes left

18. DL from MN Posted: January 13, 2016 at 04:10 PM (#5133372)

Balloting is closed.

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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Most Meritorious Player: 2015 Ballot

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