The Nyrdcast 2018 IBWAA Award Ballot

Each year, members of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) vote on the same awards that the BBWAA vote on; this is the internet’s answer to traditional awards.

Each member of the group votes for 10 MVP candidates from each league, 5 Cy Young, 3 Rookie of the Year, 3 Manager of the Year, and 3 Relievers of the Year.

Ballots were due on the last day of the season. Here is what I submitted.

AL MVP
1. Mike Trout, OF, LAA
2. Mookie Betts, OF, BOS
3. Matt Chapman, 3B, OAK
4. Jose Ramirez, 3B, CLE
5. Alex Bregman, 3B, HOU
6. Francisco Lindor, SS, CLE
7. J.D. Martinez, DH, BOS
8. Blake Snell, SP, TBR
9. Andrelton Simmons, SS, LAA
10. Chris Sale, SP, BOS

It was really a toss up between Trout and Betts for me. I’m not a guy that feels the MVP should come from contender. Trout is the best player in baseball and the Angels wouldn’t have even been in the picture for the first half of the season.

AL Cy Young
1. Blake Snell, RHP, TBR
2. Chris Sale, LHP, BOS
3. Justin Verlander, RHP, HOU
4. Gerrit Cole, RHP, HOU
5. Trevor Bauer, RHP, CLE

Snell put together the best season by a pitcher in the AL. Sale was close, but the fact that he missed some time to injury hurt his overall counting numbers.

AL Rookie of the Year
1. Shohei Ohtani, DH/RHP, LAA
2. Gleyber Torres, 3B, NYY
3. Joey Wendle, 2B, TBR

Normally I don’t vote for Japanese players in these awards; they have more experience than other rookies and have traditionally been older. Ohtani was a younger one compared to past Japanese winners and he impacted the team as a hitter and pitcher. It’s a shame he’ll miss part of next season.

AL Manager of the Year
1. Bob Melvin, OAK
2. Kevin Cash, TBR
3. Aaron Boone, NYY

Did anyone see the A’s being as good as they were? They constantly replaced injured players, got performances from no-ones and has-beens. Credit needs to go to Melvin for leading the team.

AL Reliever of the Year
1. Edwin Diaz, RHP, SEA
2. Blake Treinen, RHP, OAK
3. Craig Kimbrel, RHP, BOS

If you look at save totals, Diaz is the obvious candidate. I looked at other indicators, like a 15.2 K/9 and FIP/SIERA numbers that were lower than his stellar 1.96 ERA.

NL MVP
1. Christian Yelich, OF, MIL
2. Javier Baez, 2B, CHC
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL
4. Lorenzo Cain, OF, MIL
5. Matt Carpenter, 3B, STL
6. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, ARI
7. Jacob deGrom, SP, NYM
8. Nolan Arenado, 3B, COL
9. Anthony Rendon, 3B, WAS
10. Trevor Story, SS, COL

Without Yelich, the chances of the Brewers winning the NL Central were slim to none. Some might say the Cubs would have been the same way without Baez and that Yelich had Cain helping him out. Either way, they both had good seasons.

deGrom was a guy I struggled with. He had an amazing season but I struggled with giving the MVP to a pitcher. The tipping point was on last week’s Statcast Podcast, where former Mets’ pitcher Ron Darling said he wouldn’t give him the award because he’s only a factor every fifth day. If a former pitcher says that, it adds some weight to my decision.

NL Cy Young
1. Jacob deGrom, RHP, NYM
2. Aaron Nola, RHP, PHI
3. Max Scherzer, RHP, WAS
4. Kyle Freeland, RHP, COL
5. Miles Mikolas, RHP, STL

If deGrom is in consideration for MVP, he’s the obvious front runner here. Nola had a good season too, but this Tweet shows you the dominance of deGrom.

I know wins and losses aren’t on solely on the pitchers, and hopefully the BBWAA think about this when they vote.

NL Rookie of the Year
1. Ronald Acuna, OF, ATL
2. Juan Soto, OF, WAS
3. Harrison Bader, OF, STL

This was a no brainer. Acuna and Soto had unreal seasons; either was deserving of the award.

NL Manager of the Year
1. Craig Counsel, MIL
2. Brian Snitker, ATL
3. Gabe Kapler, PHI

All 3 candidates took their teams much further than anyone expected at this point of their rebuilds. Any of them are deserving, but Counsel gets the nod.

NL Reliever of the Year
1. Kenley Jansen, RHP, LAD
2. Felipe Vazquez, RHP, PIT
3. Josh Hader, RHP, MIL

I really wanted Hader higher than this, but if he got more saves, he’d be worth more to the Brewers. Instead I went by saves, which does drive me nuts.

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments or shoot me an email. Watch the site over the next few weeks as the winners are announced.