2010 Fantasy Baseball MVPs
American League
Every year there is a player or two who comes out of nowhere and makes a big impact not just on their team but in the league. For the second straight year the Blue Jays have given us that player. Yes, Jose Bautista will turn 30 next week but until two or even three months into the season I bet, if asked, you couldn’t have told anyone who he was. Prior to this year, 2007 was unquestionably his best season with 75 runs, 15 homers, 63 rbi, 6 stolen bases, and a .254 batting average. The numbers he put up this year earned him the 2010 Fantasy Baseball AL Most Valuable Player. His totals from this year are 109 runs (5th in AL), 54 home runs (1st), 124 rbi (3rd), he also stole 9 bases, batted .260 and was 3rd in the AL with a .995 OPS. Out of the possible 500 points that every player can get Bautista ranked the highest with 390.31. This wasn’t even a race. Second and third went to Miguel Cabrera (366.96) and Carl Crawford (354.85).
National League
It seems that Pujols starts every season with the MVP trophy and someone has to earn it away from him. That might be
the toughest thing to do in baseball but this year Carlos Gonzalez proved himself capable. It seems every year we hear from scouts and “experts” about the newest can’t miss 5-tool player yet so many of these prospects never fulfill their potential. Carlos Gonzalez has shown us why these scouts continue to love these 5-tool athletes. When they do make it to the show and reach their potential they are the kind of player a team can build a championship contender around. Gonzalez was among the NL leaders in all 5 fantasy categories; 111 runs (3rd), 34 homers (4th), 117 rbi (2nd), 26 steals (tied 11th), .336 batting average (1st) and .974 OPS (3rd).
Cy Youngs
American League
Just like with last years Fantasy AL Cy Young winner (Zack Greinke 16-8, 2.16 ERA) if Felix Hernandez had played for the Yankees or Rays he would have had 23 plus wins but thats why you have to look at all the numbers when analyzing a pitcher’s performance. King Felix was actually better than he was last year when he won 19 games, had an ERA of 2.47 and struck out 217 batters. Despite pitching better than that he went 13-12. This year the 24-year old Hernandez posted a 2.27 ERA over 249 2/3 innings and struck out 232 batters. In 9 of his 34 starts Hernandez went 7 or more innings, allowed 2 ER or less and his team lost. He also had 9 no-decision in which he went 65 2/3 innings and allowed only 13 ER, thats an ERA of 1.78. In his 13 wins this season Hernandez pitched 103 2/3 innings allowed only 10 ER, for an ERA of 0.87. Hopefully this kind of lack of offensive support won’t ruin what looks to be a very productive career.
National League
A true old fashioned workhorse. The spotlight of the playoffs didn’t seem to affect Roy Halladay, it only made him
better. Halladay led all of baseball with 250 2/3 innings pitched and was tied with C. C. Sabathia for most wins with 21. On May 29th of this year in Florida Halladay was given a one run lead and thats all he would need as he tossed a perfect game in front of a seemingly empty Sun Life Stadium. In only 5 of his 33 starts did Halladay fail to pitch 7 full innings and for the 4th consecutive year lead all of baseball in complete games with 9. For the second straight year Adam Wainwright finishes second. Roy Halladay’s Cy Young score of 329.59 was just a bit better than Wainwright’s, 322.01.
