Altuve wins AP Male Athlete of the Year

[NievesNoNO]

https://www.mlb.com/news/jose-altuve-2017-ap-male-athlete-of-the-year/c-264037946

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jose-altuves-evolution-to-mvp-candidate/

 

I know he's already won the MVP, but I love that he has also won AP Athlete of the Year. It's not super often a baseball player wins it anymore. It's great for the sport and also pretty phenomenal progression for a guy who was never considered even a top 100 prospect in the game.

 

When he first came up I remember him being regarded as a utility infielder or maybe a low level starter; essentially a place holder for a rebuilding club. Wow, how things have changed.

 

While he's obviously more of the exception/oddity, he's a great example of when production outweighs prospect status. Many times we get enamored with physical freaks and the 5 tool guys and for good reason but there's something to be said about a player that simply produces at every level. In Altuve's case, he also adapted once in the majors and learned to hit for more power morphing him from a solid speedy middle infielder to MVP. Really, a pretty fun player to root for.

[jerichoholicninja]

Never even heard of this award before. Congratulations I guess.

[clancyphile]

When he first came up I remember him being regarded as a utility infielder or maybe a low level starter; essentially a place holder for a rebuilding club. Wow, how things have changed.

 

While he's obviously more of the exception/oddity, he's a great example of when production outweighs prospect status. Many times we get enamored with physical freaks and the 5 tool guys and for good reason but there's something to be said about a player that simply produces at every level. In Altuve's case, he also adapted once in the majors and learned to hit for more power morphing him from a solid speedy middle infielder to MVP. Really, a pretty fun player to root for.

 

That's very true.

 

When I do my ballots, I sometimes go with talent (Hiura, etc.), but a lot of the time, my top picks are the guys who have jarrign numbers.

 

Suter had the top vote for dominating numbers. Burnes then took that spot, but it was close given that Troy Stokes developed a power bat - but even before his surge this season, I liked his OBP skills and speed.

 

Stokes, BTW, is the guy who could be the Brewers' Altuve.

 

Both are small players (Altuve 5'6" 165, Stokes 5'8" 182).

 

Both have shown production in the minors.

 

Neither were really heralded in the minors.

 

They are different. Stokes has better OBP skills, Altuve's a better hitter for average.

 

But five years from now, I would not be surprised if Stokes is a major league All-Star.