Braun named Rookie of the Year in closest NL vote ever

[berniebrewer4life]

I think actually the justification should have been this

 

Braun committed 26 errors, tying the Twins' Jason Bartlett for most in the Majors. Braun's .895

fielding percentage ranked last among regular Major League defenders, and he was the only player under .900.

 

Tulowitzki, the Rockies' shortstop, proved a superior defender in 2007. His .987 fielding percentage and 5.39 zone rating led Major

League shortstops, and Tulowitzki committed only 11 errors in 155 games.

 

Tulo got jobbed. He was clearly the more valuable player this year. But as usual the writers got it wrong.

This is how I look at the situation. If Tulo played in a different park, and put up the exact same numbers, he should probably win. Think about it this way: if he played in any other park than Coors, he wouldnt be talked about. He'd be an incredible fielding shortstop who can't hit much. He had a .706 OPS away from home! But since he plays at Coors, he all of a sudden is a good hitting shortstop who is an incredible fielder. He shouldn't be awarded for playing in a park that greatly increases his hitting, so he does not deserve the ROY.

Sounds like just another Jack Wilson to me(if he played outside of coors).

[Fatter than Joey]

Sounds like just another Jack Wilson to me(if he played outside of coors).

 

Jack Wilson has a .683 OPS in Coors.

 

If Tulo played in a different park, and put up the exact same numbers, he should probably win. Think about it this way: if he played in any other park than Coors, he wouldnt be talked about

 

I do not believe this to be accurate. He is a very good SS -- his glove got him on the radar.

 

He shouldn't be awarded for playing in a park that greatly increases his hitting, so he does not deserve the ROY.

 

In all fairness -- he has only had 300 ABs on the road, a lot of the variance could be due to smallish samples.

 

Tulo was a great hitting and fielding SS at Coors -- average hitting SS everywhere else -- Braun was a bad 3b wherever he played.

 

It worked out well for Braun

[TooLiveBrew]

I think the right man won, but taking normal variance into account (Doa mentioned it's roughly 10%), Tulo could have very easily posted a .770+ OPS on the road. Then we're talking about a pretty good hitting SS with incredible defense. It's not like Tulo is Jack Wilson. The vote played out the way it likely 'should' have. This race was factually & statistically very close, and the voting showed that.

[RU Rah Rah]

Makes you wonder what would have happened if the Series had lasted at least a couple of games longer. (They voted after the postseason, no? I can never remember.)

[TooLiveBrew]

No - voting's done at the end of the regular season. If it were after the postseason, I'd find it hard to see Brauny snagging the award.

[JohnBriggs12]

Look, they both deserved the honor and that's reflected in the closeness of the vote. But as good as Tulowitzki was with the glove, I wouldn't put it in historic terms whereas Braun's offensive season was truly historic. He led the entire league in slugging by a fairly wide margin including all hitters with 200 or more AB's. He outslugged probable MVP Matt Holliday, Fielder, Pujols, Ryan Howard, Chipper Jones, etc.

 

As for Tulowitzki leading his team on improbable run, heck his September offensive numbers (.273/.341/.518) paled in comparison to 4 of his teammates, Holliday, Helton, Atkins, and Hawpe) while Braun was very good also playing in the heat of a playoff chase batting .308/.354/.644 for September.

 

There is reallly no right choice. It depends on what one values. I'm glad Braun won. He deserved the honor but I'm sure he would have traded it for a World Series appearence that Tulowitzki experienced.

[Oldcity]

Cool news. To me, the much more exciting news is that Braun may actually be moving to the outfield.

[Ennder]

I don't think there is a right answer given the nature of where Tulo played. He was David Eckstein on the road and it is hard to give that ROY for me personally. I also do not trust defensive metrics as much as offensive ones.

 

I can see the case for both but I have to go with the guy who didn't have the best hitting ballpark in baseball taking his numbers from pedestrian to good.

[brewtank34]

Congrats Braun!!!!

Unfortunately I don't see Prince winning the MVP now. I doubt the voters are going to vote for two players on a team that didn't make the playoffs to win both awards. I see Matt Holliday winning it now. Nonetheless....a hell of a start to a beautiful career for Brauny!!!! Way to go buddy.

[AJAY]

Excellent news !!

 

Congratulations to Ryan Braun and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Congratulations to Jack Zdurenzick and Doug Melvin too.

[JJHardy7]

Offense > Defense in voting...

 

Splits matter.

[EsoxLazer]

I love it. The media out here in CO is going to be absolutely outraged. I wonder if the fans are going to be outraged too or if the WS loss has led most of them to return to mid-season form where they could have cared less about their baseball team? They didn't seem to have any more or less bandwagon fans than other teams Ive seen but the bandwagon fans sure seemed to be the most outspoken and obnoxious...this really surprised me after what I experienced in my many pleasant visits to Coors during the season. I guess the next couple of days will tell... Congrats to Ryan Braun on a well deserved award for an outstanding season. I have no doubt that he will be busting his butt to get his defense up to par. Now we just have to wait and see what happens with Prince and the MVP award.

[crewcrazy]

I can't help but think that Tulo pulled closer to Braun than he should have been with how that final week of the season played out. Tulo and the Rockies were absolutely on fire and people were starting to take notice, while Braun was making some pretty crucial errors that were costing the Brewers runs and was getting pulled early from games while the team was still chasing the division crown. If Braun's defense had been average that last week and he wasn't getting ABs taken away from him, I don't know if Tulo would have pulled within 2 votes of Ryan.

 

Regardless, I'm happy for Ryan and I'm happy for the Brewers, since there's going to be a ton of positive media coverage for the next couple days. That national coverage could carry into the start of next season, too, with everyone following Last Season's ROY Ryan Braun and The Brewers -- more potential Sunday Night games on ESPN, more highlights on SC and BBTN, etc. If the Brewers start off hot again next year, maybe more people will take notice instead of just talking about the Cubs' early season struggles again.

[gbpacker40]

The way I look at this is, in the long run, who will be the better player? IMO its not even close. Braun has HOF potential and Tulo has "Rockie" potential. By Rockie potential I mean great numbers at home, but nothing outside of Coors. Sure Tulo may be the better defender, but when its all said and done, unless your Ozzie Smith, people dont really care or remember how great defensively you are. Its all about numbers, and those numbers are most of the time offensive.

[Mike Felder]

Congrats Braun!!!!

Unfortunately I don't see Prince winning the MVP now. I doubt the voters are going to vote for two players on a team that didn't make the playoffs to win both awards. I see Matt Holliday winning it now. Nonetheless....a hell of a start to a beautiful career for Brauny!!!! Way to go buddy.

Didn't the writers vote at the end of the regular season? (I thought that's what someone upthread said). If they did, they wouldn't have known that Braun was the winner...so maybe there's some hope for Prince yet.

And if he really is moving to the outfield...well, this just became an even more fantastic day.

[RU Rah Rah]

Cool news. To me, the much more exciting news is that Braun may actually be moving to the outfield.

I'm not sure what I think about it. If you moved him to the OF, could you put Corey in center and then have Billy play 3B?

 

[Fatter than Joey]

The way I look at this is, in the long run, who will be the better player?

 

This award is given only for results in 2006.

 

Much like, Albert Pujols is still the best player in the NL, but he probably won't win the MVP this year

 

Sure Tulo may be the better defender, but when its all said and done, unless your Ozzie Smith, people dont really care or remember how great defensively you are

 

This is not true. People talk about Willie Mays' "catch" more than anything he did with a bat. Johnny Bench was the best hitting C of his era, and more

people talk today about his revolutionizing his position.

 

We tend to remember the complete players, more than the guys that just raked.

[Principessa21]

Congrats Braun!!!!

Unfortunately I don't see Prince winning the MVP now. I doubt the voters are going to vote for two players on a team that didn't make the playoffs to win both awards. I see Matt Holliday winning it now. Nonetheless....a hell of a start to a beautiful career for Brauny!!!! Way to go buddy.

Didn't the writers vote at the end of the regular season? (I thought that's what someone upthread said). If they did, they wouldn't have known that Braun was the winner...so maybe there's some hope for Prince yet.

And if he really is moving to the outfield...well, this just became an even more fantastic day.

Yup, they vote by end of the regular season. Every AL and NL city has two votes, and only with the MVP do the writers rank 10, otherwise it's 3.

*YEA* Braun!! Congrats! Way to hit your way to the award. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[bigredrobbo]

The way I look at this is, in the long run, who will be the better player?

 

This award is given only for results in 2006.

 

Much like, Albert Pujols is still the best player in the NL, but he probably won't win the MVP this year

 

Sure Tulo may be the better defender, but when its all said and done, unless your Ozzie Smith, people dont really care or remember how great defensively you are

 

This is not true. People talk about Willie Mays' "catch" more than anything he did with a bat. Johnny Bench was the best hitting C of his era, and more

people talk today about his revolutionizing his position.

 

We tend to remember the complete players, more than the guys that just raked.

Don't get me started on that Mays "Greatest Catch Ever" argument. There are better catches 2 or 3 times a week on Webgems on BBTN. But I digress.

IMO, without that last big push that put the Rox in the national media for a month or so, Tulo doesn't even come close. Braun deserves it and it would be nice to hope that he and Prince might battle it out for MVP one day. Chicago writers would probably still vote for DLee!

[Team Canada]

Even if Braun did officially win the award, clearly there were 2 very deserving candidates, and the almost identical votes bear that out. One of them had to win, and so as a Brewer fan I'm all for Braun coming out on top, but no one got jobbed here.

[tigerbrew]

Congrats to Ryan Braun on this prestigous award, please keep up your outstanding performance in 2008.

[dlk9s]

I can't remember the last time there were so many really good rookies in one league.

 

Braun, Tulo, Pence (who very well might have won if he had not have gotten injured), Young, Hamilton, Gallardo, Kendrick, etc.

[twobrewers]

I had no idea that Hunter Pence was drafted by the Brewers in 40th round of the 2002 draft.

 

Too bad he never signed - he would have looked mighty good in blue!

 

Link

[TooLiveBrew]

By Rockie potential I mean great numbers at home, but nothing outside of Coors.

 

Again, with the 'normal' 10% variance, Tulo could've well posted a .770 OPS away from Coors. Why do you know that he's a flameout? He was relatively rushed to MLB, with no clear signs in the minors pointing to the fact that he was ready aside from his D (guess you could say the same about Braun's O).

 

Don't get me started on that Mays "Greatest Catch Ever" argument. There are better catches 2 or 3 times a week on Webgems on BBTN.

 

Do you keep in consideration the fact that the Polo Grounds OF walls were like 6.875 million feet from home plate?

[trwi7]

Since we were talking about Keith Law saying Braun could possibly move to left field I decided to post this here.

 

Link

 

"Right now, he's our third baseman," Melvin said. "The only way you'd consider moving Ryan is if we had another legitimate, bona fide third baseman."

 

"To ask Billy to change positions for a third straight year is not something I want to do," Melvin said. "I think he got a lot better (in center) in the second half. We think Ryan will improve at third, too."

Melvin noted that there were cries to move Rickie Weeks off second base when he kicked more balls than David Beckham in the early weeks of the 2006 season. But through hard work and dedication, Weeks made dramatic improvement before the end of that year and looked more comfortable at the position last season (13 errors in 118 games).

 

"It's my preference to stay (at third base)," Braun said.

"Everybody has things they need to work on. Defense is at the forefront for me, and is my focus right now. At times, I played well at third. But overall, I didn't play as well as I'd like to.

"I have the athleticism and work ethic to be a good third baseman. Once I get my footwork down, it will help my throwing as well as my fielding. It's not an easy transition (from shortstop). But I know I'm going to be a good third baseman."

 

I am really disappointed to hear some of these quotes. It's like Melvin doesn't even realize that Weeks is still a bad 2nd baseman.