61.10- EOS Team Awards, or Maybe Not

[chicoruiz]

One of the things I've done in the past at the end of a season is make some sort of awards to the outstanding players in the Atlantic City system. This was fairly easy in past years, when there were hardly any players who had earned the adjective "outstanding", but now that we had an actual winning season, there are maybe too many candidates to parse. I may just throw up my hands and give everyone on the team a gift card to Starbucks or something. Let's take a look at the quandaries I face:

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Okyay Nisanci led the team in WAR and was a positive clubhouse presence. But Jafar Seif al Din was right behind him, and played a more key defensive position. Plus his presence at shortstop keeps me from agonizing too much about whether Johnny Lazer will ever hit enough. And our big move to the top began when Tyler Ober got hot; he carried us for a while there. He's a pending fee agent, and I'm gonna miss the big galoot... I guess if I had to pick someone it would be Seif al Din.

PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Brian Whitford went 16-12, 3.93 with a WAR of 3.6, but Kent Johnson was right behind him at 15-11, 3.80. And Harry King was right behind him at 12-8, 3.90. And Jesus Martinez was arguably the best closer in the BBA after his callup. I give up...

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: You'd think Martinez, wouldn't you? But Mauro Diaz took over as the everyday third baseman and hit .302 with 16 homers and 87 ribbies.... I guess Diaz, just because I think Martinez will gather plenty of other hardware before his career is over.

MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nestor Saatsakis of AA Trenton slashed 311/419/553 and played a decent CF to earn 6.1 WAR. Vadinka Zadoyan, another center fielder, split time between AA and AA and excelled at both; I have to make room for him in Atlantic City next year.

MINOR LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Seth Weller of Long Island went 15-6, 2.40, to make this a fairly easy choice.

PLAYER I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL TO MAKE OF: Pitcher Rodney Sowards of Long Island. If you look at his scouting ratings, he should have been cut long ago. He has no go-to pitch. His movement is below average, and his control is out-and-out terrible. But that sucker keeps pitching well. His ERAs in his four professional seasons are 2.51, 2.37. 2.35 and 3.13. Guys like this generally get exposed at higher levels, and I expect that will happen eventually, but I just can't make myself get rid of Rodney; he fascinates me.

Maybe this bunch deserves more than a Starbucks gift card. Is there such a thing as a gift card to the V.I.P room at a strip club?

[BaseClogger]

Good looking young core of players.

Sowards is just fully developed and old for the levels he's been.

[Trebro]

Keep moving Sowards up. He'll eventually tell you when he's done being a useful piece of your organization.