Every week on Fridays/whenever we get to them, our writers here at The Dynasty Guru will be bringing you some quick hit musings about a particular topic so you, the reader, can get a blast of info from a bunch of different writers with some passionate opinions. This week’s roundtable topic is our picks for some 2020 awards.

Shelly: 

AL ROY: Kyle Lewis, OF, SEA

NL ROY: Devin Williams, RHP, MIL

AL MVP: Jose Abreu, 1B, CWS

NL MVP: Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL

AL CY: Shane Bieber, RHP, CLE

NL CY: Jacob deGrom, LHP, NYM

AL Manager: Kevin Cash, TBR

NL Manager: Don Mattingly, MIA

Most of these selections were pretty easy. Both CYs and managers should be taking their respective trophies home. I went double first basemen for MVP as I thought they were the best players on their respectable clubs but also are the heart and soul of their teams. With Luis Robert struggling after his red-hot debut, Kyle Lewis is the winner to me but I also thought about Sean Murphy. Devin Willams might be a long shot to win but I have no idea how the Brew Crew make the playoffs without him and that filthy changeup.

Taylor:

AL ROY: Kyle Lewis, OF, SEA

NL ROY: Jake Cronenworth, 2B, SDP

AL MVP: Jose Ramirez, 1B, CWS

NL MVP: Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL

AL CY: Shane Bieber, RHP, CLE

NL CY: Jacob deGrom, LHP, NYM

AL Manager: Kevin Cash, TBR

NL Manager: Jayce Tingler, SDP

To me, Jake Cronenworth is the clear-cut NL Rookie of the Year. He paced all NL rookies with an xBA of .324 (6th in MLB), proved he was able to adequately play each spot in the infield, and was a rather unexpected success story on the Padres’ way to the first postseason berth since 2006. Speaking of this success, a massive round of applause to Jayce Tingler for helming the team this season. There were some odd Kevin Cash-esque early pitcher pulls during the season, but after watching just about all their games, it’s pretty clear that he’s lit a fire under this team and should be around for a long time.

Andy:

AL ROY: Kyle Lewis, OF, SEA

NL ROY: Alec Bohm, 3B, PHI

AL MVP: Jose Abreu, 1B, CWS

NL MVP: Mookie Betts, OF, LAD

AL CY: Shane Bieber, RHP, CLE

NL CY: Trevor Bauer, RHP, CIN

AL Manager: Kevin Cash, TBR

NL Manager: Don Mattingly, MIA

Bob C:

AL ROY: Kyle Lewis, OF, SEA

NL ROY: Jake Cronenworth, 2B, SDP

AL MVP: DJ LeMahieu, 2B, NYY

NL MVP: Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL

AL CY: Shane Bieber, RHP, CLE

NL CY: Max Fried, LHP, ATL

AL Manager: Rick Renteria, CWS

NL Manager: Don Mattingly, MIA

A lot of chalk here with these picks but a few differed from the general consensus. 2020 was a very odd year obviously and I know missing a few games equaled a larger overall percentage, but I am not going to penalize players for missing a handful of games. LeMahieu tied for 1st in WAR in the AL and led in BA and OPS, as well as put up impressive counting stats. Fried went 7-0 in 11 starts and led all NL pitchers in WAR. Renteria was successful in turning a team that had an aggressive offseason into a playoff team in a very competitive division.

Marino Martinez:

AL ROY: Kyle Lewis, OF, SEA

NL ROY: Devin Williams, RHP, MIL

AL MVP: Jose Abreu, 1B, CWS

NL MVP: Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL

AL CY: Shane Bieber, RHP, CLE

NL CY: Trevor Bauer, RHP, CIN

AL Manager: Kevin Cash, TBR

NL Manager: Don Mattingly, MIA

AL and NL rookie awards have clear frontrunners in the names of Kyle Lewis and Devin Williams, Mr. Hype –Luis Robert– fell apart with an atrocious September, clearing the path for Lewis to claim the trophy. NL league rookie is basically the same script; the runner-up fell apart in September and have several issues with same hand throwers, Jake Cronenworth gave away the award to Devin Williams who had an insane rookie season.

My MVPs are Abreu and Freeman; Abreu because of consistency throughout the entire season, as opposed to Jose Ramirez who had a magical September but an awful August. Hey! You can bring Bieber to the conversation and I’ll not argue against that.  Freddie over Mookie because I hate Mookie, as a Boston Red Sox fan I’ll never forg… haha just kidding, for me Freeman had slightly more value to the ATL Braves than Mookie to the LA Dodgers, mainly in those Albies-Acuna absences. 

AL CY Shane Bieber, Shane Bieber, Shane Bieber. NL CY is a little more tight, but I think Bauer will win over Darvish, who had a good September, but Bauer had a monster one to claim that CY award, in a last-second photo-finish fashion.

Both Managers, Cash and Mattingly did a great job with a limited wallet, even if this sounds contradictory to you; Cash had a limited wallet too.

Reminder; those awards do not include postseason…. I’m clarifying because Blake Snell could be reading this, who knows.

Bob Osgood:

AL MVP: DJ LeMahieu, 2B, NYY – Should be the closest race of them all. LeMahieu gets the edge for me, as leading the league in BA (.364) by 42 points (T. Anderson .322) is a wild margin. Throw in the 9.7 K% and league-leading 177 wRC+ and 1.011 OPS and DJ continues to be an underrated stud.

NL MVP: Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL – Freeman not only edged out everyone not named Soto in the NL in BA, OBP, and SLG but also led all of baseball in Runs and Doubles, while playing in all 60 games for the first-place Braves.

AL Cy Young: Shane Bieber, RHP, CLE – Not debatable. 

NL Cy Young: Trevor Bauer, RHP, CIN – League-leading ERA, WHIP, H/9, and narrowly edged by deGrom on K’s. He a free agent anytime soon?

AL Rookie of the Year: Kyle Lewis, OF, SEA – Made the opening day roster and never looked back, contributed power (11 HR), speed (5 SB), 37 runs, and a solid .801 OPS.

NL Rookie of the Year: Tony Gonsolin, RHP, LAD- This was supposed to be Ross Stripling’s spot, dammit! He’s gonna put Corningstone on! Didn’t quite qualify for the ERA title (2.31 would’ve finished fourth), 0.84 WHIP (would be second). I hope he gets a rotation spot next year in a crowded staff.

AL Manager of the Year: Kevin Cash, TBR – Second lowest payroll in AL, first highest winning percentage.

NL Manager of the Year: Don Mattingly, MIA- Winning record on a team which I still struggle to name most of their lineup, complete with a lot full of doubleheaders after an early-season Covid outbreak.

 

 

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