Most Valuable LeBron

    LeBron James is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars in NBA history, and he has four MVP awards to prove it. Earlier this month, after Stephen Curry was named the first unanimous MVP in NBA history (Curry's second straight MVP award), LeBron got a lot of grief regarding his comments about the status of the award. The problem is: He's exactly right.

James, a 4x MVP, averaged 25 points, 7 rebounds
and 7 assists this season

    Every league likes to have a villain, and somehow, LeBron is viewed as the villain of the NBA. People love to hate LeBron. But in this case, let's give him a break. His comments were that the term "Most Valuable Player" needs to be re-evaluated. It came across to the public like LeBron James was being petty about coming in 3rd in the MVP voting, behind Curry and the Spurs' Kawhi Leonard. In James's defense, he did say that Stephen Curry was deserving and even cited his stats and said that there was no question who the best player was this year.

    There's the problem. The award is not called "Best Player", it's called the "Most Valuable Player". If you look at those two titles at face value, there's an obvious difference. Curry was definitely the best player in the NBA this year, averaging 30 points, leading the league in steals, and becoming the first player in NBA history to make 400 3-pointers in a season (shattering his own NBA record by over 100), but he was not the most valuable.



Harper: 1st MVP voting- Nationals (83-79)
Goldschmidt 2nd- Diamondbacks (79-83)
Votto 3rd- Reds (64-98)

   Anyone who has heard my podcast, Empire Sports Talk, knows that I had a similar gripe about this same thing at the end of baseball season. The Most Valuable Player award is given to the best player in the league for a given year. However, the title is misleading. The league's best player should be rewarded, but under a title that is just that, best player. Most Valuable Player paints a picture of the league's most irreplaceable player, the person whose team would be nothing without them, or at least that's how it should be defined. Last year in the MLB, as was the subject of the podcast in question, titled "V is for Valuable", Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals won the National League MVP award. He was the best player, numbers-wise, but he, along with the other two candidates for the award, Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds, were on teams that missed the playoffs.
    Now, let me pose this question for perspective: How "valuable" were these players to their teams if, even with them and their numbers, they still didn't make the playoffs-and in the case of Goldschmidt and Votto, they weren't even close?

    I'm not so naïve as to believe that these guys could make these teams good by themselves, because it's baseball and baseball is heavily a team sport, but still. Sticking with baseball, in the American League, Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson took home the MVP award. In this case, the Blue Jays did make the playoffs and without Donaldson's numbers, they probably wouldn't have. THAT is the definition of valuable. There IS a difference between Most Valuable and Best.



Leonard: Back-to-back
Defensive Player of the year (2015-16)

    So, back to LeBron. Given the example above, LeBron James probably was the Most Valuable Player this year. Why? Kwahi Leonard may be the best player on his otherwise aging team, and let it be said that I'm not ignoring the fact that he did win Defensive Player of the Year...again, but as of right now, he's not even the leader of his team. Until he retires, the Spurs are still Tim Duncan's team. Would the Spurs have made the playoffs without Kwahi? Probably, given that they finished with a 67-15 record, second only to the record breaking Warriors, and were 26 games clear of missing the playoffs. In the past two years since LeBron has been in Cleveland, the Cavs record in games that LeBron doesn't play in is 4-13. Even with the talent of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, the LeBron-less Cavs have a win percentage of .235. That means, if they played an entire season without LeBron, their win total would be right around 19. A record of 19-63. The Cavs would be much closer to the first pick in the draft than raising a banner. Now, that record is a stretch because the team would take the necessary measures if they knew they would be without LeBron, but here's another fact. The Cavs did go from playoffs to first pick once already...when LeBron left for Miami. The following season, the Cavs had the league's worst record and drafted Kyrie Irving with the first pick.

    Would the current Warriors team go from first to worst with Stephen Curry? Absolutely not. During the regular season, Curry sat out the entire 4th quarter 18 times (4.5 games total) and the Warriors still finished with the best record in NBA history. With Stephen Curry missing a handful of games in the playoffs due to injury, the Warriors still moved on to the Conference Finals without so much as a hitch, losing only one game in their first two series, series in which Curry did not play a large portion of the games. The Warriors are fine without him.

Curry: First unanimous MVP in NBA history

    I, like LeBron am not taking anything away from Curry or Leonard. They are fantastic players who are deserving the awards they receive. I don't even think LeBron was necessarily going to bat for himself, like it's being portrayed. As an ambassador of the NBA, he sees a flaw. The Most Valuable Player award is misleading. There is a difference between the most valuable player and the best player, and all of our major American sports leagues are guilty of not making the distinction. If you would like to keep the award of Most Valuable Player, judge it the way you may judge Most Improved Player, or Sixth Man of the Year, because that's the kind of award in would be. Give the current MVP Award a new title. A more accurate title worthy of its stature: the Best Player Award or the Michael Jordan Award (similar to how the Hank Aaron Award goes to baseball's best hitter).

    A mix-up like this is an honest mistake and we shouldn't blame LeBron James or call him a sore loser just for pointing it out. LeBron is EXACTLY right in his comments. The MVP award needs a new name, and congratulations to Stephen Curry for being the NBA's Best Player in 2016.

Gold Is A Player's Best Friend

   One of the most coveted single season individual awards is a Gold Glove. Gold Gloves are given to the best defensive player at each position at the end of each season. However, when it comes to the outfield, the award is given to the three best outfielders in each league...not necessarily the best at the three separate outfield positions. With that being said, these are my current front runners by position for this hallowed award.

American League Gold Gloves

First Base: Mark Teixeira (NYY)

Second Base: Dustin Ackley (SEA)

Shortstop: Brendan Ryan (SEA) -Despite Seattle's struggles, their middle infielders, Dustin Ackley and Brendan Ryan sweep the Gold Gloves for those positions. This is something good that the M's can take away from a rather disappointing first half.                             

Third Base: Miguel Cabrera (DET)

Catcher: A.J. Pierzynski (CHW)

Outfield 1: Curtis Granderson (NYY)

Outfield 2: Austin Jackson (DET)

Outfield 3: Michael Brantley (CLE) -With perfect 1.000 fielding percentages, Granderson and Jackson are no-brainers Gold Glovers thus far. The conflict, however, comes with the third outfield award. Texas outfielder Craig Gentry also had a 1.000, but since Gentry is not an everyday player, I gave Cleveland Indians center fielder Michael Brantley the final spot.

Pitcher: Felix Hernandez (SEA)

National League Gold Gloves

First Base: Freddie Freeman (ATL)

Second Base: Brandon Phillips (CIN) -Even though Darwin Barney of the Chicago Cubs has slightly better numbers, Phillips has been very good for a winning team, and that gives him the edge.

Shortstop: Jimmy Rollins (PHI)

Third Base: Chase Headley (SD) -Third base in the National League has been a difficult position to play this season. No one had great numbers, with the exception of Philadelphia's Placido Polanco, who has only played 78 games due to injury. Thus, Headley gets the nod, only as, what seems to be the least of many evils at third base so far this season.

Catcher: Yadier Molina (STL)

Outfield 1: Alfonso Soriano (CHC)

Outfield 2: Andrew McCutchen (PIT)

Outfield 3: Shane Victorino (PHI/LAD) -Despite being traded to the Dodgers at the deadline, his consistent play in the field and the fact that he still remains in the NL helps him grab the last outfield spot.

Pitcher: Mark Buehrle (MIA)

    Be sure to check back soon for playoff predictions and opinions on current story lines in and around Major League Baseball. See ya 'round!

                                                                                                                                   

Halfway Home

    With the All-Star break passing by a couple of weeks ago, I thought I would share my thoughts on the major awards through the first half of the season. Let's get started, shall we?

Most Valuable Player

Josh Hamilton (TEX) and Andrew McCutchen (PIT)

   From the onset of this season, Josh Hamilton has provided a spark for the Texas Rangers. For the past two years, Hamilton has been instrumental in the Rangers postseason success, reaching the World Series two straight years. So far in 2012, Hamilton is second in the American League in home runs (29), and is tied for first in runs batted in (84). He has slumped a bit in the month of July, but he is healthy again and the Rangers are in first place in the AL West, so he should be back to form in no time. Despite a terrible .173 batting average in July, he is still putting up MVP-caliber numbers. Not to mention that he did hit 4 home runs in one game against the Baltimore Orioles on May 8th.

    It's no secret that the Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the surprise teams in baseball this year.The Pirates are 58-44 and in second place in the National League West, 3 games behind the red-hot Cincinnati Reds. The driving force behind the Pirates success thus far is center fielder Andrew McCutchen, who is having arguably the best year of his career. He is batting a Major League best .368, is third best in the National League with 22 home runs and is tied for 6th in runs batted in with 66. He is one home run away from tying his career high of 23 and is currently shattering his career best in batting average by 82 points...an almost unheard of improvement from one season to the next. My other candidates for NL MVP are San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera and New York Mets third baseman David Wright, but for now, McCutchen is my front runner.

Cy Young Award-Best Starting Pitcher in Each League

Chris Sale (CHW) and R.A. Dickey (NYM)

    Chris Sale may only be a first year starter, but numbers would suggest that one year was all he needed to be a Cy Young candidate. He is ranked third in the AL in both wins (12) and earned run average or ERA (2.61). Sale is also third in the AL in WHIP (Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched) posting a solid 1.02, and tied for 10th in strikeouts with 114. Sale is the ace on a Chicago White Sox staff that is fighting for a playoff spot and his success could propel Chicago deep into the playoffs.

    Should he win, New York's R.A. Dickey certainly wouldn't be your typical Cy Young recipient. But then again, there is nothing typical about the way Dickey pitches. He is a knuckle ball pitcher, the only one in the major leagues today. However, what makes Dickey different than other knuckle ball pitchers even, is that the average knuckle ball travels between 60 and 70 miles per hour, and Dickey's knuckle ball has been clocked at around 83-85 miles per hour, making it even harder for hitters to pick up this whirlwind of a pitch. Dickey is tied for the major league lead with 14 wins, second the the NL with 147 strikeouts and has the second fewest losses in the major leagues (2). Probably the most baffling thing about Dickey's success this year is the point in his career in which this success came. Dickey is 37 years old in his 10th year in the league, the New York Mets are his 4th team, and he had only had 10 or more wins in a season one other time. This goes to show you that there isn't necessarily a timetable or prime for success. Now, I know that  knuckle ball pitchers can be a controversial issue with some, but as of right now, Dickey is the best choice for the Cy Young Award.

Rookie of the Year

Mike Trout (LAA) and Bryce Harper (WSH)

    There is no surprise that L.A.'s Mike Trout or Washington's Bryce Harper should be named Rookie of the Year in their respective leagues. Neither player started the season on their big league rosters, but were quickly called up to the Major Leagues and even more quickly impacted their clubs and turned them around. 

    The Nationals were fighting for first place in their division early in the season when Harper joined the team on April 27 and provided them the spark they needed to build a 3.5 game lead on the Atlanta Braves in the NL East as well as currently having the best record in baseball at 61-40. Harper also arguably plays the game harder than anyone in the league...the way it should be played.

    The Angels on the other hand, were bottom dwellers from the beginning of the 2012 season, which was surprising due to the major offseason acquisitions of Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. There were talks of multiple World Series titles immediately following the arrival of Pujols and Wilson, but when Trout was called up to the Angels on April 28th, the Angels were sitting at the bottom of the division and the league at 6-14. Since Trout joined the team however, the Angels have come to life. The Angels have gone 42-24 with Trout on the team and have once again become competitive for a playoff spot, as expected. Oh, and Trout has been the owner of the 'Reigning Web Gem' on ESPN's Baseball Tonight for over 3 weeks! Just saying.

Manager of the Year

Bob Melvin (OAK) and Clint Hurdle (PIT)

    There is no doubt in my mind that Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin should receive the award for AL Manager of the Year. In his second year as Oakland's Manager, he has helped return the A's to relevance. In his first 201 games as Oakland's manager dating back to the middle of last season, Melvin is 103-98, including a surprising 56-46 record so far in 2012. Before Melvin, the Athletics struggled to stay out     of last place and one calender year later, they are fighting for first place and a playoff spot. Melvin took a group of players previously rejected by other teams and turned them in to this year's Cinderella story in baseball.

   The same can be said for the Pittsburgh Pirates and manager Clint Hurdle. In his second full year as Pirates manager, the Pirates are 58-44, tied for the NL Wildcard lead, and have been in first place in the division multiple times during the year.

    If these two teams can maintain this success through September and possibly lead their teams into October, their managers should be awarded for it.

Comeback Player of the Year

Adam Dunn (CHW) and Jason Heyward (ATL)

    Adam Dunn, to me, is the runaway Comeback Player of the Year in the American League. In 2011, Dunn posted basement numbers for the Chicago White Sox: a .159 batting average, 11 home runs, 42 runs batted in and only 66 hits in 122 games...by far the worst season of his career. But so far in 2012, Dunn is having an incredible bounce back year. So far in 2012, this bonafide power hitter has returned to form, batting .212 with a major league leading 31 home runs to go with 73 RBI's which is the 4th best in the AL. I think Minnesota's Josh Willingham and Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion deserve recognition for this award, but it's Adam Dunn's horrendous numbers last year that make him the favorite for the award.

    When Atlanta Braves right fielder Jason Heyward made the Opening Day roster as a rookie in 2010, expectations for Heyward were through the roof. However, after an okay rookie campaign in 2010, Braves nation was disappointed but thought "He's a rookie, he'll get better" and "It's a learning curve...wait 'til next year. He'll dominate!" He didn't.In 2011, Heyward hit a mediocre .227 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI's. He also missed 34 games with multiple injuries. Heyward shared the fans' disappointment after last season saying, "I need to go back to the basics...I haven't been playing well." He returned in 2012 with new life. Playing in almost every game for the Braves to this point, Hayward is hitting .271 with 17 home runs (one away from tying a career high) and 51 RBI's and a career high 15 stolen bases. Heyward is healthy, productive, and, in my opinion, could be on his way to NL Comeback Player of the Year.

    Stay tuned in the coming days for more first half predictions, including Gold Gloves, playoff predictions and more. See ya 'round!