BBA Awards: Final Tally and Winners

Every season, baseball bloggers across the web vote for their choices in the five award categories delineated by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance: the Connie Mack Award for best managers in each league; the Willie Mays Award for the best rookies; the Goose Gossage Award for best relievers; the Walter Johnson Award for best pitchers and the Stan Musial Award for best overall players. Bloggers in each chapter choose their chapter's votes, and then the votes of each chapter are tallied to determine the final winners. These are the results of those votes.

The Connie Mack Award: Buck Showalter (BAL, AL); Clint Hurdle (PIT, NL)

• AL Runners-up: Ned Yost (KCR), Mike Scioscia (LAA)
• NL Runners-up: Bruce Bochy (SFG), Matt Williams (WSN)
• General Chapter's votes: Buck Showalter, Clint Hurdle
• My votes: Mike Scioscia, Mike Redmond (MIA, NL)
• My thoughts
• I don't take this award too seriously, since I don't think we have a good way of determining manager value as of yet.
• That said, as a saber-minded Washington Nationals fan, it blows my mind that anyone could think Matt Williams was a good manager this year. He batted Bryce Harper sixth for most of the season. I mean, come on...
• Mike Redmond received no votes. This surprises me.

The Willie Mays Award: Jose Abreu (CHW, AL); Jacob deGrom (NYM, NL)

• AL Runners-up: Masahiro Tanaka (NYY), Collin McHugh (HOU)
• NL Runners-up: Billy Hamilton (CIN), Ender Inciarte (PHI)
• General Chapter's votes: Jose Abreu, Jacob deGrom
• My votes: Dellin Betances (NYY, AL), Ken Giles (PHI, NL)
• My thoughts
• I totally flubbed the WMA vote, so best to ignore my choices.
• That said, Ken Giles had a helluva season and deserved more than six votes (out of a possible 108).

The Goose Gossage Award: Dellin Betances (NYY, AL); Craig Kimbrel (ATL, NL)

• AL Runners-up: Wade Davis (KCR), Greg Holland (KCR)
• NL Runners-up: Aroldis Champman (CIN), Kenley Jansen (LAD)
• General Chapter's votes: Wade Davis, Craig Kimbrel
• My votes: Wade Davis, Mark Melancon (PIT, NL)
• My thoughts
• Craig Kimbrel led the NL in saves; he trailed Melancon, Tony Watson (PIT, NL) or Aroldis Chapman in everything else. The only reason for Kimbrel to win this year's NL Goose Gossage Award is an antiquated focus on saves or simple inertia (he won the last three years).
• That Tony Watson recorded 0 votes and Mark Melancon only seven (out of 117) tells me that most bloggers simply missed the great year the Bucs' pen enjoyed.

The Walter Johnson Award: Corey Kluber (CLE, AL); Clayton Kershaw (LAD, NL)

• AL Runners-up: Felix Hernandez (SEA), Jon Lester (BOS, OAK), Chris Sale (CHW), David Price (TBR, DET)
• NL Runners-up: Adam Wainwright (STL), Johnny Cueto (CIN), Jordan Zimmermann (WSN), Cole Hamels (PHI)
• General Chapter's votes: Felix Hernandez, Clayton Kershaw
• My votes: Felix Hernandez, Clayton Kershaw
• My thought: I could have gone either way between King Felix and Kluber. I respect this outcome.

The Stan Musial Award: Mike Trout (LAA, AL); Clayton Kershaw (LAD, NL)

• AL Runners-up: Michael Brantley (CLE), Jose Bautista (TOR), Corey Kluber (CLE), Victor Martinez (DET), Josh Donaldson (OAK), Jose Abreu (CHW), Felix Hernandez (SEA), Alex Gordon (KCR), Jose Altuve (HOU)
• NL Runners-up: Andrew McCutchen (PIT), Giancarlo Stanton (MIA), Jonathan Lucroy (MIL), Anthony Rendon (WSN), Buster Posey (SFG), Anthony Rizzo (CHC), Yasiel Puig (LAD), Johnny Cueto (CIN), Adam Wainwright (STL)
• General Chapter's votes: Mike Trout, Andrew McCutchen
• My votes: Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw
• My thoughts
• A pox on my General Chapter colleagues for leaving Kershaw off so many ballots. It's Best Player, not Best Hitter.
• Look, Jose Altuve's a hell of a lot of fun to watch and a very good player. There's just no way he's the NL's tenth best player. FWIW, FanGraphs ranks him 14th among AL hitters. Throw in pitchers and he drops to #20. Very good, fun to watch, but not top ten.