Season 12 Ballot

This is one man's ballot and reasoning for Season 12.

AL MVP Candidates:
Wilt James
Richie Grieve
Victor Trinidad
Ismael Leon
Mike Garcia
This choice was relatively easy. James is the choice here. He has the highest HR, RBI, AVG, and OPS among the candidates. He also plays RF (3 of 5 candidates play 1B, 2 of 5 play RF) so there is more defensive value as well (Fielding % of 1.00). He also plays for a 1st place team.

NL MVP Candidates:
Russ Bryant
Bobby Page
Placido Benitez
Moises Berroa
Albert Ponson
The NL may have been tougher, if only slightly. First we'll eliminate Berroa from consideration because he plays on the same team as Benitez. Berroa had a monster season, and should he ever want to come to Chicago he'd be welcomed with open arms. Next we eliminate Bobby Page for the same reason, Russ Bryant is the true MVP candidate from Honolulu. That leaves three 1B, making the defensive argument irrelevant in this voters mind. Realistically you have to get rid of Ponson, making it come down to only Bryant and Benitez.
Benitez put up record breaking RBI numbers and in winning the Triple Crown. Bryant put up some damn fine numbers and played for a 1st place team with the best record in the league.
Thats not quite enough to sway the vote, i'm going with Benitez, since he had the team within a game of the Wildcard.

AL Cy Young Candidates:
Joaquin Samuel
Bailey Jordan
Sammy Molina
David Hughes
Abraham Munro
First the eliminations, sorry Samuel but you don't even get considered. Despite the 54 Saves and 1.97 ERA (which we'd LOVE to have in Chicago), there are too many other SP that won 20 and pitched over 200 to make up the difference.
The remaining 4 are all very similar. Jordan has the best ERA, Molina the best K/9 rate, Hughes the most wins and IP and tied for best WHIP and OAV, Munro tied for the best WHIP and OAV.
In the end I'm going with Hughes and here's why: all of the above mentioned items coupled with pitching for a Division winner in the MOST BRUTAL division out there, as well as having a target on his back for being the most dominant SP this world has ever seen. He gets my vote.
Side Note: The Gangsters were close to acquiring him this past offseason, but in the end the Pisces smartly held on to him.

NL Cy Young Candidates:
Glen Hill
Manny Kerr
Ozzie Sauveur
Yeico Martin
Bill Strong
First the eliminations, B.Strong and Y. Martin. B.Strong just doesn't have the numbers to compete with the rest of the field. Martin pitched quite well, but is essentially a 6 inning pitcher, and only pitched past the 7th once all year and he only has 15 wins.
I'm also going to eliminate Sauveur. His ERA, WHIP, and OAV are all higher then Kerr (who pitched for the best team in the NL).
This is the toughest vote yet. Hill pitched 85 innnings, which for a closer is unheard of, and he did it flawlessly. In the end I tend to value SP more so I'm going with Kerr. Maybe this is why my bullpens always are atrocious?

AL ROY Candidates:
James Nakajima
Sergio Upshaw
Steve Perez
Christian Ross
Pat Bong
Eliminations - Upshaw , Perez, &Ross. Upshaw because he was not in fact a rookie. Check his stats from Season 11, he had 33 saves last year and better numbers overall, otherwise he would've got my vote. Ross played more games at 1B then 2B, and those aren't 1B numbers. Perez was a long reliever who got a lot of Vulture wins and an ERA of 4.47.
That leaves Nakajima and Bong. The defensive angle is moot since both are DH's (Nakajima is listed at 1B but did not play an inning all year).
It comes down to whether you value Power or OBP. Bong has the edge in HRs (38-22) but Nakajima has the edge in RBI's, OBP, and OPS. My vote is Nakajima.

NL ROY Candidates:
Taylor McGee
Enos Ramirez
Ignacio Alomar
Preston Pittinger
Gabe Valdes
The only quick eliminations are Alomar because his #'s pale to everyone elses and Valdes because he only pitched 28 innings.
I'll list Pro's and Cons for the remaining 3
McGee - Pros has the highest OPS, AVG, and SB among the candidates and plays a premium position well at 2B. CONS - Did not play a full season, came up in the middle of the year.
Ramirez - Pros Played all year in CF for a division winning club. A position he played for the first time after being approached by new management. Cons - Counting #'s are not the best of all the candidates
Pittinger - Pros has the most HR's and RBI's among the candidates and was a Rule 5 draftee. Cons - played in relative obscurity in Salem with no pressure.
In the end a case could be built for any of the 3. I'm going with Ramirez because he played a full year for a division winner in CF, and because he's one of my players.