Post-season awards were handed out by the Baseball Writers Association of America (a group I would steal a loaf of marble rye from an old lady to be a part of!), and there weren't any real surprises. For Rookie of the Year, voters unanimously chose Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers. This award was a no-brainer, because both guys had great seasons (even though Judge got a bit "cold" after the all-star break). I would have voted for both of them; no surprise there.
For the Cy Young award, the AL winner was the Indians' Corey Kluber (who won his second Cy Young award) and the Nationals' Max Scherzer for the NL. Yes, THAT Max Scherzer - my current baseball crush! It's Scherzer's third Cy Young, and I'm just glad that someone other than Clayton Kershaw won it this year. It was a tough decision, because all of these guys had spent a bit of time on the Disabled List this year, so it wasn't a runaway vote like Rookie of the Year was; but hey, my man beat out Kershaw and fellow teammate Stephen Strasburg, so I'm happy about that.
For MVP, I was a bit nervous. There was speculation that Aaron Judge would get the award for the American League, beating out the Astros' José Altuve. I personally think it's rude to win more than one of these awards in the same year (Fred Lynn and Ichiro Suzuki have been the only ones who have done that), but as the player, you have no control over who these baseball writers are going to vote for (and I love Ichiro, but I would have voted for Roberto Alomar for MVP in 2001 so Ichiro could get one award and Alomar could get the other one). Plus isn't Rookie of the Year a more special award because you can only win it once? I was relieved when Altuve was named as MVP for the American League, because I had told my husband that if Altuve wasn't the winner, I would run around the neighborhood naked. Luckily my neighbors were spared. In the National League, the Miami Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton was the MVP, and I'm OK with that. He hit 59 home runs (I was really rooting for him to reach 60), and he's pretty bad ass. Congratulations to all of this year's winners.
Speaking of Giancarlo Stanton, the Miami Marlins are interested in trading him during the off season. This is a pretty big deal, because not only does it mean that the Marlins realize they're going to suck next year and Stanton is better off playing somewhere else, but it could potentially make Stanton a very very VERY rich man. And with Derek Jeter being part owner of the Marlins, us baseball nerds have seen a lot of video of him lately talking about how, yes, trading Stanton is a definite possibility. The main thing I've gotten out of these videos is the fact that Jeter looks way better in a baseball uniform than he does in "real people" clothes.
Also newsworthy so far this off season are both a death and a retirement. At 40 years old, former Blue Jays and Phillies pitcher and Cy Young award winner, Roy Halladay, died while flying his single-engine plane that crashed off the Gulf of Mexico on November 7. I always liked Halladay when he was with Toronto, but as soon as he joined the Phillies, I automatically disliked him. The eulogy that his wife gave at his memorial service was heart-wrenching and emotional, especially since they were just starting their new lives after Halladay's retirement in 2013. So sad!
And after 20 years in professional baseball, Puerto Rican Carlos Beltrán announced his retirement. Beltrán is one of those classy old-school guys you just can't help but love - he always played hard, was constantly smiling, and was always known as an excellent leader and faithful teammate. I have a soft spot for Carlos because he threw me a baseball during batting practice when he played for the Mets and I acted like a crazy Puerto Rican to get his attention (some would say I wasn't acting). My husband was always bothered with Beltrán being a "mouth breather," but I like him anyway (at least Beltrán probably doesn't snore, because he breathes through his mouth, which is more than I can say about my dear husband who keeps me up at night!). Let's see if Jayson Werth and Ichiro Suzuki follow in Beltrán's footsteps and announce their retirements too - while some of us would like to think that Ichiro could play forever, he's 44 and not as marketable as he once was. He will definitely be missed. And Werth? Yeah - it's time to call it quits, old man!
What else is there to look forward to during this off-season? Let's see... Which team will sign Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani? Apparently this kid can pitch, hit, run, and solve complex mathematical equations while mastering all levels of Candy Crush. He's being touted as the most perfect free agent ever (which automatically means he's over-hyped) and is being compared to Babe Ruth (!!!), but he won't require a ton of money, so he'll be easy to sign once all the bureaucratic red tape has been taken care of (apparently he's still technically under the ownership of his Japanese team, so there are some "t"s to cross and "I"s to dot before he can be signed by a Major League team. Stay tuned. What else? There are other free agents out there, like Yu Darvish, Wellington Castillo, Jonathan Lucroy, and yes, CC Sabathia (he's still got it at 37 years old).
This off-season promises to be interesting, with the signing of free agents and trading of players like Stanton (and will the Nationals please trade Tanner Roark so he can actually get some playing time and some respect?). I'll be paying attention so you don't have to (unless you really want to), and I'll keep you all updated as events warrant. In the meantime, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, support your local businesses during your holiday shopping, and enjoy your time with family and friends.
