2014 Best of MLB Awards

Trout, Kershaw are AL and NL POY respectively

It's that time of year again, awards season in Major League Baseball. And this site will be no exception.

This year for the first time, with the renewed emphasis on baseball, I am announcing the first-ever "Best of MLB" awards honorees.

In all, honorees are being named for both the National League and the American League in each of 9 categories, one for each inning in a ballgame: Player of the Year, Starting Pitcher, Relief Pitcher, Offensive Player, Defensive Player, Rookie, Comeback Player, Breakout Player, and Manager.

For the most part, these awards were not subjective. I went to FanGraphs, looked up overall regular season WAR values, and gave the awards to the highest players in their categories. In 2-3 other categories, I weighted those numbers heavily in deciding the honorees. Remember, the honors are based on the regular season.

If you follow baseball, you already know these players and are well aware of the excellence of each of their 2014 season performances. So not much extra commentary is needed. But I did want to make just a few comments on some of the honors.

First, my selection of Cincinnati Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton as the top National League Rookie over New York Mets pitcher Jake deGrom. These were clearly the two most impactful rookies in the league this season. I chose Hamilton, who had a higher WAR value, feeling that his everyday impact as a centerfielder was greater than deGrom's weekly impact as a starting pitcher.

For the American League Starting Pitcher honors, Cleveland's Corey Kluber beat out a strong field that included 'King' Felix Hernandez, David Price, Phil Hughes, and Jon Lester. Kluber was the #2 player in all of baseball in individual WAR, while the others rated 11-14 respectively. All tremendous, but one clearly above the rest.

Corey Kluber, AL's top starting pitcher

At the A.L. Reliever spot, what a horse race. The honor went to Yankees RP Dellin Betances in a very close race with the Royals excellent setup man Wade Davis. While Davis rightfully received a lot of publicity due to KC's postseason run, Betances was every bit as dominant in the regular season, and simply finished with a higher WAR value.

Also, I wanted to single out the Breakout Player winners. What a season for both Michael Brantley and Anthony Rendon, 5th and 6th in all of baseball in overall WAR numbers. The 27-year old Brantley has been one of those "good not great" contributing types, and elevated his game. The 24-year old Rendon stayed healthy in his first true full season and served notice that he should be one of the game's best into the future.

On defense, Boston's Jackie Bradley Jr was the best defensive outfielder in the game this season, and that includes Lorenzo Cain. Only two facts: his poor offense, and that his poor offense kept him from playing every day, all year long with the Red Sox, kept him from what should have been an easy Gold Glove win. If you don't know, watch him closely. He's the kind of player who, with the right offense around him, impacts a game enough defensively to overcome the offensive shortcomings. He should be starting somewhere every day.

Finally, the NL Manager of the Year. Keep in mind, this was a regular season honor, so Bruce Bochy's great postseason run to a 3rd World Series did not factor. But the job that 'Donny Baseball' did in winning the NL West in LA with a frequently dysfunctional core under tremendous pressure to win got him the nod.

Don Mattingly skippered Dodgers to NL West crown

Without further ado, here are the 2014 'Best of MLB' awards honorees:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
NL - Clayton Kershaw, SP, LA Dodgers
AL - Mike Trout, OF, LA Angels

OFFENSIVE PLAYER
NL - Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh
AL - Mike Trout, Los Angeles

STARTING PITCHER
NL - Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles
AL - Corey Kluber, Cleveland

RELIEF PITCHER
NL - Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati
AL - Dellin Betances, New York

DEFENSIVE PLAYER
NL - Andrelton Simmons, SS, Atlanta
AL - Jackie Bradley Jr, CF, Boston

COMEBACK PLAYER
NL - Johnny Cueto, SP, Cincinnati
AL - Chris Young, SP, Seattle

BREAKOUT PLAYER
NL - Anthony Rendon, 2B/3B, Washington
AL - Michael Brantley, OF, Cleveland

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
NL - Billy Hamilton, CF, Cincinnati
AL - Jose Abreu, 1B, Chicago

MANAGER
NL - Don Mattingly, Los Angeles
AL - Buck Showalter, Baltimore