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About the Batter's Box 2003 Least Valuable Player Awards
2003 BBLVPAs : Mismanagers of the Year
2003 BBLVPAs : The Batter's Box Schadenfreude Awards
2003 BBLVPAs : Allan Travers Awards
2003 BBLVPAs : Rookie Hype of the Year Awards

In the interest of clearing a backlog of articles I have to write, I am going to make this discussion of the BBLVPAs centerpiece awards, the Least Valuable Players, a short one. But that should not detract from the prestige of the award, or from the skills of the winners, which were considerable. There was heavy competition this year, as large numbers of players in both leagues found new and exciting ways to lose games for their teams. So without further ado, our 2003 Batter's Box Least Valuable Players are...


Jeff Cirillo in the American League, and Tony Womack in the National League.

The voting in both leagues was extraordinarily close, as several players vied for the honours. In such a field, it is an honour just to be named on a ballot, and a complete breakdown of voting is available below.

National League Least Valuable Player - Tony Womack, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies & Chicago Cubs

Tony Womack applied his unique lack of skill to three clubs this year, as he was shipped in a deal from the D-Backs to Rockies at midyear, then on to the Cubs after the trade deadline. After being passed around like a social disease, Womack's (partially Coors-inflated) combined line for the year was:

364 PA, .226 BA, .251 SLG, .307 SLG, -34 RCAA (Runs Created Above Average), .180 OWP (Offensive Winning Percentage)

Interestingly, Womack managed to be equally unimpressive at all three of his stops, posting a .221 OWP in Arizona, a .054 OWP in the Mile High City, and a .239 OWP on the South Side of Chicago.

Womack has been widely known as a defensive zero in an important defensive position for a few years now, and had the dubious honour of being the third-worst defensive shortstop in baseball over the 1999-2002 seasons by both Zone Rating and MGL's Ultimate Zone Rating. This year, though, while still costing his team games with the glove, he added a new and potent weapon to his LVP candidacy : a truly horrible bat. Womack, normally a passable middle infielder with the stick, was surpassingly bad at the plate this year.

In fact, given his constant and well-established defensive woes, Womack may have been (with Derek Jeter injured for a good part of the season) the least valuable shortstop in baseball with both glove *and* bat this year, a unique and noteworthy accomplishment. It didn't stop him from chewing out D-Backs' manager Bob Brenly in May; when Brenly passed Womack over in favour of Alex Cintron to start at short when Craig Counsell was hurt, Womack said "I don't know what my role is here. That's all I can say."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves, Tony.

Womack beat back several challengers for the NL crown, including the New York Mets' designated hitter Mo Vaughn (who came second - it would be totally against character for Vaughn to actually win anything) and the Phillies' David Bell, the only player to receive more than one first-place vote. Houston's Brad Ausmus, the very first plywood cutout of a catcher ever to receive a multi-million dollar contract, finished fourth.

American League Least Valuable Player - Jeff Cirillo, Seattle Mariners

There is something uniquely comforting about Jeff Cirillo's futility. When Cirillo struggled badly in Colorado when he signed with the Rockies in 2000 after an outstanding career with Milwaukee, it was thought that the thin air of Denver had somehow unnerved a promising player, and that the notorious "Coors Effect" on road hitting was having a disproportionate effect on the unfortunate Cirillo's offensive production. However, after a move to the sea-level Pacific salt air of Seattle, it was revealed for all to see that Cirillo just plain sucks rocks. Cirillo's batting stats (can't call them "hitting" stats) for 2003:

293 PA, .205 BA, .284 OBP, .271 SLG, -19 RCAA, .224 OWP

Cirillo's problems, though, extend further than the chalk lines of the batter's box. Despite having been a poor performer for four years now and a hopeless one for two, he has managed to feud with former Mariner skipper Lou Piniella over playing time and commitment issues, and now has developed a running feud with Mariner management, the Seattle press, and the very notion of batting competence. Instead of responding to his struggles with good humour or redoubled vigor, he has fouled the waters around him. As such, there could not be a more worthy recipient of the American League LVP. Congratulations, Jeff.

Cirillo beat out an impressive array of candidates in the AL, including Rookie Hype of the Year Brandon Phillips, Oakland stationary target Jermaine Dye, and several Detroit Tigers, who managed to avoid having the LVP among their ranks by confusing the voters, employing dozens of nearly identical crappy players. Like an undercoached grade school choral society, the Tigers blended a plethora of ugly performances into a whole so hideous, that it resisted further analysis on an individual level.

BBLVPA Voting (Voters were asked to rank five players per league; points awarded on 1 10-7-4-2-1 basis)


AL LVP


Cirillo 30
Phillips 28
Halter 23
Dye 22
Santiago 18
Long 12
Walbeck 12
Inge 10
Giambi 10
Konerko 7
B Williams 7
Rios 7
Christensen 4
Batista 4
Alomar 4
Molina 4
Palmer 4
Higginson 2
Gil 2
Matthews, Jr 1
Febles 1
Guzman 1
Mondesi 1
Borchard 1
Infante 1


NL LVP


Womack 24
Vaughn 21
David Bell 20
Ausmus 18
Burrell 18
Tatis 16
Hernandez 14
Ward 11
Olmedo 9
Matheny 7
Alfonzo 7
Jay Bell 7
Sanchez 7
McCracken 4
Bellhorn 4
Green 4
Blanco 4
Manzanillo 2
Griffey 2
Chavez 2
Grace 2
Hundley 2
Lopez 2
Izturis 2
Mondesi 1
Mesa 1
Larkin 1
Shinjo 1
Macias 1
Counsell 1
Cora 1

BBLVPAs : Least Valuable Players | 10 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_John Neary - Sunday, November 23 2003 @ 11:52 PM EST (#85367) #
I wrote this on the ballot I sent to Craig, and I'll repeat it here:

Many MVP voters will only vote for players on contending teams, the logic being that you can't be "valuable" to a team that's not in the race. Inverting this logic, we see that only players from Detroit should be eligible for the LVP.

So I voted for the Shannon Stewarts and David Ortizes of the LVP ballot. I guess everyone else voted for the A-Rods and Delgados.

And while a lot of people disagreed with Mike Moffatt's assertion that
MVP voting should take salary into account, LVP voters seem to differ.

Craig,
_John Neary - Sunday, November 23 2003 @ 11:53 PM EST (#85368) #
I wrote this on the ballot I sent to Craig, and I'll repeat it here:

Many MVP voters will only vote for players on contending teams, the logic being that you can't be "valuable" to a team that's not in the race. Inverting this logic, we see that only players from Detroit should be eligible for the LVP.

So I voted for the Shannon Stewarts and David Ortizes of the LVP ballot. I guess everyone else voted for the A-Rods and Delgados.

And while a lot of people disagreed with Mike Moffatt's assertion that MVP voting should take salary into account, LVP voters seem to differ.

Craig, great job on all the awards.
_gid - Monday, November 24 2003 @ 01:23 AM EST (#85369) #
Hilarious stuff, well done.

One minor correction: the Cubs aren't on the South Side of Chicago.
_coliver - Monday, November 24 2003 @ 07:35 AM EST (#85370) #
Izturis? Hmmmm...

I know that he is not much of a hitter, but his defense surely contributes a good deal of value.

All I can say is, the Blue Jays could do a lot worse (and they did in 2003) than have Izturis as their shortshop and #9 hitter.
Pepper Moffatt - Monday, November 24 2003 @ 07:58 AM EST (#85371) #
http://economics.about.com
John:

Thanks for pointing that out. If salary doesn't count, then why all the votes for Mo Vaughn?

Cheers,

Mike
_greenfrog - Monday, November 24 2003 @ 09:56 AM EST (#85372) #
What about LVP for the Jays in 2003?

Some candidates: Tam, Sturze, Lidle, Politte, Hendrickson, Wasdin...

Personally, I would vote for Tam. He consistently managed to blow leads in staggering fashion. Didn't he walk four batters in a row, and manage to get lit up, in one game?
Pepper Moffatt - Monday, November 24 2003 @ 10:00 AM EST (#85373) #
http://economics.about.com
LVP for the Jays? Kevin Cash, in a cakewalk.
Pepper Moffatt - Monday, November 24 2003 @ 10:02 AM EST (#85374) #
http://economics.about.com
An addendum:

I was using the Batter's Box standard definition of value and not my own.

Using the net approach, I guess it would have to be Raul Mondesi.

Cheers,

Mike
Craig B - Monday, November 24 2003 @ 12:39 PM EST (#85375) #
Gid, thanks for overhauling my stupidity. I get Southsiders and Northsiders mixed up constantly, another reason I should be taken out and shot.

the Blue Jays could do a lot worse (and they did in 2003) than have Izturis as their shortshop and #9 hitter

The Blue Jays' principal shortstops, Bordick and Woodward, made 510 outs and created about 80 runs. Izturis made 425 outs and created about 45 runs. The offensive difference between the B/W combo and Izturis is 25 runs or more.

There is no way in the world that Izturis contributed 25 runs on defense more than Bordick + Woodward. Izturis's fielding win shares are impressive (a function of WS allocating very poorly between pitchers and fielders) but at a more complex level of analysis his defensive stats aren't that impressive. His zone rating was in the middle of the pack, he made a lot of errors (like Woodward), and his DP totals aren't that great - certainly not when compared to someone like Rafael Furcal, whose glove is just OK.

Bordick, anyway, is an excellent glove (no matter how much gray hair he has), and his fielding stats are all-around better than Izturis's, just as they have always been.

At any rate, even WS has it at something like 18-20 runs' difference. I think that's too large still, (I'd eyeball the difference at about 8-10 runs, but it's impossible to tell without better numbers - UZR should be available sometime over the winter which will help) but it certainly wouldn't undo his offensive incompetence.

If salary doesn't count, then why all the votes for Mo Vaughn?

It's not just the salary, it's all those triple seats they have to pay for on the team flights. (Plus two extra baggage charges for his ego...)
Pepper Moffatt - Monday, November 24 2003 @ 01:09 PM EST (#85376) #
http://economics.about.com
Don't forget the extra table they had to add for the post-game clubhouse buffet!

Mike
BBLVPAs : Least Valuable Players | 10 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.