Comments on: Royals Player Of The Year

By: Jeff E.

Jeff E. — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:37:34 +0000

“Soria is great but how many games does he impact (not all saves are created equal)”

Well Soria impacted 43 games (64%) of the wins. I shudder to think what the impact would have been if Chavez, Wood Hughes, Texeira or any other “reliever” on the staff was the closer. Soria was second in the AL in saves, which is what he was hired to do. Nobody else on the roster finished anywhere near the top of any AL stats for what they were hired to do.

By: gbewing

gbewing — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:28:08 +0000

3rd period summed it up nicely, Butler is the most valuable hitter on team. @nd and 3rd is trickier as the better players didn’t play all year- Craigs list makes sense- I would consider Pods maybe in the 3 spot-I felt he did his job well for us

including pitchers- I still may give it to Butler. Soria is great but how many games does he impact (not all saves are created equal) I certainly wouldn’t complain either way. The atmoshphere is Butler had a step back year and he actually mirrored last season with solid improvement in k/w ratio, a slight reduction in power which could be random variation. The only real black mark are the dp’s which people obsess about as much as Kendal’s blocked pitches- it’s important but it’s 1 thing

By: 3rdPeriodPoints

3rdPeriodPoints — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:04:59 +0000

Butler, by a wide margin. 134 OPS+, increased BB rate combined with 25 fewer K’s, and he’s 24.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:43:04 +0000

I am continuously baffled by the idea that Billy Butler cannot be a three hitter on a good team. There are certainly some good teams where he would not bat third, but it’s not a given. And I don’t know that there’s any team in either league where he bats sixth. I’d hate to face that team. He gets on base a lot, setting the table for the theoretical cleanup hitter behind him, and he can hit for power. That currently translates mostly to doubles, but most doubles should score the 1 and 2 hitters on a good team. I will admit that his speed leaves a little bit to be desired in terms of being driven in, but that hasn’t stopped the Adam Dunns of David Ortizes of the world from being productive 3/4 hitters.

As for the double plays… yeah, they’re annoying, but keep in mind that the man with the single season record for double plays is in the Hall of Fame.

Butler is easily the team MVP this year for me. I believe he easily gets to 100 RBIs if Podsednik and Kendall aren’t batting in front of him for most of the year, and potentially 100 runs with any sort of quality bat behind him. Soria had a phenomenal season, and our miserable record would have no doubt been much worse with a lesser arm coming out in the 9th, but he’s still a reliever, and for me it’s nearly impossible to be the most valuable player in so limited a role.

By: Austyn

Austyn — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:23:00 +0000

So i was listening to 610 Sports after the Royals/Rays game on October 2nd and they were talking about Royals players and pitchers of the year award and someone called in and was talking about Butler being the run away winner and the host of the show was like i think it should be Yuni, well the called mention BA, no argument, then slugging and the host said well yea Butler only won because he had more doubles and that should be counted against Yuni! First, i have no idea what kind of logic led him to say this and he kept going and going about Yuni and never mention the fact that his OBP was a .288 , needless to say i had to change the station, i have never changed the station when the topic is the Royals but hearing that arugment i almost drove off a bridge haha

By: Jeff E.

Jeff E. — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:02:20 +0000

Two words: Joakim Soria. Second in the AL with 43 saves for a 67 win team so he was directly involved in 64% of the wins. Unfortunately no position player can come close to that kind of contribution.

By: Nick Scott

Nick Scott — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:39:33 +0000

I say we just give it to Yuni. I mean, the RBIs!

By: Clark Fosler

Clark Fosler — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:38:31 +0000

A little fielding perspective.

21 shortstops played enough innings to qualify (using Fangraphs’ qualifications) for the fielding rankings. Yuni ranged 18th in UZR/150 (-9.2), 15th in Revised Zone Rating (.781) and 13th in Outs made Outside of Zone (49).

22 first basemen qualified. Butler ranked 15th in UZR/150 (-3.2), 13th in Revised Zone Rating and 15th in OOZ.

Compared to their peers, Yuni and Billy basically ranked the same defensively with Yuni being below average at a much more critical defensive position. Along the way, he managed to get on-base at a ridiculously low rate of .288 and slugged .405 (9th amoung shortstops). Butler posted on OBP of .388 and slugged .469 (10th among first basemen).

Somehow, I think Billy, even with 32 GIDP, was considerably more valuable to this team than Yuni.

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:33:22 +0000

I suggest they don’t give one out. No one drove in 100 runs, scored 100 runs, hit 20 home runs….impacted games. Butler was definately the best and most consistant hitter but would he bat 3rd on a winning team? Would he play 1st on a winning team? The gidp’s was frankly amazing as well. Good player, but not great and probably won’t make an All-Star team (maybe a Royals pick like Harvey, Redman, etc). I dont know, this season was so disgusting, I just dont see anyone deserving to be rewarded. Also, as far as bringing in FA’s, I really hope they sign no one. Whats the point? They wont get anyone that another team wants and they will waste 2 mil here, 2 mil there on bad, old players offering 2 year deals when they wouldnt get roster invites anywhere else in the league. Let the young pups play since we won’t be competing. Hopefully the patch work FA players are behind us.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:57:15 +0000

SO MUCH HATRED TOWARDS YUNI! I am not and have not been a fan of Betancourts, but he did have a pretty good year. His range was slightly better, and his fielding % was a little better. Betancourt also had some key hits in the season, along with 3 grand slams. Butler on the otherhand destroyed the Royals single season GIDP record. He needs to figure out how to get a little lift on that ball. Butler’s defense is still pretty darn ugly. He will have to learn how to be a DH if he wants to be in a lineup.

If the Player of the Year Award could go to a pitcher, I would definitely say Soria. Two saves shy of the Royals single season record, and two very impressive streaks (both ended in the final game of the season).

Had DDj finished the year in the lineup, he would be the runaway winner. I will still go with him. He plays solid defense at all 3 outfield spots, and must have more than a noodle arm. He has not made an error in three season, right?