Mark Whicker: My award picks for the best and worst of 2023
Toronto Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) would be Canadian Baseball Network columnist Mark Whicker’s choice for American League Fireman of the Year.
November 13, 2023
By Mark Whicker
Canadian Baseball Network
The envelopes, please. (They’re bigger this year, to reward base-stealing.)
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
American League: It’s either Marcus Semien or Kyle Tucker. The Astros’ rightfielder was the season-long constant as other sluggers fluctuated. But the pick is Semien, who played all 162 games, drove in 100 runs as a leadoff man, had 40 doubles and led the league in runs with 122. He’s also become a top-shelf defender as the Rangers’ second baseman.
National League: Ronald Acuna Jr. was phenomenal for the Braves, with 41 homers and 73 steals and a .337 average. But Mookie Betts is a better fit for “valuable.”
Along with 39 home runs and 107 RBIs, he rescued the Dodgers by playing 86 games in their depleted middle infield.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
AL: Once again Shohei Ohtani mesmerized baseball with 44 home runs and a 10-5 record with a 3.14 ERA, with none of it affecting the American League races one iota.
NL: Acuna.
CY YOUNG AWARD
AL: Gerrit Cole led the league in ERA and WHIP and was the only A.L. pitcher to go 200 innings with 200 strikeouts.
NL: It’s hard to vote for Blake Snell, the ERA leader at 2.25, when he had 99 walks. It’s hard to vote for Spencer Strider, the leader in wins (20) and strikeouts (283) with his 3.86 ERA. It’s hard to vote for Logan Webb, the leader in innings and quality starts, when he went 11-13. Zac Gillen went 17-9 for Arizona and was the only 200-200 pitcher when it comes to innings and strikeouts. So give me the dart, let me close my eyes and….it’s Strider.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR
AL: Bruce Bochy shows up and the Rangers go from 68 wins to 90. That’s the way to nip an argument in the bud.
NL: Dave Roberts always gets shafted in these discussions, but the Braves won 104 games, so let’s go with Brian Snitker. If you want to nominate Miami’s Skip Schumaker, that’s fine too.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
AL: Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson, at 22, led the A.L.’s best team with an .814 OPS and played 150 games. Also scored 100 runs in 150 games with 28 homers. It will be shocking if he doesn’t become a dominant player.
NL: Corbin Carroll hit 25 home runs, stole 54 bases and hit .285. With the way he led the Diamondbacks, he was a legit MVP candidate as well.
FIREMAN OF THE YEAR
AL: Toronto’s Jordan Romano led the league with a 90 percent save rate and stranded 18 of the 20 runners he inherited.
NL: If you’re the Pirates, every save is precious. David Bednar notched 39 of 42 and only had three losses.
ARSONIST OF THE YEAR
AL: One of the biggest differences in Cleveland’s tough season was Emmanuel Clase, who blew 12 saves, even though he saved an MLB-best 44. He gave up 25 more hits in the same number of innings (72 ⅔) as in 2022.
NL: Jake Bird of the Rockies had 11 save opportunities and blew them all. He also let 24 of 42 inherited runners score.
EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
AL: Who did the best job of answering his team’s needs during the season? Since you put it that way, here’s the Rangers’ Chris Young, who fetched Jordan Montgomery to boost the rotation, and also Aroldis Chapman to help the bullpen.
NL: Under that criterion, let’s reward Arizona’s Mike Hazen, whose trade with Seattle brought Paul Sewald and lifted the Diamondbacks to a wild-card spot.
MIS-MANAGER OF THE YEAR
AL: The White Sox’ Pedro Grifol was supposed to be an improvement over Tony La Russa. A 61-101 record indicates he wasn’t.
NL: The Giants had the worst batting average in the league and decided to augment that with the fewest steals in the league. It’s one reason why Gabe Kapler is no longer there.
EXECU-STIFF OF THE YEAR
AL: The Angels’ Perry Minasian can’t be expected to heal Mike Trout or Anthony Rendon, but all of his moves to augment the lineup and rotation backfired radically, and it doesn’t help to see Brandon Marsh thriving in Philadelphia postseason runs.
NL: You could almost construct an All-Star team with the talent that the Cardinals’ John Mozeliak has shipped out. Start with Gallen, Montgomery, Lane Thomas, Sandy Alcantara and Adolis Garcia.
BREAKTHROUGH PLAYER
AL: Chicago’s Luis Robert got a full shot and took advantage, going from 12 to 38 home runs.
NL: LefthanderJustin Steele was a Cy Young candidate for a while as he put together 173 innings and went 16-5 for the Cubs. He also had the best home run rate in the league. Steele was 4-7 in 24 starts in 2022.
COMEBACK PLAYER
AL: The toughest part for Tyler Glasnow has been getting to the mound. He started a career-high 21 games and went 10-7 for Tampa Bay. with 162 strikeouts in 120 innings.
NL: Has anyone ever been Rookie of the Year, MVP and Comeback Player before he turned 28? That’s Cody Bellinger, who hit .307 for the Cubs after a .210 season in L.A. the year before. Bellinger went from an OPS of .654 to .881 and from 68 RBI to 97.
More impressively, he cut down his strikeouts from 150 to 87 in six more plate appearances.
COMEDOWN PLAYER
AL: Detroit’s Javier Baez continued to illustrate the folly of free agency by compiling a .267 on-base percentage with nine home runs.
NL: Carlos Carrasco has 107 big-league wins but had a rough 20 starts, with a 1.700 WHIP and a 3-8 record. He was 15-7 the year before.
HUMAN WINDFARM
AL: The Royals’ MJ Melendez struck out 170 times in the same year he homered only 16 times. Oakland’s Ryan Noda did exactly the same thing.
NL: Rookie Ezequiel Tovar of the Rockies freshened the breeze at Coors Field with 15 homers and 166 strikeouts.
BEST BARGAIN
AL: Chris Martin was a tower of power in the Boston bullpen, with a 1.05 ERA in 55 games. The Red Sox signed him for two years, $13 million.
NL: The Cubs got a great year from Bellinger as they made a run at the playoffs, and it cost them “only” $17.5 million. Deeper in the thrift store, the Phillies signed former first-round pick Jeff Hoffman for $1.3 million and he gave their bullpen a major boost, with 52 ⅓ innings and 29 hits.
WORST RIPOFF
AL: The Yankees gave the fragile Carlos Rodon a six-year, $162 million deal that cost them $27 million in 2023. He was 3-8 in 14 games with a 6.85 ERA.
NL: Xander Bogaerts signed an 11-year, $280 million deal with San Diego, which paid him $25.45 in 2023, and he responded with 58 RBIs, fewest since 2014. See, the Padres did win something.