Jose Valverde was named Major League Baseball’s Delivery Man of the Year today. It’s a fan vote, so take it for what it’s worth. And from where I’m sitting, it’s not worth a heck of a lot. Here’s part of that:
Other relievers receiving votes from the MLB panel this year included John Axford of the Milwaukee Brewers (2-2, 1.95 ERA, 46 SV), rookie Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves (4-3, 2.10 ERA, 46 SV) and Joel Hanrahan of the Pittsburgh Pirates (1-4, 1.83 ERA, 40 SV).
Note anyone missing there? Anyone who, you know, saved 44 games with a 1.91 ERA and a WHIP of 0.897 and was better than Valverde in just about every category apart from saves? Really, unless Mariano Rivera pulled a John Laraquette and removed himself from consideration due to the unfairness of the competition -- or unless dancing around like a loon after a save became a critical component to the award -- I’m gonna have a hard time taking this award all that seriously.
