Joel Sherman of the New York Post polled 18 scouts and executives for a ranking of the five best position players, starting pitchers, relief pitchers, managers and general managers entering the 2014 regular season.
As you can probably guess, Mike Trout won the ballot for best position player, with two-time defending AL MVP Miguel Cabrera finishing as the runner-up. One GM called Trout “basically the real-life version of Robocop”.
Kershaw ran away with the vote for the best starting pitcher, and respondents were effusive about everything he does on and off the field. Justin Verlander and Jose Fernandez tied for second place. Craig Kimbrel received praise as the game’s best reliever, with Aroldis Chapman finishing a close second.
Joe Maddon and Mike Matheny took home the vote for best manager. Billy Beane of the Athletics and Andrew Friedman of the Rays were one and two for best general manager. Nothing shocking there, either.
