Baseball writer needs to show more objectivity in voting for 2018 award winners

The St. Louis Cardinals have added outfielder Marcel Ozuna to strengthen their lineup, while the Milwaukee Brewers really boosted their outfield by signing free agent Lorenzo Cain and trading for Christian Yellich. However, in the National League Central division, the Chicago Cubs are the team to beat.

Almost everyone thought the same thing going into last season, when the North Siders broke camp as defending World Series champions for the first time in more than a hundred years. Chicago narrowly won the division in 2017, but most of the season was a disappointment with the Cubs dominated by the Dodgers in the playoffs.

However, according to a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, the Cubs must have enjoyed a breakout season. When the organization placed its picks for the 2017 main awards, a writer inexplicably voted for members of the Cubs who clearly didn’t deserve it.

While the BBWA will never reveal the identity of the writer to the public, it would be a good bet that he resides in the Windy City. How else could their voting decisions be explained?

Miami outfielder Giancarlo, traded to the New York Yankees during the offseason, edged out Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto for NL MVP selection. Stanton led all of baseball with 59 home runs, and Votto finished in the top five in both home runs and batting average.

Those two players certainly deserved to receive all the first-place votes for MVP from the Baseball Writers Association of America, the organization given the honor of selecting the winner of that prestigious honor. However, one of the writers chose neither Stanton nor Votto, nor worthy outside candidates like batting champion Charlie Blackmon or Colorado Rockies Runs Batted In leader Nolan Arenado.

Instead, this obviously biased writer wasted his vote for MVP on the Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant, who rightfully won the award in 2016. Last year, however, was a disappointing season for both him and the Cubs. puppies.

Bryant failed to finish in the top 10 in any of the major offensive categories, managing to get into that range in the minor component of walks. The only stat he led in was the dubious distinction of having made the most errors, his total of eighteen surpassing all other third basemen in the league.

Bryant certainly wasn’t the only reason the Cubs couldn’t defend their pennant last season, as his manager naturally must shoulder some of the blame. Joe Maddon, who had guided Chicago to the World Series Championship the previous season, simply couldn’t put Chicago on track to repeat that feat in 2017.

However, one of the BWWA members somehow found Madden worthy enough to win the Manager of the Year Award, even though his team underperformed and won six fewer games. Fortunately, all other BWWA members did not vote for Maddon, deservingly giving the award to Tory Lovullo of the Arizona Diamondbacks and second place going to Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers who won the pennant.