Minnesota Twins: Community Awards

by Jesse on Oct 6, 2008 10:00 AM EDT in News

Something new.

Every year, SB Nation has its bloggers fill out ballots for MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year awards for the league in which their team plays. While those awards will be released in a few weeks, I thought it might be fun to do a few community awards based solely on the Twins.

Today we'll start with Bummer of the Year. Injuries and poor statistical seasons are the primary reasons for being nominated for a Bummer, and only players who finished the year with the Twins are eligible. This year's candidates are:

Michael Cuddyer: For his injury-riddled season, just after he signed a three-year extension.
Pat Neshek: For hitting the disabled list early in the season, an injury that had a cascade effect on the bullpen.
Adam Everett: For his sore right shoulder and trips to the disabled list.
Carlos Gomez: For his strikeouts, and seeming desire to leave the batter's box as soon as possible.
Boof Bonser: For his disappointing season in a year where his contributions were needed.
Matt Guerrier: For his poor showing down the stretch, when the bullpen heirarchy had broken down and his consistency disappeared.

Not all categories will have this many nominees. In fact, some of them may only have two or three.

Poll

Who wins your Bummer of the Year '09?

Michael Cuddyer, RF

57 votes

Pat Neshek, RP

95 votes

Adam Everett, SS

6 votes

Carlos Gomez, CF

4 votes

Boof Bonser, RP

34 votes

Matt Guerrier, RP

31 votes

227 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Neshek in a landslide ...

Pat’s injury hurt more than any other.

by BD57 on Oct 6, 2008 3:02 PM EDT reply actions

It's

Neshak’s injury may have hurt the most, but Cuddyer wins the big bummer year for me. He just got a big contract, he was finally able to be publicly recognized as the team leader with Torii Hunter jettisoned (after perhaps being the true clubhouse leader for some time) and he gets hurt and performs poorly all year. Pooey.

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane

by AdamOnFirst on Oct 6, 2008 4:31 PM EDT reply actions

Guerrier

It’s hard for me to vote for a disappointing player because of injuries.

Guerrier was just bad in dozens of key situations.

by TMW on Oct 7, 2008 1:21 PM EDT reply actions

agreed

That’s why my vote went to Guerrier as well.

by Hoya on Oct 8, 2008 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Can I do a write-in candidate?

Mike Lamb! No injury, just poor play, to the point where the Twins were willing to eat a 2-year deal to get him off the team.

"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

by BeefMaster on Oct 8, 2008 9:25 AM EDT reply actions

agreed

Jesse’s definition of this award includes injuries, and since Jesse is making the rules, I will honor them. However, I will cast my vote that a “bummer” is more about poor performance than injury, unless we have a “poor performance” award waiting in the wings that we can vote on?

I have to say Mike Lamb was a big organizational bummer.

As a fan, he wasn’t such a bummer for me, as I didn’t expect much out of him anyway. Same for Gomez. But Neshek and Cuddyer aren’t bummers for me because those were injuries sustained by playing the game – those happen. Now had Neshek hurt himself while “washing his motorcycle”, tripping over his dog while going down the stairs at home, riding his motorcycle without a helmet, headbutting a stadium wall, suffered a “pulled muscle” while engaging in activities on the “Love Boat” … those would have produced a “bummer” reaction.

by montanatwinsfan on Oct 8, 2008 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions