Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer Awarded BBBA’s Walter Perry Johnson Award for Best Regular Season MLB Pitching Performances of 2016

The bloggers of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance have chosen the Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander and the Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer as the best pitchers of the 2016 MLB regular season.

In balloting, Mr. Verlander received 11 first place votes and 130 points overall, highest among all candidates in both leagues. Finishing a close second with 125 points and nine first place votes was the Cleveland Indians’ Corey Kluber. The Boston Red Sox’ Rick Porcello finished third with 110 points and nine first place ballots. Also earning the top spot on BBA ballots were the Chicago White Sox’ Chris Sale and the Toronto Blue Jays’ Aaron Sanchez. The top five American League pitchers finished as follows:

1. Justin Verlander, 130 points (11 1st place votes)
2. Corey Kluber, 125 (9)
3. Rick Porcello, 110 (9)
4. Chris Sale, 46 (1)
5. Aaron Sanchez, 44 (4)

In the National League, Mr. Scherzer received 115 points and 10 first place votes. The Nats’ ace narrowly beat the Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks who finished second with 105 points and one more first place vote than Scherzer. Also receiving first place votes were the New York Mets’ Noah Syndergaard, the Cubs’ Jon Lester, the San Francisco Giants’ Madison Bumgarner, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, and late Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez. The top five NL pitchers finished as follows:

1. Max Scherzer, 115 (10)
2. Kyle Hendricks, 105 (11)
3. Noah Syndergaard, 63 (1)
4. Jon Lester, 58 (2)
5. Jose Fernandez, 44 (3)

In total, 28 MLB pitchers received a vote in the 2016 Walter Johnson Award vote. Honorable mention (with point totals) goes to:

• American League: Andrew Miller (25), Masahiro Tanaka (19), J.A. Happ (11), Jose Quintana (11), David Price (6), Zach Britton (6), Francisco Rodriguez (3), R.A. Dickey (2), Cole Hamels (1)
• National League: Madison Bumgarner (41), Clayton Kershaw (34), Jake Arrieta (24), Johnny Cueto (21), Tanner Roark (4), Kenley Jansen (3), Jeurys Familia (2), Julio Teheran (2), Bartolo Colon (1)

Stay tuned the rest of the week for the winners of the Goose Gossage (best relievers), Willie Mays (best rookies) and Connie Mack (best managers) awards.

Neil Walker Accepting Qualifying Offer Should Have Matt Wieters-Like Impact on Mets’ Offseason

It’s only the middle of November, but the New York Mets just gained a whole lot of clarity to their offseason plan. And while the fan base is still upset about Bartolo Colon heading to the Atlanta Braves, they have reason to be excited about what’s to come.

Second baseman Neil Walker was one of just two players out of a possible 10 to accept a qualifying offer on Monday, meaning he’ll be returning to the Mets on a one-year deal for $17.2 million. That’s a lot of money for a middle infielder, but Sandy Alderson is clearly confident in Walker making a full recovery for Opening Day.

Some may feel this could hamper New York’s ability to re-sign outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, but it should actually have the opposite kind of impact. Call me overly optimistic here, but watching Walker accept the qualifying offer was exactly what the front office needed in order to operate under a “win now” mentality…even more than before.

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