Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — It was awards week in MLB this week, and things went about as well for the Dodgers as the NLDS did. That is, not great at all.
On Tuesday, Dave Roberts lost out on manager of the year honors to the Mets’ Buck Showalter. Not completely unexpected, as this award usually goes to the manager of the most improved team or the team that was the biggest surprise in the league. With all the tools at his disposal, Roberts was expected to win and win big, and his 111-win season is testament to that. On the other hand, Showalter took a perennially underachieving Mets team and got them over 100 wins and into the the playoffs. Not hard to see why Buck would get the nod in this one.
Then, on Wednesday, the biggest disappointment of the awards season. Sandy Alcantara won the NL Cy Young over Julio Urias, which in and of itself was not that shocking. We had predicted as much on this site a month ago. However, what was disappointing about Julio’s finish in the race is that he didn’t even finish in second place! He was third, behind Max Fried of the Braves. Perhaps he ended up being victim of the Dodgers’ tendency to treat Urias with kid gloves, and not really stretch him out during the regular season, in hopes of getting an extended run out of him in the postseason. Well, the postseason for Urias amounted to just one five-inning start, and he’s left at the altar while the workhorse Alcantara walks off with the prize. Okay, but third? Jeez.
Finally, on Thursday MLB handed out its most coveted trophy: Most Valuable Player. There was talk around Dodgerland that maybe Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman might sneak up and snatch the trophy from the season-long favorite Paul Goldschmidt of the St. Louis Cardinals, but in the end Goldy’s monster first half was more than enough to win the prize. Goldschmidt finished well ahead of the second place finisher, everyone’s favorite ex-Dodger Manny Machado. Goldschmidt’s teammate Nolan Arenado finished in the third and Freddy and Mookie were a distant fourth and fifth respectively.
So awards season has come and gone, and the Dodgers came away empty. How appropriate for a disappointing end to the entire year.
