posted on Saturday, November 11, 2006 11:48 PM by Jim

He'll take it

Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede won Silver Slugger awards at their respective positions, with Dye also adding a Player's Choice Award for the AL's Outstanding Player.

Dye deserves both of his accolades -- even if he wasn't the top player in the American League, the award is like a minor-league version of the MVP, and he's at least owed that for his monster season.

Crede winning the Silver Slugger, on the other hand, means at least one of the three following things:
  1. Crede is gaining the reputation of being clutch
  2. Alex Rodriguez has really fallen hard.
  3. September doesn't count
I haven't found one authoritative definition, but the ones I have found tell me that the selection process is almost entirely numbers-based.  Look how they stack up at season's end (ranking among AL third basemen in parentheses):

Crede Rodriguez
.283 (4)
.323 (9)
.506 (3)
544 (6)
154 (6)
76 (7)
31 (3)
0 (T8)
30 (3)
94 (3)
28 (10)
58 (1)
BA
OBP
SLG
AB
H
R
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
K
 		.290 (1)
.392 (1)
.523 (1)
572 (5)
166 (2)
113 (1)
26 (6)
1 (T6)
35 (2)
121 (1)
90 (1)
139 (10)

Aside from doubles and strikeouts, Crede doesn't really compare at season's end, thanks in large part to a disastrous September.  In the last month of the season, Rodriguez went .358/.465/.691, while Crede posted a Timo-riffic .179/.264/.282.  Before that point, a better argument for Crede can be made:

Crede Rodriguez
.300
.333
.543
466
140
71
29
0
28
87
20
49
BA
OBP
SLG
AB
H
R
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
K
 		.279
.379
.495
491
137
91
23
1
27
96
74
125

Also noteworthy is that through August, Rodriguez had grounded into 20 double plays, compared to Crede's 13, so before Crede's back flared up and his numbers took a nosedive in the final month, there was a perfectly valid case for him to win the Silver Slugger.

It has to come down to getting big hits, because even the September arguments work against Crede.  Rodriguez's critics say he put those stellar September stats up during garbage time, since the Yankees had clinched the AL East.  On the other hand, Crede couldn't hit when the White Sox needed to win, and they missed the playoffs.  I'd consider that a point in A-Rod's favor.

Nevertheless, it's nice to see Crede get some tangible recognition at some point.  He was a better pick to win a Gold Glove this year instead of Eric Chavez, and if baseball had the equivalent of a Conn Smythe Trophy for best player during the entire playoffs, he would've won that, too.

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