Pujols, Jeter Among Winners of the 2009 Silver Slugger Awards

On Thursday, Major League Baseball announced the winners of the Silver Slugger award in both the National League and the American League. Although purported to be based on a mix of offensive statistics (unlike the Gold Gloves, which have no set definition as to what the criteria are besides "good defense"), these awards are still chosen by the coaches and managers, so there is some room for subjective evaluation of what statistics to use. Is OBP (On-base percentage) more important than SLG (Slugging percentage)? What about batting average versus OPS (On-base percentage plus slugging percentage)? For the most part, I can't someone on the list who doesn't deserve to be there or think of someone who was overlooked. The only person on the list who may raise some eyebrows is Ichiro Suzuki being awarded an American League Silver Slugger and the exclusion of Matt Holliday from the National League list.

First, let's look at Ichiro's stats. Although he finished with less walks than he's had since his first year with the Mariners, Ichiro still managed to finish with the second highest OPS of his American career (.851) and was second in the majors in batting average (.352), trailing only Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer (.365). Although his OPS ranked him as only 29^th overall in the American League, his great batting average was obviously considered a trump factor when compared to players like Hideki Matsui and Michael Cuddyer who had slightly higher OPS and SLG. In addition, at least among outfielders, it appears that those with some more speed and having a few stolen bases was deemed as being more important than having a few extra home runs, and I applaud the voters for making that decision.

The second curiosity, although it probably had to do with sample size, is the absence of Matt Holliday from the list of National League Silver Slugger awards. I understand that Holliday switched leagues mid-season, and that his time in Oakland was not nearly as productive or impressive as his two months in St. Louis. However, Holliday ended the season with a Batting Average, SLG, and OPS higher than Andre Ethier or Matt Kemp (both 2009 Silver Slugger winners), and his numbers in Oakland alone are comparable to Kemp's and only barely lower than Ethier's.

Although it wouldn't be fair to judge Holliday solely on his National League stats (his St. Louis OPS of 1.023 was better than everyone except Albert Pujols or Mauer), it seems unfair to punish Holliday for his mid-season league switch. His year end stats (.313 batting average, .909 OPS) would put him well ahead of Kemp and Ethier, and almost on the same level as the third National League outfielder given the Silver Slugger, Ryan Braun. Considering Kemp's help on the basepaths (34 stolen bases), it seems to me that Holliday could easily have been given the Silver Slugger instead of Ethier.

Here's a full list of the winners, including the number of silver slugger awards they have won in parentheses:

American League

C - Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins (3^rd)

1B - Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees (3^rd)

2B - Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays (1^st)

3B - Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays (1^st)

SS - Derek Jeter, New York Yankees (4^th)

OF - Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox (1^st)

OF - Torii Hunter, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1^st)

OF - Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (3^rd)

DH - Adam Lind, Toronto Blue Jays (1^st)

National League

C - Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves (3^rd)

1B - Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (3^rd)

2B - Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies (4^th)

3B - Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals (1^st)

SS - Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins (2^nd)

OF - Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers (2^nd)

OF - Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers (1^st)

OF - Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers (1^st)

P - Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs (3^rd)

Resources:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4650030

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091112&content_id=7657830&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Additional statistics acquired from ESPN.com