The Silver Slugger Awards Are Funny, Pointless

Here’s the official definition of a Silver Slugger Award:

"The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters consider several offensive categories in selecting the winners, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, in addition to “coaches’ and managers’ general impressions of a player’s overall offensive value.”"

The best offensive player at each position. Fair enough. So even with the conveniently vague line of “general impressions of a player’s overall offensive value,” it’s still somewhat cut and dry because we’re factoring in exactly one facet of the game: Offense. That’s it. And my “general impression of a player’s overall offensive value” tends to be greatly influenced by said player’s performance on the field, which is often tightly correlated to the statistics they produce.

So the guy who finishes the season with the most gaudy numbers across the board would be the one crowned with an awkward statue to place on his mantel, but not really.

Yesterday, Adrian Gonzalez was awarded the Silver Slugger for AL first basemen. Here are his 2011 numbers along with Miggy Cabrera’s:

Adrian Gonzalez: .338 Avg, 27 HR, 117 RBI, .957 OPS,  .376 wOBA
Miguel Cabrera: .344 Avg, 30 HR, 105 RBI, 1.033 OPS, .408 wOBA

Sure, the numbers are close but it’s clear Cabrera was the bigger, as they say, offensive contributor. Naturally, he didn’t win the award, which makes the insignificant timing of the announcement all the more fitting. Thunderous congratulations to everyone involved.

[via NESN]