Resident Fantasy Genius

The 2012 Fantasy Fantasy Awards

by Derek Carty

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With just three days left in the season, each member of the BP Fantasy team took the time to reflect on the year that was, casting their votes for a variety of categories. Today, I'll be handing out the fantasy fantasy hardware (that is, inconsequential awards for a derivative game). After seeing who we thought had the best, worst, and most interesting 2011 seasons, be sure to tell us who you think deserved some recognition in the comments section.

Derek Carty

Most Valuable Hitter	Ryan Braun
Most Valuable Pitcher	R.A. Dickey
Rookie Hitter of the Year	Mike Trout
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Yu Darvish
Comeback Player of the Year	Adam Dunn
Biggest Surprise of the Year	Fernando Rodney
Biggest Disappointment of the Year	Justin Upton
Luckiest Player of the Year	Kyle Lohse
Unluckiest Player of the Year	Mitch Moreland
Top Breakout of the Year	Mike Trout
Most Overrated Player of the Year	Johnny Cueto
Most Underrated Player of the Year	Marco Estrada
Your Best Prediction of the Year	Edwin Encarnacion's breakout
Your Worst Prediction of the Year	Ubaldo Jimenez would bounce back

Jason Collette

Most Valuable Hitter	Ryan Braun
Most Valuable Pitcher	R.A. Dickey
Rookie Hitter of the Year	Mike Trout
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Yu Darvish
Comeback Player of the Year	Aaron Hill
Biggest Surprise of the Year	Fernando Rodney
Biggest Disappointment of the Year	Luke Hochevar
Luckiest Player of the Year	Jeremy Hellickson
Unluckiest Player of the Year	Cliff Lee
Top Breakout of the Year	Edwin Encarnacion
Most Overrated Player of the Year	Dustin Pedroia
Most Underrated Player of the Year	Clay Buchholz
Your Best Prediction of the Year	Edwin Encarnacion hits 40 HR
Your Worst Prediction of the Year	Fernando Rodney wouldn't close in Tampa Bay

Dan Mennella

Most Valuable Hitter	Mike Trout
Most Valuable Pitcher	R.A. Dickey
Rookie Hitter of the Year	Mike Trout
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Ryan Cook
Comeback Player of the Year	Alex Rios
Biggest Surprise of the Year	Edwin Encarnacion
Biggest Disappointment of the Year	Eric Hosmer
Luckiest Player of the Year	Ian Desmond
Unluckiest Player of the Year	Cliff Lee
Top Breakout of the Year	Chase Headley
Most Overrated Player of the Year	Elvis Andrus
Most Underrated Player of the Year	Adam LaRoche
Your Best Prediction of the Year	Chris Sale would be a good starter
Your Worst Prediction of the Year	Eric Hosmer would be an elite first baseman

Paul Singman

Most Valuable Hitter	Ryan Braun
Most Valuable Pitcher	R.A. Dickey
Rookie Hitter of the Year	Mike Trout
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Jarrod Parker
Comeback Player of the Year	Ryan Ludwick
Biggest Surprise of the Year	Fernando Rodney
Biggest Disappointment of the Year	Eric Hosmer
Luckiest Player of the Year	Torii Hunter
Unluckiest Player of the Year	Dustin Ackley
Top Breakout of the Year	Edwin Encarnacion
Most Overrated Player of the Year	Starlin Castro
Most Underrated Player of the Year	Freddie Freeman
Your Best Prediction of the Year	Chris Sale as a breakout arm
Your Worst Prediction of the Year	Michael Pineda was a SP to target

Josh Shepardson

Most Valuable Hitter	Mike Trout
Most Valuable Pitcher	R.A. Dickey
Rookie Hitter of the Year	Mike Trout
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Yu Darvish
Comeback Player of the Year	Buster Posey
Biggest Surprise of the Year	Edwin Encarnacion
Biggest Disappointment of the Year	Tim Lincecum
Luckiest Player of the Year	Aaron Harang
Unluckiest Player of the Year	Evan Longoria
Top Breakout of the Year	Mike Trout
Most Overrated Player of the Year	Adrian Gonzalez
Most Underrated Player of the Year	Chase Headley
Your Best Prediction of the Year	Madison Bumgarner as a burgeoning ace.
Your Worst Prediction of the Year	Luke Hochevar as a top-50 starting pitcher.

Paul Sporer

Most Valuable Hitter	Mike Trout
Most Valuable Pitcher	R.A. Dickey
Rookie Hitter of the Year	Mike Trout
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Wade Miley
Comeback Player of the Year	Ryan Ludwick
Biggest Surprise of the Year	Chris Sale
Biggest Disappointment of the Year	Roy Halladay
Luckiest Player of the Year	Aaron Harang
Unluckiest Player of the Year	Cliff Lee
Top Breakout of the Year	Mike Trout
Most Overrated Player of the Year	Clay Buchholz
Most Underrated Player of the Year	Allen Craig
Your Best Prediction of the Year	Jake Peavy/Jordan Zimmermann
Your Worst Prediction of the Year	Ricky Romero

Michael Street

Most Valuable Hitter	Ryan Braun
Most Valuable Pitcher	R.A. Dickey
Rookie Hitter of the Year	Mike Trout
Rookie Pitcher of the Year	Wade Miley
Comeback Player of the Year	Adam Dunn
Biggest Surprise of the Year	Justin Ruggiano
Biggest Disappointment of the Year	Roy Halladay
Luckiest Player of the Year	Jeremy Hellickson
Unluckiest Player of the Year	Tim Lincecum
Top Breakout of the Year	Aroldis Chapman
Most Overrated Player of the Year	Carlos Marmol
Most Underrated Player of the Year	Chase Headley
Your Best Prediction of the Year	Ryan Braun would be fantasy’s best hitter
Your Worst Prediction of the Year	Miguel Cabrera wouldn't stay at 3B

My impressions
The first thing you may notice is that there were a couple of clean sweeps. Let’s give it up for R.A. Dickey, BP’s Most Valuable Fantasy Pitcher, and Mike Trout, BP’s Fantasy Rookie of the Year. Trout’s rookie season was so remarkable that he even managed to cause a split vote for Most Valuable Hitter with Ryan Braun (three votes to Braun’s four). Additionally, Trout was given the most digital ink of all players in this year’s voting, receiving 11 votes between three different categories.

Fernando Rodney’s name popped up in several places, and it’s easy to see why. He garnered the most Surprise of the Year votes after leading the American League in saves whilst posting a sub-1.00 ERA. Even when it was announced that incumbent Rays closer Kyle Farnsworth would miss the start of the season, few thought a pitcher with the track record of Rodney could manage to hold down the role for very long, much less post the most impressive season among all AL relievers.

The Most Overrated and Most Underrated categories are very interesting to look at. Aside from a single duplicate Chase Headley vote for Most Underrated, there was a different name on every single ballot for each of these categories. Overrated and underrated are very subjective terms, and it’s interesting to see how different people perceive them in different ways. Believe it or not, I may even argue that Carlos Marmol was underrated this year, yet he took home a Most Overrated vote. And Clay Buchholz actually did receive a vote apiece in each of the categories.

Edwin Encarnacion turned one of the biggest profits in all of fantasy baseball this year, and his name littered the ballots. He received a vote in three different categories and was awarded something on five of the seven ballots. Some considered him a surprise, others a breakout, and others an opportunity to brag. No one will argue with the impact he had on fantasy teams this season. What I found most interesting, however, was that he was listed as Jason Collette’s Best Prediction this season but his Worst Prediction last season. It goes to show that the process really is what’s important. The results are out of our control and are often left up to the vagaries of chance, but when you stick with sound process, eventually you are rewarded.

While Cliff Lee and his mere six wins garnered some serious consideration for my Unluckiest Player vote, I decided to use this as one more opportunity to bang the Mitch Moreland drum. Despite playing very well while on the field, injury and managerial tendencies limited him to just 346 plate appearances. He still managed to post double-digit value in AL-only leagues, which means he was a breakeven (or better) player in spite of his limited play. If only he could get 600 at-bats. Sigh.

As I said earlier, feel free to let us know who you think deserved more (or less) recognition or if you’d like to hear the reasoning behind any of the votes. Best of luck to those of you still in a tight race. May the next three days bring you lots of luck!