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MLB announced the 2013 nominees for the Hank Aaron Award.
I used to think the award was for the best hitters in each league, comparable to the CY for pitchers, leaving the MVP free to be awarded to any deserving player (pitchers and hitters alike). Except I now learn that it’s not. Apparently, there is one nominee from every team and the winner will be selected by a fan vote in combination with a vote of select Hall of Fame players.
In other words, the award is total bullshit and represents nothing. So i once again employ "jury nullification" and ban pitchers from my own personal MVP consideration, since hitters still do not have a legitimate award to call their own.
In my view, this year's top 5 Aaron finalists in each league should be* :
AL: Trout, Cabrera, Davis, Cano, Donaldson
NL: Goldshmidt, McCutchen, Gomez, Carpenter, Votto
IN the NL, one could make an argument for Choo being nominated over Votto, or with him, but neither are eligible since the Reds sole nominee is Jay Bruce. This is what i'm talking about. Same with Pedroia being shut out from consideration by Ortiz in the AL.
Personally, I'd vote for Trout / Goldshmidt (and for Cabrera / McCutchen as MVPs), but would feel ok if any of these guys got it.
* [winners should be elected (as they should for all awards) by a panel of scholars, journalists, team/league management, and players, as selected by the BB HOF each year on a rotating basis]
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