Baseball has seen a ton of pitchers. 9993 players have taken the mound in a regular-season game (including some position players, hey, they were a pitcher for at least a game, don't discredit that!), plus at least 2 more–Ryan Weathers and Shane McClanahan from my records–who made their debuts in this year's postseason for a grand total of at least 9995 (congrats, and we're this close to a milestone of 10000). Some flamed out very quickly. Others achieved legendary status.
And yet, most have remained pretty average. We don't talk about them much. But they made some sort of an impact in the MLB. So I set out to find the most average of the bunch. Using data I scraped from baseball-reference.org, I averaged several pitcher statistics and then took the magnitude of the euclidean distance for each individual pitcher from the average.
Based on that score, here's the table listing the top 50 most average pitchers in MLB history plus a few notable stats I took into consideration. I'll describe how I computed these below, but just know that average is not determined by one stat alone:

Rk	Name	RHP/LHP?	Seasons Pitched	W	L	G	GS	IP	ERA	Distance from mean
50	Brian Barnes	LHP	1990-1993 (MON), 1994 (CLE), 1994 (LAD)	14	22	116	56	406.1	3.94	110.60
49	Jason Bergmann	RHP	WSN (2005-2010)	12	24	155	50	389.2	5.04	110.35
48	Leon Chagnon	RHP	PIT (1929-1930, 1932-1934), NYG (1935)	19	16	135	21	393.1	4.51	108.43
47	Mike Gardiner	RHP	SEA (1990), BOS (1991-1992), MON (1993), DET (1993-1995)	17	27	136	46	393.2	5.21	106.18
46	Jesse Litsch	RHP	TOR (2007-2011)	27	27	88	67	417.2	4.16	105.69
45	Tom Kelly	RHP	CLE (1964-1967), ATL (1971-1973)	20	22	104	45	408.0	3.75	105.58
44	Salome Barojas	RHP	CHW (1982-1984), SEA (1984-1985), PHI (1988)	18	21	179	18	390.0	3.95	105.55
43	Mark Fidrych	RHP	DET (1976-1980)	29	19	58	56	412.1	3.10	104.06
42	Bud Tinning	RHP	CHC (1932-1934), STL (1935)	22	15	99	35	405.2	3.19	104.02
41	Philip Humber	RHP	NYM (2006-2007), MIN (2008-2009), KCR (2010), CHW (2011-2012), HOU (2013)	16	23	97	51	371.0	5.31	103.59
40	Bob Carpenter	RHP	NYG (1940-1942, 1946-1947), CHC (1947)	25	20	80	54	399.2	3.60	103.32
39	Ray Poat	RHP	CLE (1942-1944), NYG (1947-1949), PIT (1949)	22	30	116	47	400.0	4.55	101.57
38	Brian Burres	LHP	BAL (2006-2008), TOR (2009), PIT (2010-2011)	18	25	106	56	358.1	5.75	101.13
37	Buck O'Brien	RHP	BOS (1911-1913), CHW (1913)	28	25	64	54	432.0	2.63	100.40
36	Scott Scudder	RHP	CIN (1989-1991), CLE (1992-1993)	21	34	96	64	386.1	4.80	100.29
35	Bob Sebra	RHP	TEX (1985), MON (1986-1987), PHI (1988-1989), CIN (1989), MIL (1990)	15	29	94	52	366.2	4.71	100.20
34	Al Jurisich	RHP	STL (1944-1945), PHI (1946-1947)	15	22	104	42	388.1	4.24	99.90
33	Frank Reberger	RHP	CHC (1968), SDP (1969), SFG (1970-1972)	14	15	148	37	388.2	4.52	99.13
32	Jacob Turner	RHP	DET (2011-2012), MIA (2012-2014), CHC (2014), CHW (2016), WSN (2017), MIA (2018), DET (2018)	14	31	102	56	369.0	5.37	98.82
31	Roy Walker	RHP	CLE (1912, 1915), CHC (1917-1918), STL (1921-1922)	17	27	91	48	386.0	3.99	98.76
30	Ken Reynolds	LHP	PHI (1970-1972), MIL (1973), STL (1975), SDP (1976)	7	29	103	51	375.2	4.46	96.93
29	Tom Acker	RHP	CIN (1956-1959)	19	13	153	23	380.1	4.12	96.34
28	Slow Joe Doyle	RHP	NYY (1906-1910), CIN (1910)	22	21	75	50	436.1	2.85	95.71
27	Ben Wade	RHP	CHC (1948), BRO (1952-1954), STL (1954), PIT (1955)	19	17	118	25	371.1	4.34	94.23
26	Earl Harrist	RHP	CIN (1945), CHW (1947-1948), WSH (1948), SLB (1952), CHW (1953), DET (1953)	12	28	132	24	383.1	4.34	92.66
25	Jerry Casale	RHP	BOS (1958-1960), LAA (1961), DET (1961-1962)	17	24	96	49	370.1	5.08	92.57
24	Earl Francis	RHP	PIT (1960-1964), STL (1965)	16	23	103	52	405.2	3.77	91.55
23	Gustavo Chacin	LHP	TOR (2004-2007), HOU (2010)	27	17	102	58	370.0	4.23	90.43
22	John Boozer	RHP	PHI (1962-1964, 1966-1969)	14	16	171	22	394.1	4.09	90.42
21	Don Kirkwood	RHP	CAL (1974-1977), CHW (1977), TOR (1978)	18	23	120	37	374.2	4.37	90.35
20	Danny Coombs	LHP	HOU (1963-1969), SDP (1970-1971)	19	27	144	42	393.0	4.08	89.57
19	Gordon Jones	RHP	STL (1954-1956), NYG/SFG (1957-1959), BAL (1960-1961), KCA (1962), HOU (1964-1965)	15	18	171	21	378.2	4.16	88.79
18	Jarred Cosart	RHP	HOU (2013-2014), MIA (2014-2016), SDP (2016-2017)	16	23	74	72	391.0	3.98	88.58
17	Joe Black	RHP	BRO (1952-1955), CIN (1955-1956), WSH (1957)	30	12	172	16	414.0	3.91	87.59
16	Doug Waechter	RHP	TBD (2002-2006), FLA (2008), KCR (2009)	18	27	113	54	384.1	5.34	86.31
15	Ryan Rowland-Smith	LHP	SEA (2007-2010), ARI (2014)	12	17	121	47	370.0	4.57	84.85
14	Osvaldo Fernandez	RHP	SFG (1996-1997), CIN (2000-2001)	19	26	76	67	387.0	4.93	84.73
13	Jim Davis	LHP	CHC (1954-1956), STL (1957), NYG (1957)	24	26	154	39	406.1	4.01	84.42
12	Al Aber	LHP	CLE (1950, 1953), DET (1953-1957), KCA (1957)	24	25	168	30	389.1	4.18	83.07
11	Zach Day	RHP	MON (2002-2004), WSN (2005), COL (2005-2006), WSN (2006)	21	27	86	60	372.2	4.66	82.83
10	Doug Jones	RHP	MIL (1982), CLE (1986-1991), HOU (1992-1993), PHI (1994), BAL (1995), CHC (1996), MIL (1996-1998), CLE (1998), OAK (1999-2000)	69	79	846	4	1128.1	3.30	82.17
9	Rube Schauer	RHP	NYG (1913-1916), PHA (1917)	10	29	93	32	400.1	3.35	81.67
8	Byron McLaughlin	RHP	SEA (1977-1980), CAL (1983)	16	25	129	35	378.1	5.11	74.57
7	Vin Mazzaro	RHP	OAK (2009-2010), KCR (2011-2012), PIT (2013-2014), MIA (2015), SFG (2016)	24	23	140	45	383.0	4.79	73.98
6	Zach Miner	RHP	DET (2006-2009), PHI (2013)	25	22	173	38	385.2	4.25	70.97
5	Buster Narum	RHP	BAL (1963), WSA (1964-1967)	14	27	96	58	396.2	4.45	70.19
4	Billy Muffett	RHP	STL (1957-1958), SFG (1959), BOS (1960-1962)	16	23	125	32	376.1	4.33	64.97
3	Pete Filson	LHP	MIN (1982-1986), CHW (1986), NYY (1987), KCR (1990)	15	18	148	34	391.2	4.18	61.08
2	Chris Peters	LHP	PIT (1996-2000), MON (2001)	19	25	136	49	379.2	4.81	59.65
1	Don Gross	LHP	CIN (1955-1957), PIT (1958-1960)	20	22	145	37	398.0	3.73	44.84

Congratulations, Don Gross! For the time being, you are the definition of average among MLB pitchers!
Before I go into my methodology, a few points I found interesting, as well as a few PSAs:

• A guy who threw a perfect game made this list: Philip Humber.
• In terms of MLB mileage, Doug Jones is definitely the biggest outlier by miles on this list. His G and IP stats are both at least three times higher than the average of the rest of the top 50. For him to fall in the top 10 in terms of what a normal MLB pitcher has looked like over the years is truly amazing.
• Three of these guys pitched in a WS their team ended up winning: Buck O'Brien, Scott Scudder, and Al Jurisich.
• In terms of recency, Jacob Turner definitely takes the cake, with Jarred Cosart and Vin Mazzaro trailing close behind. I remember watching all these guys pitch in the regular season. Mazzaro also made a postseason appearance in 2013 with the Pirates.
• The top 3 most average pitchers were left-handed, in a stroke of random interesting-ness.
• In hindsight, I probably should've tried to weight changes in ERA more than changes in stats like IP, because the definition of average didn't really depend on ERA all that much. That being said, an argument could be made that the definition of average shouldn't be overweighted toward ERA. ERA is a good stat, but several factors can bias it. Relief pitchers, for example, get punished far more in the ERA category for their mistakes and rewarded little in comparison to their successes. Ballpark, league, and era factors also play a role. A pitcher who pitched for Colorado for a good part of their career, for example, will likely have a degree of inflation in their lifetime ERA. The AL sees a slightly better batting average than the NL. And certain eras (ex. the dead-ball and steroid eras) gave certain advantages (not always fair) to pitchers and batters. The point is: while I admit some defeat in terms of ERA, I also believe that it should not be a superior metric for determining the average.
• I realized too late that my IP average was computed slightly incorrect: I forgot to account for the fact that the highest decimal number you can have is .2. Ugh, that one was a pain in the ass to work with...

I used median stats at first, but the computations barely yielded any significant findings. This is because most pitchers that fell at the median tended to have very few games (approx. 15-45) under their belt. This is understandable: the vast majority of people who pitched in the MLB didn't end up lasting that long. I realize that the mean is slightly biased towards pitchers toward the higher end of the spectrum, but I felt the results they yielded would be somewhat more indicative of a pitcher we would be more likely to remember in the back of our heads.

Part 1 | Part 2 (Sat 2/13) | Part 3 (Tue 2/16)| Part 4 (Thu 2/18)
This is part 1 of a 4-part series in which we breakdown our first-year player mock draft, which took place at Fantasy Baseball Discord last week.
Part 1 covers the first round. Part 2 will cover rounds 2-3. Part 3 will cover rounds 4-5. Part 4 will wrap-up rounds 6-8 and will cover full-team evaluations as well. See above for the tentative posting schedule.

FYPD Mock (Part 1 of 4)

Intro

Last week, the wonderful people over at Fantasy Baseball Discord decided to put together a mock first-year player draft in order to shed some light on some prospects that we like and generate some discussion here on the topic.
This group of drafters featured people who make their own rankings alongside people who just picked from the top google search results. This resulted in a more natural result than your typical analyst-only mock. Unless your league is full of dynasty diehard try-hards, you won’t see nearly as many sharp picks as you’d see in these industry mocks. IMHO we created a more-relatable result this way.
The format is 12 team 5x5 OBP and QS. We decided to make it a snake draft to give everyone a chance to build the best group of prospects overall.
For each pick, I’ll give my take and add in any takes from the rest of the crew. Btrot, one of our resident dynasty and prospect heads, was kind enough to write-up his takes on every pick, so I’ve included his as well.
I’ll also include the consensus rankings from various sites for reference. which was kindly compiled by Scooterkid.. See the end of the post for reference info.
—

Draft Order & Team Info

1. @teleport#2397 - Team Dimo (Fantasy Baseball Discord mod)
2. @Charles Trimble#4803 - Team ctrimble02 (High-upside Fantasy)
3. @Mike#5464 - Team MikeN1ke (OG Mike not Prison Mike)
4. @El Commish#0986 - Team Luxury Cap (Fantasy Baseball Discord mod)
5. @scooterkid#6964 - Team Scooterkid (Scooter Kid)
6. @MeesterHat#9078 - Team MeesterHat (resident hatter)
7. @btrot281#0450 - Team btrot281 (resident trotter)
8. @Winterhascome17#3994 - Team Ed (Older brother of El Commish/definitely not Ed)
9. @The-Martian (HVR)💪🏽👽🥑🛸#9612 - Martian (Fantasy Baseball Discord mod)
10. @enjoyingcarp650#8403 - Team Enjoyingcarp650 (may or may not be enjoying carp)
11. @JayWilly#1043 - Team jaywilly (it me)
12. @OwenD5#3412 - Team TommyWingoat (resident sniper)

—

ROUND 1 - Pick-by-Pick Breakdown

Pick 1 - 3B/1B Spencer Torkelson - @teleport#2397 - Team Dimo**

IBW - 1 FT - 1 HUF - 1 PList - 1.1 PLive - 1 P365 - 1 Average Rank- 1.00
Unsurprisingly, Spencer Torkelson went first overall. I don’t think you’ll find too many people who would argue with this pick. He is a special bat talent that would be an asset to any fantasy team.
Btrot’s take - first pick best pick. Don't try to get cute. He's your prototypical big power, good OBP corner infielder
—

Pick 2 - 3B/SS/2B/OF Austin Martin - @Charles Trimble#4803 - Team ctrimble02

IBW - 2 FT - 3 HUF - 2 PList - 1.2 PLive - 3 P365 - 2 Average Rank - 2.33
Austin Martin 2nd won’t ruffle too many feathers either. He’s a good bat and can play a lot of different positions, though opinions are split on how well he’ll hit in the bigs. Some have him as a star. Some have him as just a decent bat with more defensive upside. Some sources prefer Kim. Some prefer Veen. Some prefer Gonzales. Either way, this is where you expect Martin to go and where he arguably should go.
Btrot’s take - Best overall hit tool but power ceiling pales in comparison to Tork for the time being. Future stud if some more pop develops. Future everyday player if it doesn’t.
—

Pick 3 - OF Zac Veen - OABL#3513 - Team MikeN1ke

IBW - 3 FT - 2 HUF - 3 PList - 1.5 PLive - 7 P365 - 4 Average Rank - 4.00
Veen is a polished prep bat who has the makings of a future star. But whether he reaches his ceiling will come down to how he develops. If he puts it all together, he could become a fantasy force in the same vein as Christian Yelich. At worst, he’s a glove-first defender who never hits big-league pitching consistently well.
Btrot’s take - Ideal trade-back spot, but Veen and Gonzales would be in play here. Pitcher-needy teams should definitely try to trade back to 7-8 if possible. Drafting Veen is shooting for upside. All around contributor, plus power, plus speed (we will see how it develops...) Being in the Rockies system is both a blessing and a curse
—

Pick 4 - SS Nick Gonzales - @El Commish#0986 - Team Luxury Cap

IBW - 5 FT - 5 HUF - 8 PList - 1.3 PLive - 4 P365 - 3 Average Rank - 4.67
Gonzales hit extremely well in college and should hit well in the bigs too. If he improves his consistency on defense, he could find himself at 2B though he might be a better fit in the OF. The bat is legit and Gonzales is well-worth an early pick in your FYPD.
Btrot’s take - The "safer" alternative to Veen. Good all-around tool. Lower ceiling, higher floor, closer to the show relative to Veen.
—

Pick 5 - SS Ha-Seoung Kim - @scooterkid#6964 - Team Scooterkid

IBW - 4 FT - 7 HUF - 9 PList - 1.8 PLive - 2 P365 - 20 Average Rank - 8.33
Ha-Seoung Kim is a polarizing player. On one hand, we have an extremely polished professional player who is entering his prime and is sliding into one of the best lineups in baseball. On the other hand, Kim’s KBO stats are quite good, but perhaps they are not so good that we should expect him to be a big fantasy contributor. In fact, some speculate that Kim might just be a decent MLB hitter. And as we know, just being a decent hitter doesn’t move the needle all that much for fantasy, but for all the naysayers there seem to be just as many supporters. No matter how Kim hits, he should also be good for some steals as a plus runner. Even the naysayers believe Kim will be an everyday big-league player, and most have him worthy of a first-round selection.
Btrot’s take - Best pick for a win-now team, particularly at a shallow 2B position. where this happens relative to the true "prospects" depends on the league. Value in this pick comes from Kim's ability to play immediately.
—

Pick 6 - OF Heston Kjerstad - @MeesterHat#9078 - Team MeesterHat

IBW - 14 FT - 17 HUF - 34 PList - 1.11 PLive - 6 P365 - 19 Average Rank - 16.83
Kjerstad going 6th drew a lot of criticism. Some people had him going 2nd round. But considering the categories, Kjerstad’s power, and home park, it’s easy to see why he went this high. I might’ve taken Max Meyer or Lacy ahead of him but that’d be splitting hairs. Kjerstad was not making it back to him at pick 18 because I would’ve taken him with one of my picks. Knowing that I don’t think it’s fair to call Kjerstad a reach. If you’re sitting with a late 1st, you could do a lot worse than Kjerstad, especially in OBP leagues.
Btrot’s take - More of a late first to mid-second type pick. tons of power but considerable risk in plate discipline. Needs to learn to walk —

Pick 7 - LHP Asa Lacy - @btrot281#0450 - Team btrot281

IBW - 6 FT - 8 HUF - 5 PList - 1.4 PLive - 8 P365 - 5 Average Rank - 6.00
Asa Lacy went 8th, ahead of Hancock and Meyer. You might see these three go in any given order in your draft. There’s a definitive top 3 pitchers in this class and they’re all going round 1. Lacy’s a flame-throwing lefty with top of the rotation stuff. He’ll need to improve his command, but the sky's the limit for Lacy if he puts everything together.
Btrot’s take - You could choose any order of Lacy-Hancock-Meyer and I wouldn't argue. I chose Lacy here due to higher K upside relative to Hancock and lower BP risk relative to Meyer.
—

Pick 8 - RHP Emerson Hancock - @Winterhascome17#3994 - Team Ed

IBW - 9 FT - 6 HUF - 4 PList - 1.9 PLive - 15 P365 - 6 Average Rank - 8.17
Next went Hancock, who is probably the most polished of the big 3 pitchers in this draft. He has three plus pitches and projects to have good command. And like Lacy, he has the prototypical size and frame for a big-league starting pitcher. The biggest knock on Hancock is that he’s a bit boring. But he still has plenty of upside--certainly enough to warrant an 8th overall selection.
Btrot’s take - See Lacy pick. Similar body of work, though not as flashy when it comes to the eye popping K numbers. —

Pick 9 - SS Ed Howard - @The-Martian (HVR)💪🏽👽🥑🛸#9612 - Martian

IBW - 28 FT - 19 HUF - 27 PList - 2.3 PLive - 20 P365 - 18 Average Rank - 21.17
Ed Howard was picked 8th and that was also a heavily scrutinized choice by the group. I like Ed Howard quite a bit, but I do feel very strongly that he would’ve been there with his next pick. He was taken by Ming aka “The Martian,” one of our mods and a long-standing member of our house dynasty league, who had this to say about Howard:
“Ed Howard = Bat Speed. With how the Cubs have been developing Brennen Davis (my baby), I think they'll be able to tap into his power. He won't have playing-time issues because of his defense. He also has some speed to cover the SB category, so I think it’s a safe pick at 9.”
He makes some compelling points. Instead of risking missing out on who he felt was the best player available, he got his guy. If you’re sitting 8th in your draft and you love Ed Howard, there’s a really good chance he’ll still be there at 13. But if Ed Howard is a must-have player for you, get your guy.
Btrot’s take - Love the player, but may have been better suited mid-late second round. Calling card is his Defense.
—

Pick 10 - RHP Max Meyer - @enjoyingcarp650#8403 - Team Enjoyingcarp650

IBW - 8 FT - 10 HUF - 6 PList - 1.6 PLive - 5 P365 - 7 Average Rank - 7.00
Meyer might be the closest of top-three to the majors. He throws gas. His heater tops out at 101mph and has a hard slider to go with it. Meyer draws plus points for his athleticism, but he lacks a third offering. Of the big 3, he carries the most reliever risk but he also has the highest upside given his tools.
Btrot’s take - The fastball-slider combo is the first thing anybody mentions about this guy (and it's very very scary). May have the highest ceiling of the top 3 pitchers. My biggest concern lies with his being able to churn out innings given his size and amount of effort in his delivery.
—

Pick 11 - OF Austin Hendrick - @JayWilly#1043 - Team jaywilly

IBW - 15 FT - 9 HUF - 10 PList - 2.1 PLive - 9 P365 - 17 Average Rank - 12.17
11th pick was Austin Hendrick, who was taken by me. I was really hoping Kjerstad would fall here, but Hendrick is a nice consolation prize. The knocks on Hendrick are that he is old for the class, and that he had a lot of swing and miss in his game. What Hendrick does have is elite raw power. Given that this draft is OBP, I felt comfortable taking the risk of a three-true outcomes type hitter for the potential reward of a complete hitter who hits for average and big power. And to top it all off, there’s a good chance he sticks with the Reds long-term which means a great hitters park for half his of his games. 50+ dinger potential.
I strongly considered Garrett Mitchell here, though I decided to pass on him given the concerns about his ability to hit in the bigs and to hit for power.
Btrot’s take - Above average prep power bat that will end up in a very nice home for his skillset if he reaches GABP.
—

Pick 12 - OF Pete Crow-Armstrong - @OwenD5#3412 - Team TommyWingoat

IBW - 7 FT - 11 HUF - 26 PList - 1.12 PLive - 13 P365 - 16 Average Rank - 14.17
Pete Crow-Armstrong drew praise from most of the group. PCA combines great CF defense with a good feel to hit and plus-plus speed. Though there are questions about how much power he’ll hit for. Personally, I’d have gone for a player with more hit and power upside who’s further out, but can’t blame anyone for wanting to play it safe.
Btrot’s take - My favorite HS/prep bat not named Veen (and even then Id argue he might have a higher floor). Probably will not bring much power to the table, but makes up for it with seemingly natural knack for hitting.
——

Closing remarks from the draft thread

”Tork went too low. Best value in the draft.” -guy who drafted Tork 1st overall
“Kjerstad 6th? I thought we were trying to have good picks” -guy who doesn’t like Kjerstad or providing insightful analysis.
“Sorry was making some food. pick is in.” -guy who may or may not have been stoned
"From a peak exit velocity perspective, Kjerstad hit a ball 112.56 mph in his time at Arkansas, which was ahead of number one overall pick Spencer Torkelson’s peak exit velocity of 112.14 mph at Arizona State" -guy who provided actual insight (thank you, meesterhat)
——

Wrap-up

If you want to come meet these guys, talk some baseball, and maybe even participate in some future mocks, feel free to join us at Fantasy Baseball Discord.
Click the link to join Fantasy Baseball Discord! - https://discord.gg/4yD2GHy4
Until next time,
-JayWilly

References:

IBW - ImaginaryBrickWall https://www.imaginarybrickwall.com/category/2020-first-year-player-draft-rankings/ FT - FanTrax https://www.fantraxhq.com/fypd-rankings-top-100-2020-fantasy-baseball/ HUF - HighUpsideFantasy https://highupsidefantasy.com/2021-fypd-ranks/ PList - PitcherList (Comparing to their 5 round mock draft positions, indicated by draft position) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZCp4Bbc3tglq2CO2lQKe8TYTcLw8EsH4Yz6v495ctR 8/edit#gid=0 PLive - Prospects Live https://www.prospectslive.com/lists/2021/1/9/2021-first-year-player-draft-fypd-rankings 365 - Prospects365 https://prospects365.com/2020/07/02/ray-butlers-2021-first-year-player-draft-rankings-july/

On Fridays, I feature guys who were on the WS winning Dodgers, and even though Turner might not be on the Dodgers this year, I still felt like he deserved a feature.
BASICS:
Born: November 23, 1984
Jersey Number: 83, then 6 (Orioles), 2 (Mets), 10 (Dodgers)
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Position: 3B, has also done 2B and SS and been a DH
Drafted: 2005 by the Yankees, then 2006 by the Reds (Round 7, Pick 204)
MLB Debut: September 8, 2009 for the Orioles
Teams: Reds (2006-2008), Orioles (2008-2010), Mets (2010-2013), Dodgers (2014-2020)
Twitte Instagram: RedTurn2
2020 STATS:
Games: 42
Batting Average: 0.307
OBP: 0.400
SLG: 0.460
OPS: 0.860
Runs: 26
Hits: 46
Doubles: 9
Triples: 1
Home Runs: 4
RBIs: 23
Stolen Bases: 1
CAREER STATS:
Games: 1114
Batting Average: 0.292
OBP: 0.369
SLG: 0.469
OPS: 0.838
Runs: 504
Hits: 1029
Doubles: 234
Triples: 9
Home Runs: 124
RBIs: 495
Stolen Bases: 35
CAREER AWARDS:
All Star - 2017
NLCS MVP - 2017
NL Player of the Month - August 2018
NL Rookie of the Month - May 2011
Dodgers Heart and Hustle - 2017
THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW:
He played baseball for Cal State Fullerton.
He founded the Justin Turner Foundation, which has a goal of helping homeless veterans and children with life-altering illnesses.
He is involved with the LA Dream Center.
He was on the 2004 College World Series winning team.
He hit 0.514 as a high school senior.
He has two dogs.
He is a Miami Dolphins fan.
HIS BEST 2020 MOMENTS:
He went 4 for 5 in Game 4 of the World Series
With twelve postseason homers this year, he broke a Dodgers record
Game 3 of the WS was a good one offensively and defensively
He had a two homer regular season game
OTHER GREAT MOMENTS:
He definitely deserved the MVP award in the 2017 NLCS
Here's his first hit with the Dodgers
WHY I LIKE HIM:
I've heard Dodgers players say he was a great teammate and a leader on the team, and it's hard to think of the Dodgers without thinking of him. I also like his red hair and beard.
PAST PLAYERS:
11/9: Mike Trout 11/10: Clayton Kershaw 11/11: Shane Bieber 11/12: Trevor Bauer 11/13: Freddie Freeman 11/14: Francisco Lindor 11/15: Jose Abreu 11/16: Kyle Lewis 11/17: Devin Williams 11/18: Randy Arozarena 11/19: Framber Valdéz 11/20: Rhys Hoskins 11/21: Kris Bryant 11/22: Willians Astudillo 11/23: Carlos Carrasco 11/24: Anthony Rizzo 11/25-11/27: Break 11/28: Mike Yastrzemski 11/29: Chris Taylor 11/30: Josh Naylor 12/1: Stephen Souza Jr 12/2: Joc Pederson 12/3: Hanser Alberto 12/4: Wil Myers 12/5: Christian Yelich 12/6: Nick Ahmed 12/7: Franmil Reyes 12/8: David Fletcher 12/9: Max Muncy 12/10: Mookie Betts 12/11: Brandon Nimmo 12/12: Chadwick Tromp 12/13: Corey Seager 12/14: James Karinchak 12/15: David Peralta 12/16: Sean Doolittle 12/17: Trey Mancini 12/18: Cody Bellinger 12/19: Nolan Arenado 12/20: Juan Soto 12/21: Aaron Civale 12/22: Rich Hill 12/23: Xander Bogaerts 12/24-12/26: Break 12/27: Jeff McNeil 12/28: Zach Plesac 12/29: Matt Chapman 12/30: Ke'Bryan Hayes 12/31-1/1: Break 1/2: Adam Wainwright 1/3: Joey Votto 1/4: Jordan Luplow 1/5: Alex Gordon 1/6: Miguel Cabrera 1/7: Jesús Aguilar 1/8: Joey Gallo 1/9: Vladimir Guerrero Jr 1/10: Aaron Judge 1/11: Oscar Mercado 1/12: Ronald Acuña Jr 1/13: Buster Posey 1/14: Stephen Strasburg 1/15: Joe Kelly 1/16: Seth Lugo 1/17: John Means 1/18: Adam Plutko 1/19: Anthony Santander 1/20: Mike Moustakas 1/21: Whit Merrifield 1/22: Walker Buehler 1/23: Josh Donaldson 1/24: Miguel Rojas 1/25: Triston McKenzie 1/26: Trevor Story 1/27: Matt Olson 1/28: Tim Anderson 1/29: Kiké Hernandez 1/30: Cole Tucker 1/31: Dexter Fowler 2/1: César Hernández 2/2: Andrew McCutchen 2/3: Kyle Seager 2/4: Rougned Odor 2/5: AJ Pollock 2/6: Fernando Tatis Jr 2/7: Daniel Norris 2/8: Roberto Perez 2/9: Hyun-Jin Ryu 2/10: Tyler Glasnow 2/11: Gio Urshela

*I will warn you now that this is a fairly long post, so thanks to all who read any part of this and feel like giving their opinions/critiques on the post. Please note that I am, for the most part, limiting MVP races to hitters with the exception of one pitcher (fairly obvious who it will be).*
Over the next couple of days, I wanted to put together posts like this outlining the major award races for 2020: who's involved, their numbers, and what their case is for the trophy. Feel free to add your thoughts and opinions, what reasons I may not have included as to why a certain player is deserving, as well as who you feel like I left out of these and why they're deserving of an argument.

National League MVP

\All statistics compiled from Baseball Reference Pages*
Bold indicates leader among candidates
Bold and italics indicates major league leader

Player	Average	Hits	Runs Scored	Stolen Bases	Home Runs	Runs Batted In	Walks	OPS (OBP + SLG)	WAR (Avg. of bWAR and fWAR)
Mookie Betts (LAD)	.292	64	47	10	16	39	24	0.927 (.366 + .562)	3.2
Freddie Freeman (ATL)	.341	73	51	2	13	53	45	1.102 (.462 + .640)	3.15
Manny Machado (SD)	.304	68	44	6	16	47	26	0.950 (.370 + .580)	2.7
Juan Soto (WSH)	.351	54	39	6	13	37	41	1.185 (.490 + .695)	2.25
Fernando Tatís Jr. (SD)	.277	62	50	11	17	45	27	0.937 (.366 + .571)	2.7

Honorable Mentions: Trea Turner (WSH), Marcell Ozuna (ATL), Ian Happ (CHC), Mike Yastrzemski (SF), Corey Seager (LAD)

Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves 1B (and professional slap-hitter)

2020 Numbers: .341 AVG, 13 HR, 53 RBI, 1.102 OPS
Why would he win it?

• He leads candidates in many of the significant hitting categories - Freeman ended the regular season 2nd in the NL in average, 3rd in hits, 1st in runs scored, 2nd in RBIs, 2nd in walks, and 2nd in OPS. The only other player who can claim top spots in many of these categories is his teammate, Marcell Ozuna and, as we all know, DHs don't win MVP.
• He had an "MVP Moment" - In most MVP races, there is usually a game or play late in the season by the person considered the favorite that all but makes the race a formality. His walk-off 2-run shot in extras against the Red Sox on Friday locked the Braves into the NL's 2-seed and was the perfect finishing touch to a game that saw Atlanta respond to every Boston offensive punch in the late innings. Freeman pinch-hit in that game, which also lends itself to the MVP notion that he came through when it mattered most.

Why wouldn't he win it?

• His numbers were matched in many categories by his own teammate - A common theme you'll see for many of these NL MVP candidates is that they had another teammate who could garner MVP votes, which should theoretically hurt both players. Machado had Tatís and vice versa; Betts had Seager; Soto had Turner. For Freddie Freeman, it was Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna's 2020 is also worthy of MVP consideration, and he would likely be talked about more if he didn't spend most of the season as a DH:
  • .338 AVG (3rd in the NL, .003 points behind Freeman - .341)
  • 77 hits (2nd in the NL, 4 more than Freeman)
  • 18 home runs (Most in the NL, 5 more than Freeman)
  • 56 RBI (Most in the NL, 3 more than Freeman)
  • 1.067 OPS (3rd in the NL, .035 points behind Freeman - 1.102)
• Is there a stigma about first basemen winning MVP? - In both MVP races, there is a first baseman leading or nearing the front of the race, depending on what your MVP race looks like. In both cases, there is an argument about how valuable a first baseman is. After all, it is the defensive position that requires the least amount of effort on the field. How substantial does the gap need to be offensively for a first baseman to win the award over, say, an outfielder with great numbers given the increased value the outfielder has defensively? Freeman is my personal MVP frontrunner, but I also am not the BBWAA, who may take positional value into account more than I do.

Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers RF (He's going back to Boston next season)

2020 Numbers: .292 AVG, 16 HR, 39 RBI, 0.927 OPS
Why would he win it?

• He satisfies the traditional MVP definition of "best player on the best team" - The Dodgers won 43 games for a winning percentage of .717. That is technically the highest winning percentage since the 1954 Indians, but will almost certainly have an asterisk next to it because of the 100-game difference in games played. Nonetheless, you can only play as many games as are scheduled, and the Dodgers won at a higher rate than anyone else this year. Mookie Betts was the best player on the team, so his candidacy has merit on that fact.

Why wouldn't he win it?

• The Dodgers are always expected to be this good - For as much as I could talk about Betts fulfilling the best player, best team mold for those who believe in that, there is also something to be said about how valuable he is on a team like the Dodgers. The most common counter to those who argue that Betts is the MVP is that "the Dodgers would still have won the division without him". Although that might not have been the case with the rise of Slam Diego, this is a team that already entered 2020 as the 7-time defending NL West Champions. Expectations for the team were no different than in any of the other years, and their winning the division for an 8th straight time is not newsworthy anymore.
• Was he even the best player on the team? - Yes. If not because of his hitting, then because of his defense. Of the Dodgers' three best hitters this year (Betts, Corey Seager, and A.J. Pollock), Corey Seager's UZR of -3.5 was the worst in baseball among qualified shortstops by a fairly sizable margin. A.J. Pollock's UZR of -2.9 in left field ranked 4th worst among players with at least 100 innings in left field. Betts' UZR of 6 was second to Joey Gallo among right fielders. Offensively, let's take a look at the numbers of the Dodgers' three best hitters this season:

Player	Average	Hits	Runs Scored	Stolen Bases	Home Runs	Runs Batted In	OPS
Mookie Betts	.292	64	47	10	16	39	0.927
Corey Seager	.307	65	38	1	15	41	0.943
A.J. Pollock	.276	54	30	2	16	34	0.881

Obviously there is something to be said about batting order - Seager having more RBIs than Betts has a lot to do with the fact that he batted 2nd while Betts batted leadoff. Betts has more runs because he could depend on Seager to drive him in. Mookie laps the field when it comes to stolen bases and has a pretty sizeable lead in the runs scored department as well, but in many other stats, the difference between these three was fairly negligible. Betts was by far the best of the best Dodgers defensively, but a somewhat quiet end of the season places his numbers below the other candidates for the award.

Manny Machado, San Diego Padres 3B ($300 million?? $300 MILLION?? $300 MILLION!!)

2020 Numbers: .304 AVG, 16 HR, 47 RBI, 0.950 OPS
Why would he win it?

• He was the steadying force when certain other Padres struggled - For as much of the Padres' celebration was centered around Fernando Tatís Jr.'s emergence into a fringe top 10 player in baseball, it was Manny Machado who had the better season at the end of the day. During the month of September, Machado batted .317 with 5 HR and 17 RBI while Tatís was trying to break out of a prolonged slump. In recent years, MVP has been less of a "who's the best player on the best team?" award and more of a "who's the best player on a team we didn't expect to do this well"? If that philosophy is used, then Machado should do really well among MVP voters.

Why wouldn't he win it?

• He isn't the headlining act on the Padres - Machado had the best year of anyone on the Padres, but it is undeniably Tatís Jr. who stole the show for the majority of the season. If the Padres' breakout were to be associated with any single player, it would be the electric young shortstop who fueled life back into a franchise that had been dormant for 14 years. Despite Machado returning to elite status, his spectacular year will likely be overshadowed in conversations by the rise of El Niño.

Fernando Tatís Jr., San Diego Padres SS (F**k your unwritten rules)

2020 Numbers: .277 AVG, 17 HR, 45 RBI, 0.937 OPS
Why would he win it?

• Thanks Chris Woodward - If there is one player who came out a winner in this crazy 2020 season, it is the son of Fernando Tatís Sr. and the father of the Texas Rangers. An already scorching hot start to the season was made known to the baseball world and beyond when he disgraced the history of America's Pastime by doing his job and hitting a 3-0 pitch into the stands for a grand slam in what will more than likely be the most notable moment to come out of this season. That dinger combined with a side of sodium chloride from Rangers manager Chris Woodward put the Padres at the forefront of the baseball world, where they stayed for the majority of the season. Tatís became baseball's golden boy and MLB found their failproof marketing rocket. It was the birth of Slam Diego. It highlighted a two-week long stretch where Tatís Jr. led baseball in damn near every stat imaginable: average, hits, homers, RBIs, OPS - you name it. For a significant portion of the season, it appeared that Tatís was as much of a lock for NL MVP as Shane Bieber is for AL Cy Young, but...

Why wouldn't he win it?

• Good Things Fall Apart - Just about any Padres fan will tell you that watching Tatís lose his stranglehold on the MVP award over the last month of the season was one of the hardest things they've had to go through in recent memory. His September saw him hit just .221 with a sub-.300 OBP. The fact that he became must-watch television over the course of the season meant it was also a lot easier to notice that he had lost whatever spark had fueled him for the majority of the year. His plate discipline had seemingly vanished out of nowhere, as he had recorded more strikeouts (19) than hits (17) during September.

Juan Soto, Washington Nationals LF (He can drink now!)

2020 Numbers: .351 AVG, 13 HR, 37 RBI, 1.185 OPS
Why would he win it?

• Just look at the numbers, man - While he may not be the only player on this list to have fallen victim to the virus, Soto's playing time was heavily cut into due to a positive test that he believes was false. Despite the setback, Soto dominated in the 47 games he played. He finished the season as the NL leader in batting average and the major league leader in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS (naturally), OPS+, and intentional walks. He also hit 13 long balls and finished 4th in the National League with 41 walks. There is a strong argument that he swung the best bat in all of baseball this year.

Why wouldn't he win it?

• Does Mike Trout treatment extend to players not named Mike Trout? - Despite the Angels having made the playoffs just once in the already legendary career of Mike Trout, he has three MVPs to call his own. Many have decried Trout's MVPs, as they believe the winner has to come from a team in the playoffs. After all, how valuable can you truly be if your contributions are ultimately futile in the goal of reaching the playoffs? Soto's numbers are absolutely outstanding, which give him a good argument for being in the MVP discussion, but any chance of him winning relies on him getting the Trout treatment by the voters - something that is all the more difficult in a year where postseason spots were far easier to obtain.

BASICS:
Born: November 3, 1987
Jersey Number: 15
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Position: 3B
Drafted: 2009 by the Mariners, Round 3, Pick 82
MLB Debut: July 7, 2011
Teams: Mariners (2009-present)
2020 STATS:
Games: 60
Batting Average: 0.241
OBP: 0.355
SLG: 0.433
OPS: 0.788
Runs: 35
Hits: 49
Doubles: 12
Triples: 0
Home Runs: 9
RBIs: 40
Stolen Bases: 5
CAREER STATS:
Games: 1321
Batting Average: 0.256
OBP: 0.326
SLG: 0.443
OPS: 0.768
Runs: 632
Hits: 1267
Doubles: 280
Triples: 13
Home Runs: 207
RBIs: 706
Stolen Bases: 52
CAREER AWARDS:
All Star - 2014
Gold Glove - 2014
AL Player of the Week - 4/28/14, 6/30/14
Mariners Heart and Hustle - 2014, 2015
Mariners MVP - 2012, 2013
MiLB All Star - 2010
THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW:
He led MLB in sac flies in 2020.
He and Corey have another brother, Justin, who played in the Mariners' farm system from 2013 to 2017.
He has three kids.
He played baseball for UNC.
HIS BEST 2020 MOMENTS:
Seeing him and Corey play each other was fun
He got his 5th career grand slam
He was one of three Mariners to steal second base in the 4th inning of their August 27 game
This was a good catch
OTHER GREAT MOMENTS:
He was part of a triple play in 2018
While the brothers didn't play each other in this game, this was a great night for both of them!
WHY I LIKE HIM:
He's definitely an underrated player and I like the Seagers in general!
PAST PLAYERS:
11/9: Mike Trout 11/10: Clayton Kershaw 11/11: Shane Bieber 11/12: Trevor Bauer 11/13: Freddie Freeman 11/14: Francisco Lindor 11/15: Jose Abreu 11/16: Kyle Lewis 11/17: Devin Williams 11/18: Randy Arozarena 11/19: Framber Valdéz 11/20: Rhys Hoskins 11/21: Kris Bryant 11/22: Willians Astudillo 11/23: Carlos Carrasco 11/24: Anthony Rizzo 11/25-11/27: Break 11/28: Mike Yastrzemski 11/29: Chris Taylor 11/30: Josh Naylor 12/1: Stephen Souza Jr 12/2: Joc Pederson 12/3: Hanser Alberto 12/4: Wil Myers 12/5: Christian Yelich 12/6: Nick Ahmed 12/7: Franmil Reyes 12/8: David Fletcher 12/9: Max Muncy 12/10: Mookie Betts 12/11: Brandon Nimmo 12/12: Chadwick Tromp 12/13: Corey Seager 12/14: James Karinchak 12/15: David Peralta 12/16: Sean Doolittle 12/17: Trey Mancini 12/18: Cody Bellinger 12/19: Nolan Arenado 12/20: Juan Soto 12/21: Aaron Civale 12/22: Rich Hill 12/23: Xander Bogaerts 12/24-12/26: Break 12/27: Jeff McNeil 12/28: Zach Plesac 12/29: Matt Chapman 12/30: Ke'Bryan Hayes 12/31-1/1: Break 1/2: Adam Wainwright 1/3: Joey Votto 1/4: Jordan Luplow 1/5: Alex Gordon 1/6: Miguel Cabrera 1/7: Jesús Aguilar 1/8: Joey Gallo 1/9: Vladimir Guerrero Jr 1/10: Aaron Judge 1/11: Oscar Mercado 1/12: Ronald Acuña Jr 1/13: Buster Posey 1/14: Stephen Strasburg 1/15: Joe Kelly 1/16: Seth Lugo 1/17: John Means 1/18: Adam Plutko 1/19: Anthony Santander 1/20: Mike Moustakas 1/21: Whit Merrifield 1/22: Walker Buehler 1/23: Josh Donaldson 1/24: Miguel Rojas 1/25: Triston McKenzie 1/26: Trevor Story 1/27: Matt Olson 1/28: Tim Anderson 1/29: Kiké Hernandez 1/30: Cole Tucker 1/31: Dexter Fowler 2/1: César Hernández 2/2: Andrew McCutchen

This year (so far) I have watched and ranked 202 K-pop music videos. Because uh....well...it's...fun?
Following each viewing, I whipped open Google Sheets and rated them on a scale of 0-10 on six or seven different categories, averaged those scores together for an overall score, and an official "grade" (S being the highest, F being the lowest), essentially ad infinitum.
The categories I considered are as follows, with some guiding questions to help y'all understand:

1. Concept-Song Correlation (CSC): Rather than looking at how much I personally enjoy the song/concept, I ask myself: how well does the song fit the concept? How does listening to just the song alone make me feel, and how does watching the MV make me feel? Does watching the MV enhance the feelings I get from listening to just the song, or confuse them? How do the lyrics and the MV correlate?
2. Aesthetic Coherency (AC): How well does the MV establish a consistent aesthetic universe? How well represented is the director's vision for the "world" of the MV discernible? Does each scene in the MV live in the same world, or do things shift? If so, is the aesthetic change justified or random, and does it feel jarring or smooth?
3. Production Design (PD): A broad category encompassing costumes, haimakeup, set design, props design, and lighting design. How well are these design elements executed? How well do they portray the concept of the MV? Are they novel or familiabasic?
4. Cinematography, Editing, and Pacing (CEP): For cinematography: how well-framed are the shots? Are they static or dynamic, and do I think the director made the right stylistic choices? Are the shots basic or cinematic? How well do they convey the mood of the MV? For editing: do all the shots match up? Are there any awkward transitions? Creative transitions? For pacing (usually dependent on editing): does the video drag at all? Does my mind wander?
5. Performance Quality (PQ): How well do the artists perform? If it's a plot-based music video, do they act? If so, do they act well? If it's more aesthetic-based, how immersed are they in the concept? Do their facial expressions/body language support the concept?
6. 6. Originality (O): How many times have I seen this concept before? Does this video do something new, or have a unique spin on something familiar, or does it just regurgitate common motifs? Is it treading any new ground, either concept/design/editing-wise?
7. (Optional) Storyline (SL): For plot-based MVs: does the story make sense?

Each video starts with a default score of 5 in each category, and I would add/remove points based on my answers to each of these questions. This led to an average overall score of about 6.9/10, which I classified as a C+ on my grading scale (you can see a clearer explanation of the grading on the sheet).
You should definitely note that my rankings are based very much on technical grounds, rather than raw enjoyment levels. This is because of my professional/university background, which basically cursed me to want to analyze every piece of entertainment I come across. As such, I hope that everyone knows that you do not have to agree with my rankings at all!
Everyone has different metrics for what makes a good music video, and these are just mine. Please, do not take any rankings personally, and please note that I don't think there's many truly "bad" MVs out there. I wouldn't watch so many if I did.
Finally, please remember: these rankings do not take into account song quality/preference.
___
With that in mind...
Link to doc temporarily removed for housekeeping.
But since numbers don't tell a full story, here's my (far too long) explanations for why I love what I believe to be the Top 13 K-pop music videos this year, AKA the thirteen music videos which I scored as "S-tier" videos.
___

1. AB6IX: "Salute"

AB6IX is honestly the embodiment of a group that really can do both. Their summer comeback, "The Answer," was one of my favorite bright concepts this year, so the absolutely delightful whiplash that "Salute" brought along was second-to-none. The video opens with one of my favorite still-shots of the year, kicking off a driving, yet simultaneously unhurried sequence. The editing fits the concept of both the song and video, which features some bombastic military band aesthetics: everything about it moves in a self-assured pace. The production design is fantastic as well—the costumes are detailed, the sets are specific (I loved this Easter egg in the fencing scenes, which displays the video's premiere date on the scoreboard, and these sparking lights), and most of all: the lighting design. One of the most underutilized design elements in K-pop, the lighting design of AB6IX is bold, dynamic, and brings flavor to scenes and sets that could otherwise be bland and basic. The individual shots are sometimes not as well-framed or otherwise clean as a they could be, but overall, it's pretty damn great.
12. GOT7: "Not by the Moon"
There are so. many. space. concepts. in. K-pop. And yet, hardly any of them focus or even show the moon in their astronomical adventures, so GOT7 is already winning through their decision to focus on a singular celestial body above all else. The design elements of this video are absolutely stunning, as any video inspired by a Romeo & Juliet quote should be, and make use of something you rarely see done with such intention: texture. As much of this video is in monochrome, the designers used texture throughout the video to add depth and visual stimulation for the viewers, saving us from what could've been a very boring fate. You see varying textures in the members' suits, in this hallway scene, this bedroom set, and more. There are shots with references to Renaissance art and the famous balcony scene of Romeo & Juliet itself. Aesthetically, this video goes above and beyond the call of duty.

1. Lee Hi: "Holo"

One of the most impressive things about "Holo," both the song and the music video, is its ability to make you deeply sad and nostalgic, but hopeful at the same time. It's this duality of despair and hope that drives the entirety of the MV: opening with a shot of a girl staring out into a dreary city landscape, only to be immediately followed by a soft, white feather floating through a sunny sky (in some cultures, an omen that an angel is watching over you), the juxtaposition is clear immediately. We see it in the lighting design, which switches from warm to cool light rapidly to emphasize the changing moods. We see it in the editing, which cuts between the disturbing and playful, the happy and sad. The director is trying to mix these emotions for us, creating a really potent brew of melancholy that fits the song perfectly, along with providing us with some gorgeous aesthetic shots along the way.

1. Agust D: "대취타 (Daechwita)"

This music video is a movie, pure and simple. BTS money really gets you full, outdoor film sets with 100+ extras for your non-promoted mixtape, and they use it to full effect here. The attention to detail is unmatched; from the realistic Joseon Era marketplace, to the literal palaces, to the retro car used to channel the artist's inner Scarface (who he often references in his work). The "subtle" cameos bring in a bit of levity to an otherwise dark concept, and the narrative runs deep: we see the set-up for the ending of the video about 44 seconds in, when he nods to a butcher, who will later pretend to execute him and help him in assassinating the emperor. Beyond the story itself, the pure scope of the music video lends to its intensity; the head-banging scene is epic and grandiose in a way only a BTS-associated music video can be. The only missed opportunity is the editing, which could have stood to be a little more adventurous, but you hardly notice with everything else going on.

1. Day6: "Zombie"

The most understated video on this list, "Zombie" is a shining example of the fact that you don't need fancy sets, costumes, or big budgets to make a stellar music video. The song articulates the feeling of living with depression, and the MV takes that goal and exceeds it, not only explaining the feeling, but helping the audience visualize it, too. The camerawork and editing aids us in this: we view the main character through a slightly-blurred lens, mirroring the way his own world is blurry and unfocused at the edges. We watch him walk through a city that is moving too fast for him, coupled with a low frame-rate and jerky camera movements that stir up a feeling of unease in the viewers' guts. This is amplified by the design elements of the video: its color palette of washed-out blues and greens, with equally dreary paintings of water on the walls of the character's house. At the climax of the video, the water motif comes to life, as the house itself begins to flood with the line, "Get it all out, want to cry."
The character's world is literally being consumed with the physical representation of his sadness, but the video ends showing the water halting just before drowning him, a slightly hopeful ending: he hasn't been drowned just yet, and maybe, just maybe, there'll still be a way out of this. While the fact that the main character is literally a zombie may illicit some laughs initially, this MV does a fantastic job of illustrating the world of someone struggling with depression in a singular and unflinching way.

1. J.Y. Park & Sunmi: "When We Disco"

This is...a functionally flawless music video, if not the most adventurous, and probably the most accurate, fun, and campy entry into the never-ending cycle of retro concepts we've seen this year. A sequin-filled story of two star-crossed lovers that spans a decade of getting funky and seeing JYP yeeted in trashcans, it's hard to not crack a smile when watching. The aesthetics of the video are spot on; the costumes, sets, and lights lock us directly into the era, and the change in stylings (coupled with a simple-yet-effective old film effect) help articulate the flashback more clearly. The camerawork matches the style of the countless B-movie disco flicks of the era, a welcome change in a largely uncreative landscape when it comes to cinematography, and the editor throws in a few creative transitions as well. My only qualms? One, that it came out this year, the year of retro concepts, and two, the background actors...kind of suck. Just like, watch 'em for a little bit. You'll know what I mean.

1. Stray Kids: "God's Menu"

You may notice a theme in these blurbs, in which I make reference to the boring camerawork/editing plaguing the K-pop industry at the moment. Well...thank you, Stray Kids, for giving me hope that all is not yet lost. I could honestly write you a thesis on the editing in this video, so I'll just link you to this professional MV editor I accidentally stumbled across when I was just grabbing the link to the video, who reviewed it himself and save both of us the trouble, but to add on some thoughts of my own—I...watch a lot of K-pop music videos, and when you watch as many as I do, a lot of them start blurring together, because the formula they follow is so copy-and-paste. So when I see music videos like "God's Menu," I get excited. Like, really excited. Not only is the editing impeccable, but the formula is completely shaken up and the concept itself (chefs?! scientists?! race car drivers?! hello?!) is a breath of fresh air. Which is great on a macro-level, but also fits the concept of the song itself: it's a song about creation and originality, and that's exactly what their director is channeling throughout the video.

1. Sunmi: "pporappippam"

Sunmi is the only artist who appears twice on my list, and with good reason: her performances this year were outstanding, and the woman must be a fantastic director-magnet or something, because my goodness. I'm not sure where to begin. The aesthetics? Oh, the aesthetics. Not only are they cohesive, but they're an absolute feast to look at. This milky-rose landscape is stunning, and is the perfect juxtaposition to the meat of the video, which shows her vibrant nightlife in rich, saturated color while still maintaining the pink motif throughout (a subtle Marilyn Monroe reference?!) The editing is also engaging and unique, the film-roll effect being used almost as a form of set design in and of itself. It also does something I truly thought a MV could never do: a mid-video aspect ratio transition that not only works, but looks good. I literally cannot articulate to you how impressive that is. This is the only aspect ratio transition I have ever found to be fully justified in K-pop.

1. Seventeen: "Home;run"

In a time void of almost all live musical theatre, Seventeen filled a void with "Home;run" that I didn't even realize I had buried within me. It's a blend of old Hollywood and Guys and Dolls aesthetics, and every element of the production design works towards cultivating it nearly flawlessly. The set and props design elements are of particular note for their specificity, from S.Coups' split-second appearance on a newspaper, to their debut date peeking in from a marquee, and the sweet fandom references. The storyline is wonderful as well—it's just prevalent enough to provide a driving force for the entire video, but loose enough that it allows for as many dance breaks or gangster fights as the guys desire. I also couldn't mention this MV without commenting on the performances of Seventeen themselves; they truly bring in that vibrant, over-the-top theatricality, whether it be during charismatic dance breaks, head-pain via flying projectiles, or Woozi with a baseball bat.

1. Verivery: "Lay Back"

There are very few music videos on this Earth which are capable of simultaneously invoking a sense of primal fear, pure awe, and a desperate need to get down on the dance floor all at once. "Lay Back" is one of those music videos. Beginning with an unsettling sequence that shows a startled boy framed by the vanishing point of a musty hallway, only to squint and see himself walking towards him from the other end, we're struck with a sense of anxiety which is only emphasized by a shift to CCTV footage, giving the impression that whatever's happening is being controlled by some outside force. We see each member meet their double, and we have the feeling some massive confrontation is coming. And it does...in mirror dance battle form? The entire concept is just so crazy that it works, and it's bolstered by some pretty jaw-dropping editing and production design. This cool mirror effect gives us the impression of the members traveling between realities, and don't even get me started on this scene, which is absolutely gorgeous and ridiculously creative. While the "meeting your evil twin" concept isn't foreign to K-pop, Verivery manages to take a worn-out trope and make it feel new.
3. Winner: "Hold"
Never before has a music video captured the energy of a late-90s Disney channel sitcom so perfectly before Winner's "Hold." A bright and goofy music video about the Winner members as the protective older brothers of their little sister (played delightfully by soloist Lee Suhyun), every aspect it is over-the-top and borderline clownish, from members shoving themselves into decorated refrigerators, to them dressing as gangsters to scare off potential suitors, to the perfect depiction of siblings mocking each other in a sequence where the guys tease Suhyun about her date, complete with "twerking." It's a simple story, but it brings endless joy and hilarity, and it's brought to life further by the design elements, which drop us directly into a mid-90s household with their specificity. And the editing—which starts off sharp, but innocuous—escalates the video into an absurdist territory as the guys perform for their sister and her date in a fantasy realm. There was not a single other video quite like this one in K-pop this year, and I have to admit, seeing a wholesome sibling relationship portrayed on screen was quite a welcome and novel change.
2. Woodz: "파랑게 (Love Me Harder)"
Like Verivery's "Lay Back," "Love Me Harder," also centers around a case of serious split personality, but takes it in a totally different direction. It shows alter-ego Woodz, who will henceforth be known as Cool Woodz, continuously following around his other self (simply: Woodz) with an illegal amount of swagger as he tries and warns Woodz of a crime that's about to occur. Through a non-chronological storyline (that may take a couple pass-throughs to fully understand, but once you do, it clicks big time) that I wouldn't dare to spoil here, we get the absolute pleasure of watching Woodz perform in two completely dissonant, but equally engaging roles; it's amazing to see how distinct he's able to make both of his characters, with the only physical difference between them being a slightly different haircut, shown best in this scene, where we switch between Woodz and Cool Woodz in rapid succession and never lose track of who's who. The pacing of the video is driven by conservative but well-paced edits, and some equally subtle, but incredibly effective match-cuts and shadow shots up the anxiety levels to 10. I really don't want to spoil it, so I'll hold my tongue, but this music video shines most in its ability to take a relatively simple concept and elevate it through Woodz's performance (dare I say it...his duality), and some clean, smooth editing that shows that sometimes, less is really more.
1. B1A4: "Like a Movie"
But...sometimes...more is also more.
The basic conceit of this video is that we see each of the B1A4 members' struggles to woo the girls of their dreams, literally "rewriting" their mistakes mid-video to get that perfect happy ending for themselves. Simple enough in theory, but through editing and some pretty ingenious directing, we see the storyline played out in impossibly creative ways, such as here, which—in quite possibly my favorite sequence of the year—we see one member try and reach his date, but along the way he repeatedly fails in his task, respawning like a video game character each time he does, finally cracking the code a few scenes later. Or this even more absurd scene where another member's girlfriend is abducted by aliens as he proposes to her, only for him to force them to give her back soon after.
This isn't even touching on the aesthetics of the video. I've never seen another music video that looks quite like "Like a Movie" before. It's a wholly unique aesthetic in K-pop, and has some of the most singular and beautiful shots I've ever seen in a music video, whether it be a couple staring at each other from an apartment building in the clouds, this absolutely ridiculous shot of a couple dancing on a...well, you can look yourselves, or even just an incredibly well-framed shot of a guy in a bedroom. While the title of the song may be "Like a Movie," the music video is more like a dream, with a perfectly cultivated fantasy aesthetic that is present in everything from a table made of clouds to the pastel animal masks the backup dancers wear as they tap out the dreamy choreography, to the subtle editing touch of lights turning on in the hotel in time with the music. Every aspect of this music video oozes with creativity and vision, and it's a singular delight to be able to watch it.
_____
Final disclaimenote: I would like to quickly add that, funnily enough, I actually do not stan any of the groups in my Top 13, and do not have any predetermined biases/vendettas foagainst any artists. Out of the 100+ artists on this list, I only listen to around ~15 of them on a fairly regular basis, and I think my ult group just barely breaches the B-tier on my ranking. I would also again state that these are just my opinions, disagreements are welcome, and just because I ranked a video low does not mean your personal experience with enjoying it is invalid in any way.
Alright, if anyone is still reading—please share your thoughts! Where did we agree? Where did we disagree? What were your personal favorites?

Welcome to the special twenty-year review edition of the Alabama Slammers franchise report! We’ll highlight each MLB team in order of winning percentage, list the hall-of fame inductees, MVP winners, and Cy Young winners, then go over the top Slammers players. If there’s any player you’d like to know about that I don’t cover, just ask and I’ll let you know how they turned out.
Team Rankings by Winning Percentage
The method for choosing the best players from each team wasn’t scientific – I just tried to find the players that posted the highest WAR for each team during the past twenty-one years. So, anyone that played the majority of their career prior to 2020 is probably excluded, and longevity is valued over short periods of excellence. Also, I don’t have ratings screenshots for most of the players, but tried to include them where I could.
For the playoff appearances, keep in mind that we didn’t have a wildcard from 2021-2033.
1.) Alabama Slammers
20 Year Record – 2025-1215 (.625)
Playoff Appearances – 15
Division Championships – 15
World Series – 5
Best Pitcher – Gilles Palacios (2034 Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Edgar Sanchez (2035 Ratings, Career Stats)
This is one of the best twenty-year runs in the history of baseball – and we started as an expansion team. I expect us to be even better the next twenty years.
2.) Atlanta Braves
21 Year Record – 1888-1514 (.555)
Playoff Appearances – 5
Division Championships – 5
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Pat Leveille (2031 Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Ronald Acuna Jr. (2026 Ratings, Career Stats)
I really feel bad for the Braves getting stuck in a division with us. They were the second-best team in baseball for a long time and only have five playoff appearances to show for it.
3.) Los Angeles Dodgers
21 Year Record – 1837-1565 (.540)
Playoff Appearances – 7
Division Championships – 6
World Series – 1
Best Pitcher – Walker Buehler (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Cody Bellinger (Career Stats)
Despite having the third-best winning percentage the past twenty-one years, the Dodgers were a bit underwhelming. A team with their budget and talent level should’ve made the playoffs more than once every three seasons.
4.) Seattle Mariners
21 Year Record – 1813-1589 (.533)
Playoff Appearances – 8
Division Championships – 8
World Series – 1
Best Pitcher – Marco Gonzalez (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Cody Bellinger (Career Stats)
The Mariners signed Cody Bellinger to a 7/$196m deal prior to the 2025 season and it was the best move in their franchise’s history. He posted 47.8 WAR during his seven-year stay, won three MVPs, and brought them their first title in 2025.
5.) Toronto Blue Jays
21 Year Record – 1803-1509 (.530)
Playoff Appearances – 9
Division Championships – 7
World Series – 1
Best Pitcher – Jack Leiter (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Career Stats)
The Blue Jays were pretty consistent, winning less than 70 games only one time and having just five losing seasons.
6.) Washington Nationals
21 Year Record – 1803-1509 (.530)
Playoff Appearances – 10
Division Championships – 9
World Series – 1
Best Pitcher – Fabricio Tertilio (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Juan Soto (2024 Ratings, Career Stats)
The Nationals were one of the top franchises the past twenty-one years, and especially the last ten. They knocked a couple of our better teams out of the playoffs.
7.) Houston Astros
21 Year Record – 1797-1605 (.528)
Playoff Appearances – 8
Division Championships – 8
World Series – 1
Best Pitcher – Jose Corniell (2027 Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Garrett Mitchell (Career Stats)
Unfortunately, the trashcan beaters weren’t one of the worst teams in baseball. Hopefully, that changes the next twenty years.
8.) Los Angeles Angels
21 Year Record – 1795-1607 (.527)
Playoff Appearances – 11
Division Championships – 10
World Series – 1
Best Pitcher – Mike Butler (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Mike Trout (Career Stats)
The Angels won a title two years after Trout retired – Sometimes life isn’t fair.
9.) Cleveland Indians
21 Year Record – 1787-1615 (.525)
Playoff Appearances – 9
Division Championships – 8
World Series – 2
Best Pitcher – Shane Bieber (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Francisco Lindor (Career Stats)
The Indians won two of the first three titles during the save but are still looking for their fifth overall championship.
10.) Boston Red Sox
21 Year Record – 1765-1637 (.519)
Playoff Appearances – 7
Division Championships – 6
World Series – 3
Best Pitcher – Rob McDowell (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Rafael Devers (Career Stats)
The Red Sox are probably the closest thing I have to a rival. They’ve won three of the past five World Series, with two of those wins coming against us.
11.) Colorado Rockies
21 Year Record – 1756-1646 (.516)
Playoff Appearances – 8
Division Championships – 8
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Steve Delaney (2035 Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Eric Zuniga (2037 Ratings, Career Stats)
Steve Delaney might be the most talented fictional pitcher in the save, but he’s never won a Cy Young. He probably deserved one or two of the ones Gilles Palacios won.
12.) St. Louis Cardinals
21 Year Record – 1749-1653 (.514)
Playoff Appearances – 5
Division Championships – 1
World Series – 1
Best Pitcher – Jack Flaherty (2024 Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Ivan Manso (2034 Ratings, Career Stats)
The Braves had the misfortune of spending thirteen years in a division with us, but the Cardinals have had to suffer through twenty. They slipped in a title during one of our two losing seasons.
13.) San Diego Padres
21 Year Record – 1748-1654 (.514)
Playoff Appearances – 5
Division Championships – 4
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Jesus Pilar (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Trent Grisham (Career Stats)
The Padres started off the 20’s hot but have turned into a middle of the road team since then. They haven’t made the playoffs in nine years.
14.) Detroit Tigers
21 Year Record – 1745-1657 (.513)
Playoff Appearances – 9
Division Championships – 9
World Series – 1
Best Pitcher – Matt Manning (2028 Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Adrian Cuevas (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
The Tigers have slipped a bit recently, but they had a great run from 2026-2036, winning the division nine times and taking one World Series.
15.) Minnesota Twins
21 Year Record – 1725-1677 (.507)
Playoff Appearances – 5
Division Championships – 3
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Peter Parrell (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Joel Mogel (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
The Twins missed the playoffs for sixteen straight years, then made it five times in a row after losing Joel Mogel to free agency – go figure.
16.) New York Yankees
21 Year Record – 1723-1679 (.506)
Playoff Appearances – 4
Division Championships – 4
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Freddy Silguero (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Aaron Judge (Career Stats)
The Yankees are going to need to keep at this pace for about a hundred more years for me to catch them in total titles.
17.) Chicago Cubs
21 Year Record – 1702-1700 (.500)
Playoff Appearances – 4
Division Championships – 3
World Series – 1
Best Pitcher – Alex Velez (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Chris Mandell (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
The Cubs won the title in 2021 and have been about as average as possible since then.
18.) Mexico City Bandits
20 Year Record – 1607-1633 (.496)
Playoff Appearances – 1
Division Championships – 1
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Chad Perkins (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Alexis Perez (Career Stats)
The Bandits joined the league when we did and have had a tough time establishing themselves. Maybe they’ll fare better the next twenty years.
19.) Tampa Bay Rays
21 Year Record – 1684-1718 (.495)
Playoff Appearances – 8
Division Championships – 7
World Series – 1
Best Pitcher – Blake Snell (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Chris Peck (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Starting in 2020, the Rays made the playoffs six of seven years, then only qualified two of the next fourteen years. They won the World Series in 2023.
20.) Philadelphia Phillies
21 Year Record – 1665-1737 (.489)
Playoff Appearances – 5
Division Championships – 4
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Alek Jacob (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Bryce Harper (Career Stats)
There’s not a lot to say about the Phillies. They’ve had some good years, some bad ones, and nothing too memorable to talk about.
21.) Arizona Diamondbacks
21 Year Record – 1662-1740 (.489)
Playoff Appearances – 3
Division Championships – 3
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Steve Madden (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Daulton Varsho (Career Stats)
The Diamondbacks won their division from 2032-2034 but haven’t done much outside of that.
22.) Baltimore Orioles
21 Year Record – 1657-1745 (.487)
Playoff Appearances – 5
Division Championships – 5
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Joey Wentz (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Adley Rutschman (Career Stats)
The fact that Joey Wentz is the Orioles most accomplished pitcher says a lot about where they’re at as a franchise.
23.) Milwaukee Brewers
21 Year Record – 1656-1746 (.487)
Playoff Appearances – 5
Division Championships – 4
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Ze Carantonha (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Christian Yelich (Career Stats)
Ze Carantonha was robbed of a Cy Young in 2038 and would be a lock for the hall of fame if he could stay healthy.
24.) New York Mets
21 Year Record – 1639-1763 (.482)
Playoff Appearances – 5
Division Championships – 5
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Kyle Brnovich (2035 Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Pete Alonso (2035 Ratings, Career Stats)
Interestingly, we faced off against both Brnovich and Alonso in the 2035 playoffs, but they were both playing for the Phillies.
25.) Kansas City Royals
21 Year Record – 1626-1776
Playoff Appearances – 1
Division Championships – 0
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Jeremy Hutchinson (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Alex Castro (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Times have been tough for the Royals – their only playoff appearance was as a wildcard in 2037.
26.) Cincinnati Reds
21 Year Record – 1601-1801 (.471)
Playoff Appearances –
Division Championships –
World Series –
Best Pitcher – Bobby Dibble (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Ben Bovain (2033 Ratings, Career Stats)
Things would have been different for the Reds without Ben Bovain. He led them to three of their four playoff appearances and their only World Series title the past twenty-one years.
27.) Chicago White Sox
21 Year Record – 1598-1804 (.470)
Playoff Appearances – 1
Division Championships – 1
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Lucas Giolito (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Ken Thompson (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
The White Sox have been better recently, but they were dismal for most of the save.
28.) Oakland Athletics
21 Year Record – 1595-1807 (.469)
Playoff Appearances – 0
Division Championships – 0
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Chris West (2031 Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Kyle Hannah (Career Stats)
The Athletics are the only non-expansion team to fail to reach the playoffs – Ouch.
29.) Texas Rangers
21 Year Record – 1583-1819
Playoff Appearances – 1
Division Championships – 0
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Daniel Reyna (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Angel Martinez (Career Stats)
The Rangers misery is only topped by the Athletics. They made the playoffs one time as a wildcard in 2034.
30.) San Francisco Giants
21 Year Record – 1561-1841 (.459)
Playoff Appearances – 3
Division Championships – 3
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Osiel Rodriguez (Career Stats)
Best Batter – Joey Bart (Career Stats)
The Giants have finished better than .500 one time in the past ten seasons, and that was last year with an 82-80 record.
31.) Miami Marlins
21 Year Record – 1555-1847 (.457)
Playoff Appearances – 1
Division Championships – 1
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Davis Sharpe (Career Stats)
Best Batter – JJ Bleday (Career Stats)
The Marlins made the playoffs in 2038, and it was their only appearance in franchise history that didn’t result in a championship.
32.) Hawaii Surf
7 Year Record – 500-634 (.441)
Playoff Appearances – 0
Division Championships – 0
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Jeff Janda (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Ben Bovain (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
All four of the newest expansion teams have had a tough time, but that isn’t too surprising.
33.) Pittsburgh Pirates
21 Year Record – 1493-1909 (.439)
Playoff Appearances – 1
Division Championships – 1
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Dan Heimbach (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Bill D’elia (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
The Pirates haven’t made the playoffs in nineteen years and have a worse winning percentage than three of the expansion teams – how embarrassing.
34.) New Orleans Jazz
7 Year Record – 494-640 (.436)
Playoff Appearances – 0
Division Championships – 0
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Tristan Dotson (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Jose Sanchez (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
35.) Montreal Expos
7 Year Record – 459-675 (.405)
Playoff Appearances – 0
Division Championships – 0
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Damiano Ricciardi (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Jim Philipps (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
36.) New Jersey Bats
7 Year Record – 451-683 (.398)
Playoff Appearances – 0
Division Championships – 0
World Series – 0
Best Pitcher – Branden Gray (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Best Batter – Josh Keyes (Current Ratings, Career Stats)
Hall of Fame Inductees Since 2021
2021 – Roger Clemens (9th Ballot, 76.8%), Barry Bonds (9th Ballot, 76.2%)
2022 – Alex Rodriguez (1st Ballot, 97.8%), David Ortiz (1st Ballot, 89.2%), Curt Schilling (10th Ballot, 83.8%)
2025 – CC Sabathia (1st Ballot, 75.1%)
2026 – Albert Pujols (1st Ballot, 99.1%), Adrian Beltre (3rd Ballot, 83.5%)
2027 – Justin Verlander (1st Ballot, 96.9%), Miguel Cabrera (1st Ballot, 96.9%), Max Scherzer (1st Ballot, 82.9%)
2028 – Zach Greinke (1st Ballot, 78.3%), Carlos Beltran (6th Ballot, 75.3%)
2029 – Clayton Kershaw (1st Ballot, 99.4%)
2030 – Ichiro Suzuki (6th Ballot, 77.7%), Robinson Cano (4th Ballot, 75.3%)
2031 – Francisco Rodriguez (9th Ballot, 77.1%)
2032 – Craig Kimbrel (1st Ballot, 84.1%)
2033 – Giancarlo Stanton (1st Ballot, 79.4%)
2034 – Nolan Arenado (3rd Ballot, 87.4%), Jose Altuve (3rd Ballot, 83.9%)
2036 – Jose Ramirez (1st Ballot, 91.6%)
2037 – Mike Trout (1st Ballot, 99.0%), Christian Yelich (1st Ballot, 96.3%)
2038 – Rafael Devers (1st Ballot, 83.3%)
2039 – Cody Bellinger (1st Ballot, 99.7%), Bryce Harper (1st Ballot, 94.9%), Ozzie Albies (1st Ballot, 94.3%), Gavin Lux (1st Ballot, 81.0%)
AL MVPs Since 2020
Gleyber Torres (2020), Brandon Lowe (2021), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2022, 2023, 2024, 2026), Cody Bellinger(2025, 2028, 2029), Fernando Tatis Jr. (2027, 2034), Gavin Lux (2030), Joel Mogel (2031, 2035), Chris Peck(2032), Brad Hoxie (2033), Jose Uribe (2036), Andy Hudson (2037), Steve Duclos (2038, 2039), Josh Keyes(2040)
Notes:
Cody Bellinger dominated the league, winning seven MVPs over ten seasons.
Four players won MVPs in both leagues: Gleyber Torres, Cody Bellinger, Gavin Lux, and Joel Mogel.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might be the first player to win four MVPs and not get inducted into the hall of fame.
The Twins had three different players win MVPs: Joel Mogel, Andy Hudson, Steve Duclos
Andy Hudson is probably the biggest flash in the pan in the past twenty-one years. He’s a free agent at 27 years old and only demanding $3.4m AAV.
NL MVPs Since 2020
Cody Bellinger (2020, 2021, 2022, 2024), Shohei Ohtani (2023, 2027), Gavin Lux (2025), Ronald Acuna Jr.(2026), Gleyber Torres (2028), Max Cotier (2029), Ben Bovain (2030, 2031, 2033, 2034), Doug Bridges (2032), Noe Renteria (2035, 2038), Joel Mogel (2036), Eric Zuniga (2037), Edwin de la Torre (2039), Mike Alacron(2040)
Notes:
Ben Bovain is probably the best fictional batter in the save. I’d be shocked if he’s not a first ballot hall of famer.
I’m not sure if anyone other than Ohtani has won the Cy Young while playing strictly as a pitcher, then won the MVP while playing strictly as a batter. He had one of the most interesting careers ever and it’s too bad he won’t make the hall of fame.
AL Cy Young Winners Since 2020
Shohei Ohtani (2020), Aaron Civale (2021), Marco Gonzalez (2022), Blake Snell (2023), Matt Manning (2024), Jose Corniell (2025, 2033), Sandy Alcantara (2026), Zac Gallen (2027), Shane Bieber (2028), Spencer Jones(2029), Javy Guzman (2030), Nate Pearson (2031), Freddy Silguero (2032, 2034), Joe Fryer (2035), Eddie Navarro (2036), Chris Keever (2037), Peter Parrell (2038, 2039), Jorge Morones (2040)
Notes:
Javy Guzman definitely had the worst career of any of the AL Cy Young winners.
NL Cy Young Winners Since 2020
Jack Flaherty (2020), Walker Buehler (2021, 2022, 2023, 2026), Cory Abbott (2024), Dinelson Limet (2025), Drew Butcher (2027), Pat Dibartolo (2028, 2030), Osiel Rodriguez (2029), Joe Starkey (2031), Gilles Palacios(2032, 2033, 2035, 2037), Bob Camargo (2034), Andy Schaffer (2036), Mike Bentley (2038, 2039), Jonathan Magee (2040)
Notes:
The Slammers have ten of the last thirteen NL Cy Young winners.
Pat Dibartolo had the worst second half career of anyone on the list. He signed with the Yankees before the 2034 season and posted -3 WAR over four seasons, earning $104m over that span.
Top 5 Slammers Position Players by Total WAR
\Primary screenshots are from most recent season with team.*
1.) Edgar Sanchez (9 Seasons, 47.3 WAR)
I wouldn’t be surprised if Sanchez is still number one twenty years from now. I think he’s got another 4-5 good seasons in him.
2.) Ernesto Bernal (12 Seasons, 40.7 WAR)
Bernal is the Slammers franchise leader in most offensive categories. Unfortunately, I had to let him walk as a free agent four years ago but he’s still going strong (current ratings, career stats). With a few more good seasons, he might actually make the hall of fame.
3.) Willie Vega (8 Seasons, 36.2 WAR)
4.) Marco Vazquez (6 Seasons, 32.3 WAR)
Vazquez looks to have the best shot of supplanting Sanchez by the next time I do this list.
5.) Shohei Ohtani (6 Seasons, 29.1 WAR)
Ohtani might not hold many Slammers franchise records, but he’s the most important player in team history. He put the offense on his back and carried us to our first World Series.
Top 5 Slammers Position Players by Single Season WAR
1.) 2030 Fernando Tatis Jr. (9 WAR)
2.) 2039 Edwin de la Torre (8.2 WAR)
3.) 2023 Shohei Ohtani (7.8 WAR)
4.) 2033 Ernesto Bernal (7.6 WAR)
5.) 2040 Edwin de la Torre (7.4 WAR)
Top 5 Slammers Starting Pitchers by Total WAR
\Screenshots are from most recent season with team.*
1.) Gilles Palacios (13 Seasons, 60.6 WAR)
Palacios is the Slammers all-time leader in almost every pitching category, and I don’t see anyone with a chance of catching him anytime soon.
2.) Corey MacDonald (11 Seasons, 44.8 WAR)
3.) Andy Schaffer (8 Seasons, 29 WAR)
4.) Pat Dibartolo (7 Seasons, 25.6 WAR)
5.) Mike Bentley (5 Seasons, 25 WAR)
Top 5 Slammers Starting Pitchers by Single Season WAR
1.) 2038 Mike Bentley (7.8 WAR)
2.) 2034 Gilles Palacios (6.7 WAR)
3.) 2037 Gilles Palacios (6.3 WAR)
4.) 2033 Gilles Palacios (6.1 WAR)
4.) 2038 Corey MacDonald (6.1 WAR)
Top 5 Slammers Relievers by Total WAR
\Screenshots are from most recent season with team.*
1.) Tommy Noonan (11 Seasons, 32.2 WAR)
Noonan is second all-time in reliever WAR, only behind his teammate Jose Aguilar. Mariano Rivera is in third place but has pitched more than twice as many innings as Noonan. Unless the hall of fame voters hold his lack of saves against him, he should make it on the first ballot.
\I didn’t count relievers that spent more than a season as a starter*
2.) Jose Aguilar (6 Seasons, 12.9 WAR)
3.) Hee-joon Bang (3 Seasons, 10.3 WAR)
4.) Blake Taylor (7 Seasons, 9.7 WAR)
5.) Joe McKinney (6 Seasons, 7.7 WAR)
Top 5 Slammers Relievers by Single Season WAR
1.) 2033 Tommy Noonan (4.9 WAR)
2.) 2035 Tommy Noonan (4.6 WAR)
3.) 2034 Tommy Noonan (4.1 WAR)
4.) 2028 Hee-joon Bang (3.9 WAR)
4.) 2029 Hee Joon Bang (3.9 WAR)
Best Draft Picks by Round
I really thought I was doing a better job drafting but there aren’t as many late round success stories as I believed we had. Most of my good picks were in the first or second round. Hopefully, we draft better in the future.
\Screenshots are from most recent season with team.*
1.) Tommy Noonan (11 Seasons, 32.2 Total WAR)
2.) Corey MacDonald (11 Seasons, 44.8 Total WAR)
3.) Chris Overcash (3 Seasons, 6.4 Total WAR)
4.) Bobby Butler (3 Seasons, 7.0 Total WAR)
5.) Steve Flores (4 Seasons, 9.5 Total WAR)
6.) Brad Cole (2 Seasons, 5.1 Total WAR)
7.) Joe McKinney (6 Seasons, 7.7 Total WAR)
8.) Phil Steele (1 Season, 2.8 Total WAR)
12.) Andy Schaffer (8 Seasons, 29.0 Total WAR)
17.) Steve Hixson (6 Seasons, 5.4 Total WAR)
21.) Bobby McCallum (3 Seasons, 8.1 Total WAR)
32.) Joe Cope (4 Seasons, 4.9 Total WAR)
Top Five Trade Departures
\Listed seasons and WAR are after player was traded away.* Screenshots are career stats.
1.) Pat Leveille (14 Seasons, 41.9 WAR)
Leveille was the Braves best pitcher in the past twenty-one years but I got Willie Vega in return, so I think everyone wins here.
2.) Robby Teeter (9 Seasons, 39.8 WAR)
It’s a shame Teeter couldn’t have played his whole career at Coors – He was built for that place. I got Luis Godoy in return, but I never would’ve guessed Teeter would be this good for so long.
3.) Chris West (9 Seasons, 35.2 WAR)
West has had a really good career, but not as good as the guy I got in return – Edgar Sanchez.
4.) Edwin Mireles (5 Seasons, 24.1 WAR)
I probably gave up on Mireles too soon, but through dumb luck I got a better player in return – Mike Bentley. He was a reliever when I acquired him, but he developed an 80-grade changeup and became a two-time Cy Young winner.
5.) Andrew McGee (9 Seasons, 21.9 WAR)
I thought McGee was going to struggle with injuries, so went ahead and cashed out on him, but I was dead wrong. He won six consecutive gold gloves with the Indians.
\I didn’t include Tatis on the list because he was a rental in the last year of his deal and I was going to lose him to free agency either way.*
That wraps up the first twenty years with the Slammers! Thanks to everyone that’s kept up so far! Hopefully, I can find a way to make the next twenty years even more interesting. And as always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

The Rockies are at the cusp of something big. No, it's not making the playoffs, it's figuring out the direction of their franchise. Do they still have the belief they can get back to the promised land? Or do they want to rebuild? Well... Chances are it's neither since this team is led by Jeff Bridich and thus all the trade rumours surrounding Nolan and Story will be for nothing.
Though ignoring the fact they will probably do nothing, I just want to encapsulate what have the Rockies done to get themselves in this terrible situation?

2018-2019 Offseason:

Not Re-Signing DJ LeMahieu:
This is the most obvious one but I want to give a little more context. At first glance at his stats with the Rockies, you may actually notice that DJ only had one season with an above-100 OPS+ with the Rockies. He won three gold gloves in the same span, so you'd think that the importance of DJ LeMahieu on the Rockies came mostly defensively, and then he developed into an offensive stud as a Yankee.
Though in this case, OPS+ is actually pretty misleading. DJ LeMahieu suffered like many Rockies players from the Coors Field effect, which is not shown in OPS+. Though that's not the main point, rather what he DOESN'T gain from Coors itself. As a hitter, DJ LeMahieu had an average launch angle that was at MOST, 5.2 with the Rockies. That equates to a groundball percentage of 53.4% overall, and even with the Yankees, he was still hitting more groundballs compared to the average. With how Coors Field causes flyballs to carry out more for home runs, you can logically put together that groundballs do NOT get this benefit. If you look at simply his triple slash, .329/.386/.447 was his slash at Coors Field, which is considerably worst than how he's performed at Yankee Stadium, .359/.414/.628. Yankee Stadium doesn't have the Coors Field air, but rather it has much smaller dimensions that cause DJ to be able to hit more home runs simply off of exit velocity.
So really as a hitter, DJ LeMahieu gained pretty much nothing from Coors Field but still had to deal with the Coors Field effect lessening his road stats. This is also why Ian Desmond struggles so much as a Rockie, but that's for another post. Throughout his time in Colorado though, he still constantly hit for high averages and good on-base ability, which made him such a valuable player to the Rockies, along with his fielding. If the Rockies wanted a sure-fire option to get the bats going, re-signing DJ LeMahieu would have been the best option. DJ didn't magically become a good hitter because of Yankee Stadium, he just always was but had a better fit in New York.
Though if they didn't re-sign DJ for the sake of a different, better signing... Maybe it would make sense to let go. Unfortunately,
Re-Signing Daniel Murphy to more money:
So DJ LeMahieu would go on to sign a contract with the Yankees, $24m/2yrs. Maybe the Rockies simply didn't have that money, you may say. But nope, the Rockies decided to sign Daniel Murphy to basically the same initial contract, $24m/2yrs but with a 6m OPTION after those 2 years were up. It's not like Murphy was younger or better than DJ either, he was already established as a terrible defensive dude and was 3 years older, that should 100% be cheaper.
But maybe the Rockies were really high on his bat, after all, he did hit for an OPS+ of 107 the year prior. Though he was heading into his age 34 seasons, where his OPS+ was dropping from year-to-year. They also literally JUST had an example the season prior with Chris Iannetta, about how trusting late-career solid offensive seasons was not a good idea. Iannetta had a 116 OPS+ with the DBacks in his age-34 season and then had marks of 85 the year after with the Rox. If it was a cheap contract, taking a flier on Murphy maybe made sense. To the same contract as DJ? It was gonna be predictably bad.
So what did Murphy hit after this contract? Predictably very poorly, hitting .269/.316/.426 for an OPS+ of 81 the next two years with poor fielding, nowhere CLOSE to DJ. Obviously, that hurt the Rockies with him being a starter, but there was another unintended consequence...
Failing to give Brendan Rodgers playing time:
Heading into 2019, MLB Pipeline rated Brendan Rodgers as the 10th best prospect in all of baseball. In his draft class, Pipeline actually rated him the BEST player in the 2015 draft. If they wanted to let go of DJ LeMahieu for the sake of letting this star prospect play, that would make a lot of sense. Even if the Rockies didn't see B-Rod as someone who could contribute immediately to their window, they could easily trade him for another star that would, like how they were rumoured in talks for JT Realmuto.
Instead, they signed Daniel Murphy. The Rockies had to decide between playing RyMac or B-Rod at second base, and since manager Bud Black likes experience much more, RyMac got the job. B-Rod went on to mash in triple-A with a line of .350/.413/.622, but when he got playing time in the MLB he hit a poor .224/.272/.250 line. Though B-Rod had an insanely short leash in this time. The most games he started in a row were five, and even then he managed to turn around any early struggles. Yet they kept starting him off and on again, which caused his numbers to dwindle. Struggled for two games? Too bad, no third game for you. In 2020, it was very similar but also B-Rod was coming off a shoulder injury so not quite the same.
Why does it actually matter that we play him though? After all, in baseball first-round “busts” happen quite a lot, and that could apply to B-Rod as well. Funny enough, that’s exactly why we need to play him. Since B-Rod gets such inconsistent playing time, we STILL don’t know in 2020 what B-Rod truly is as a player. Is he a bust? Well, he hasn’t even reached a lot of rookie seasons in terms of PA so we really can’t see if his mediocre triple slash is for real. Does he still have what it takes to be a star? We only have his AAA stats to go off of, which indicates yes. Though AAA is much different from the MLB level, and once again, we hardly have anything to go off of. So we’re at a point heading into 2021, where we truly do not know if B-Rod is good or not. That’s a terrible limbo to be in, he doesn’t quite have as much value as a prospect, but also we don’t know if he’s good enough to start for us.
Giving Nolan Arenado an unnecessary opt-out:
This won’t be as long of a section as the other ones, simply because it’s so self-explanatory. Nolan Arenado was eager to keep being a Rockie, as long as he was getting paid as he was deserved. He did get that, being paid $260m for 8 years. He got a NTC, and he was very much at the time, happy to be in Denver for the next 8 years. He loves his teammates, he loves the fans, he loves that the Rockies could contend for the future.
So Jeff Bridich decides that he should give him an opt-out, just in case NOLAN ever changes his mind. Player opt-outs pretty much never benefit the team, and it's paired with the NTC from earlier, meaning the Rockies get not much leverage in potential trades. Though Nolan still loves his teammates and the fans. As long as the Rockies just keep him happy, Nolan’s staying 100%.

2019-2020 Offseason:

The Rockies piss off Nolan Arenado:
It takes one year for the Rockies to piss off Nolan. The Rockies struggled in 2019, but that could just be a fluke year. Arenado’s disappointed, but oh well that’s just baseball. What he IS pissed off about, is that the Rockies really didn’t do anything to set themselves as contenders again. At the all-star break, the Rockies were still 44-45, not that far behind the Phillies' wild-card spot at the time (47-43). It was a good opportunity for the Rockies to flip some pieces and re-insert themselves back into the race.
The Rockies did nothing at the deadline. Though maybe this would change come the offseason? Well, that’s what Nolan Arenado is REALLY pissed about:
The Rockies do (basically) nothing in the 2019-20 Offseason, and involve Nolan in rumours:
As the title said, the Rockies basically did nothing. You can’t make any bad moves if you do nothing, I suppose!
Except for the fact that the Rockies still managed to fuck up doing nothing. You know how this title also involved Nolan in trade rumours? The thing is, Nolan never publicly demanded a trade or anything like that, the Rockies just struggled last season. He was maybe a little upset that nothing was done, but even if that caused some minor stirs it would just be easy to deny any trade rumours. Jeff Bridich straight up, never addressed these rumours. Denied it? Nope. Admitted it? Nah. Did he actually say ANYTHING other than he may talk about it with Nolan? Definitely not. He never even got around to doing it either.
Other than pissing Nolan off, Jeff Bridich only did one thing, and that was sign Jose Mujica to what I THINK might be an MLB contract? MLBTR says it basically was, but then he did not make the opening day roster for the Rockies and had to be called up. So I guess you could call it a minor league deal that was really an unnecessary MLB deal. Jeff Bridich is familiar with unnecessary, after all.

2020-2021 Offseason:

The Rockies let go of David Dahl:
This is recent! Of course, nothing has actually happened as a result of this, but it’s pretty clear that the Rockies probably won’t look good either way non-tendering David Dahl. Why? For one simple reason: his projected salary for 2021 was ONLY 2.6 million. Even with the context of the pandemic, $2.6m is what you would pay for a bench player. Even with all the injuries David Dahl has had, that price is so cheap it’s easily worth it for a former all-star. There was essentially no risk with this arbitration number and yet the Rockies managed to fuck that up too. Now they had into 2021 with an OF of Tapia-Hilliard-Blackmon, which admittedly, is not a strong group. Even as a 4th OF, Dahl would have been valuable. Instead, they get disappointment.
Going Forward:
The Rockies have already pissed off Nolan, and he won’t be changing his mind any soon with Bridich still at the helm. Of course, the Rockies are also going down the same route with Trevor Story, as rumours circle around him, and Jeff Bridich refuses to deny it or even address it. Hell, the Rockies refuse to acknowledge ANYTHING this offseason and will not address anything until something big happens. Unlike Arenado though, Story simply hits free agency instead of opting-out, he has much more to gain by leaving. At the same time, he does not have an NTC so the Rockies do have some leverage.
Though as we’ve seen the last two offseason… The Rockies hardly do anything, and even when they do, it’s not smart. So will the Rockies blow it up this offseason? Probably not. If they do, will they orchestrate it well? Probably not. The Rockies did make one trade but it’s a very lateral move.
The Rockies have essentially got themselves into a situation in which they should have never been under a decent general manager. There’s absolutely no confidence in the fanbase that this situation can even be navigated out of since Jeff Bridich has failed to inspire any hope in that regard. There is no hope under Jeff Bridich. The best-case scenario for the Rockies is honestly, Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado leaving, sending harsh messages to the clueless Monforts.
Then again, we all know that they will somehow praise Jeff Bridich for something minimal like “freeing financial room”. After all, they did praise Jeff Bridich for 2 playoff appearances and 8 above!.
Let’s just ignore the fact that the Rockies went from 8-above to 4-below, and that Jeff Bridich was hardly responsible for those playoff teams.