The 2024 FBLG Awards
- fblgcommish
- Nov 16, 2024
- 4 min read
Hey, everybody. Bet you thought we forgot about you!
Actually, we've been working hard to sober up after celebrating the Dodgers' championship run. Once Rich pays his bar tab, we'll get around to some sort of season wrap-up and divvying out the winnings.
In the meantime, we proudly present our 2024 FBLG Awards, brought to you by Farmer John.
The Pedro Alvarez Award
Elly De La Cruz (The Rookies): The Cincinnati shortstop did plenty to hurt his team, most obviously by leading the NL in errors (29) and strikeouts (218). He also managed to lead the league in times caught stealing (16) - although to be fair, he did steal 67 bases in the process. Be careful, Elly! That Pedro Alvarez trophy is slippery and easy to drop.
The "Sloppy" Joe Borowski Award
Raisel Iglesias (Urban Achievers): It's not always the blown saves that hurt the most. And sometimes, it's not even your own closer who burns you. On Sept. 15, with Jack's Desperadoes about to eliminate the commissioners from the playoffs, Raisel Iglesias imploded against the Dodgers. The Atlanta closer contributed to a 7-run inning for Los Angeles, which included points by the commissioners' Will Smith, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman - including homers by the latter two. The commissioners ended up winning the matchup by less than 8 points, preventing Jack from facing his brother, Adam, for the championship.
The Jerry DiPoto Award
Goin' Somewhere Meat?: This award, which honors the general manager who made the most unnecessary transactions during the season, was designed with our own Rich in mind. Much to our surprise, Matt led the way with 46 acquisitions - just ahead of Rich's 44.
The Mike Piazza Award
Clemente's Bucs: As the draft wound down, one of our resident Pirates fans rolled the dice on a young pitcher with upside who wasn't even going to start the season in the majors. Somewhat mirroring the Dodgers' selection of Mike Piazza in the 62nd round, Ray plucked a gem with Paul Skenes in round 14 of the FBLG draft. Skenes, who went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts, should go slightly higher in next year's draft.
The San Francisco Giants Award
Cerone Again (Naturally): Remember when those annoyingly adequate Giants teams would have a good-but-not-great regular season and then become a juggernaut in the postseason? That's what happened with the commissioners' team, which went 10-10 in the FBLG regular season and finished fifth in the points race. Put that one on your mantel, Rich!
The Ryan Braun Random Testing Award
Ketel Marte (Arbitration Losers): Look, we're not saying the Arizona second baseman was on the juice this season. But when you look at the top 10 home-run hitters in the NL this year, someone stands out: Ohtani, Ozuna, Schwarber, Marte, Alonso, T. Hernandez, Lindor, Adames, Suarez, Harper. Marte hit 36 homers! Just don't send FedEx to pick up his sample.
The Edwin Jackson Award
Reynaldo Lopez: The Atlanta right-hander surprised many by being one of the best pitchers in the NL. Apparently, FBLG owners didn't know how to handle his success; Lopez was picked up and cut by four teams in 2024. He spent time with Project Mayhem, Cerone Again (Naturally), The Exterminator and The Desperadoes.
The Steve Howe Award
Noelvi Marte (Project Mayhem): The Cincinnati infielder missed the first half of the season because he was suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs. When he returned, the Reds probably should have given him the drugs back so he could get suspended again. Marte hit .210 with an OPS+ of 49 in 66 games.
The Blake Snell Award
Corbin Carroll (The Exterminator): You could argue that the award for outstanding second-half performance after a dreadful first half should go to Blake Snell himself. The Giants lefty went 0-3 with a 6.31 ERA before the break and 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA after it. But that's a little too on-the-nose, don't you think? Instead, we're rewarding Carroll, the young Arizona outfielder who hit .213 with 5 homers in the first half. His numbers were even worse when this blog called him out as a motivational ploy (you're welcome, Adam). But after the all-star break, Carroll looked more like his usual self, hitting .259 with 17 homers and slugging 234 points higher.
The Dale Murphy Award
Kris Bryant (Lumber Co Lumber): First off, we apologize to the great Dale Murphy, a phenomenal player and widely acknowledged as an even better person. When Murph's career was winding down, he was a member of the Colorado Rockies in 1993. Even though he was just 2 homers shy of 400, Murph retired after 49 plate appearances because he realized that if he couldn't hit in Denver, it was time to go. Sadly, we fear the same might be true for good-guy Kris Bryant, who has struggled with injuries for several seasons. The 32-year-old hit .218 with 2 homers in 37 games and posted a negative WAR for the second consecutive year.
The Jordan Lyles Award
Patrick Corbin: This prestigious award honors the pitcher who is inexplicably still in the majors despite a lengthy track record of lackluster performances. It is named after Jordan Lyles, a somehow-still-active right-hander who has posted one season with an adjusted ERA above league average in his 14-year career. This year's honoree is the extremely wealthy Patrick Corbin, who was picked up by multiple FLBG teams this season despite leading the NL for the third time in hits and earned runs allowed. To his credit, he did end his streak of three consecutive years of leading the NL in losses. We won't name the teams that acquired Corbin except one - the commissioners' Cerone Again (Naturally). But hey, we had a lot of injured pitchers, and he had a tempting double-start week against bad teams, and he had been pitching kind of OK in recent outings, and our team was really bad, and COME ON WE WERE UNDER A LOT OF STRESS SO JUST BACK OFF ALL RIGHT? NOT EVERY TRANSACTION WORKS OUT WELL SO ... YOU KNOW WHAT? THAT'S IT. AWARDS SHOW OVER. (drops microphone)
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