Outside The Confines: Award season is underway

Think what you will about some of the varied awards handed out in the MLB offseason (I tend to believe the folks giving out Gold Glove awards didn’t actually watch any games, but that’s just me), but they matter. They matter in terms of arbitration discussions, and in terms of reflecting on the career of a player when Hall of Fame time comes around. So whether or not we agree with the finalists or the selection, the accolades can have long-term effects on a player.

We’re beginning to see the winners of these awards named, and in terms of the most recent award, on Thursday night the Silver Slugger winners were announced. Where the Gold Glove is meant to shine a spotlight on defensive prowess, the Silver Slugger is given for red-hot offense. So it shouldn’t be a big surprise to see names like Shohei Ohtani and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. among the award recipients this year.

In what might have been a bit of an oopsie move, almost all of the winners of the Silver Slugger were accidentally revealed in the list of finalists, with most of the winners being placed first. The only ones where this wasn’t the case were Carlos Correa (Xander Bogaerts won) and German Marquez (Max Fried won).

More awards season catch-up:

• Baseball Digest selects Randy Arozarena and Jonathan India as their Rookie(s) of the Year. Story by Thomas Harrigan.
• Here’s a complete list of Silver Slugger winners from Thomas Harrigan.
• Liam Hendriks and Josh Hader took home Reliever of the Year accolades. Reporting by AP.

Now on to the links!

• Tired of 2021 free agent discussion? Ben Clemens has the top 2022 free agents for you to look forward to!
• Ken Rosenthal is still looking at the potential hot mess of this year’s hot stove season. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Alden Gonzalez looks at the long road that finally brought Brian Snitker a World Series trophy.
• Longtime Royals scout Art Stewart passed away at age 94.
• The Athletic staff reflect on the passing of Art Stewart. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Nathaniel Grow brings us a preview of the upcoming CBA talks.
• It’s Scott Boras season, friends. Brace yourselves for terrible one-liners.

• Speaking of Boras, he thinks the Braves only won because of tanking and has some serious concerns about “competitive cancer” in MLB. Story by Nick Selbe.
• ESPN has additional insight into Boras’s recent remarks.
• Kevin Goldstein suggests that smoke doesn’t necessarily mean fire at the GM meetings.
• Tom Verducci has a lot of opinions about relief pitchers and the current pace of play of baseball.
• Brian Cashman doesn’t care about cheating, at least not when it comes to locking the Yankees’ sights on Carlos Correa. Reporting by Michael Shapiro.
• If money didn’t matter, where would MLB’s top free agents land this year? Bradford Doolittle assesses the market.
• MLB has proposed paying players based on the FanGraphs fWAR valuation, writes Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• I suspect even FanGraphs isn’t thrilled by this idea.

• Scott Allen has the incredible story, and mystery, behind a Walter Johnson signed baseball from the 1924 World Series.
• The Mets may be biding their time to get their original target, David Stearns, writes Tim Britton and Brittany Ghrioli. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Mark Feinsand looks at 8 potential suitors for free agent Max Scherzer. Feinsand also assesses some other popular free agent targets for the offseason.
• Johnny Oates has a lot to live up to, sharing a name with his former Orioles and Rangers manager grandfather, but after surviving open-heart surgery, he’s no stranger to challenges. Story by Eric Kolenich.
• Peter Gammons reflects on the season that was and what we can take away from it. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• How cool are these?!

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.