MLB Showdown 2000-2001 Sim League: Season Awards and Playoff Preview

 This post brings the latest update in the Sim League series. Old posts are below:

1. Introduction to the league and rules
2. Eastern Conference Teams
3. Western Conference Teams
4. Update after Game 40
5. Update after Game 80
6. Update after Game 100
7. All-Stars
8. Update after Game 120
9. Update after Game 141: No-hitter!
10. Update after Game 153
11. Update after Game 159
12. Full Season Update - after Game 162
    

Stats and standings for the full 162 game, 24-team season are found here. 

In this update, I will preview the wild card rounds of the playoffs, and then present the season awards. Thanks to everyone who voted on the awards, as well as those who helped me select team names.

Playoff Rules

For the playoffs, teams will be allowed to move to a 4-man rotation. The 5th starter will be allowed to be used as an IP3 reliever. Choosing which pitchers make the rotation will be a combination of their card strength and season sim stats. 

Relievers can pitch 3 out of every 4 games, instead of 2 of 3. One exception will be that each game will allow one reliever to pitch a 4th straight game. For example, if a team has three pitchers who threw three games in a row, only one will be allowed to pitch in the fourth. 

Hitters will not have to rest.

Starters must rest 3 games between starts. If a series ends early, the unplayed games are counted as rest days.

Wild-Card Playoffs

Before the playoffs start, there will be a play in round as Anchorage and Tucson were tied for the second wild card spot, and will play a best of three play-in round:

Western Conference Play-in round: Anchorage (82-80) vs Tucson (82-80)

• Game 1: Anchorage @ Tucson
• Away pitcher: 01 BS Rick Ankiel (13-10, 4.72 ERA)
• Home pitcher: 00 BS Randy Johnson (14-11, 3.51)
• Game 2: Tucson @ Anchorage
• Away pitcher: 01 PR Tony Armas Jr. (8-13, 4.78)
• Home pitcher: 00 BS Ron Villone (17-10, 3.65)
• Game 3 (if necessary): Anchorage @ Tucson
• Away pitcher: 00 BS Steve Trachsel (11-7, 3.99)
• Home pitcher: 00 BS Pat Rapp (13-8, 3.59)

The wild card then proceeds to two best of 3 series:

Western Conference Wild-Card: TBD vs Calgary (86-76)

• Game 1: TBD @ Calgary
• Away pitcher: TBD
• Home pitcher: 00 BS Jeff Suppan (15-11, 3.66)
• Game 2: Calgary @ TBD
• Away pitcher: 01 BS Livan Hernandez (16-8, 4.33)
• Home pitcher: TBD
• Game 3 (if necessary): TBD @ Calgary
• Away pitcher: TBD
  
• Home pitcher: 01 PR Paul Wilson (9-9, 3.56)

Eastern Conference Wild-Card: Ottawa (85-77) vs Charlotte (88-74)

• Game 1: Ottawa @ Charlotte
• Away pitcher: 01 BS Greg Maddux (14-15, 4.34)
• Home pitcher: 01 PR Barry Zito (16-12, 3.53)
• Game 2: Charlotte @ Ottawa
• Away pitcher: 00 BS Sterling Hitchcock (14-7, 2.93)
• Home pitcher: 00 BS Scott Elarton (15-7, 2.33)
• Game 3 (if necessary): Ottawa @ Charlotte
• Away pitcher:  01 PR Frank Castillo (12-4, 3.40)
• Home pitcher: 00 PR Ryan Rupe (15-10, 3.35)

Awards

For the award winners, I made mock Showdown cards for each player based on what his card would look like if it was based on the stats from the 162 game sim. To make cards, I took the average hitter in my league by weighting every batter card by their PA, as well as the average pitcher by weighting every pitcher by batters faced. As a result, the average comes out a bit stronger than in the real 00/01 sets. I then created batters/pitchers based on what charts they would need to replicate their season stats if all at-bats were vs. the average player in the league. See the results below, and note that their statlines are written on the cards above the chart. 

I am debating using the created cards for players who qualified for the playoffs - sound off in the comments if you like this idea or if I should stick with their actual cards when I run the playoff rounds. As a key, a team logo in gold means division winner, silver means wild card, black means eliminated.

MVP

Mark McGwire won the MVP award, and was voted the starter at 1st for the First Team, although his season ends here, as Columbus missed the playoffs. This card plays favorably to his 01 card that was used in the sim. 

Barry Bonds finished second in the MVP race, and is the first outfielder for the First Team. He had slightly more power but got on a bit less than Big Mac. Like McGwire, Bonds will be watching the playoffs from the couch. His card also represents an improvement over the 01 card used in the sim.  

Todd Helton finished third in the MVP race, and did not make the First Team as Big Mac was voted in at 1B. This card has more outs than the 01 card, but has an absurd doubles range and an extra homer. Albuquerque won their division, so we will see Helton in the playoffs.

Cy Young

Pedro Martinez was the unanimous Cy Young pick. His sim card closely resembles his 01 card. Providence won their division, and with Pedro at the top of the rotation, they should be in good shape for the playoffs.

First Team

C: Jorge Posada made the first team for the division-winning Birmingham, and is one of the three players in this post to earn an OB11 in a definite improvement over his 01 card. 

1B: Mark McGwire (see above)

2B: Jeff Kent made first-team as one of the top hitters on the top overall team, Las Vegas. Interestingly, his sim card is almost identical to his 01 card. 

3B: Chipper Jones made the first team and gained an OB in the process as one of the three OB11s. Unfortunately for him, Oklahoma City is eliminated.

SS: Alex Rodriguez was the top player in the league for the first half of the season, but fell off a little and didn't crack top three in MVP voting. His card is similar to his 01 PR card. Anchorage finished tied for the second West wild card spot, and will have a play-in series before the playoffs start.

OF1: Barry Bonds (see above)

OF2: Andruw Jones took his OB10 promo and improved on it. A CF+3 with A speed, OB10, and this chart, is one of the top players in the set. He just missed the top 3 for MVP, but will be continuing into the playoffs as the top wild card team in the West. 

OF3: Richard Hidalgo had a great season for division-winning Memphis, and improves on his 01 card. He is very similar to the Andruw Jones sim card.

DH: Rafael Palmeiro won the tightest race among the batters, with his 00 card barely edging out 01 Edgar Martinez. Palmeiro loses 2 outs, singles earlier, and adds a double to his 00 card.

SP1: Pedro Martinez (see above)

SP2: Jarrod Washburn is the #2 starter for Buffalo, but he pitched like the ace, earning the second starting pitcher spot for the First Team. He gains a control and loses a double over his 01 card. 

SP3: John Smoltz remains a Tier 2 starter, losing a control but adding outs. He also drops the double from his chart after an impressive campaign.

SP4: Scott Elarton, despite being Ottawa's 4th starter, pitched like the ace. He gains a control over his regular card. He is pictured in a Royals uniform as I couldn't find a good Astros picture for his custom card.

SP5: Randy Johnson was a strikeout machine for Tucson, and will take the mound for them in game 1 of the play-in series to determine whether Tucson or Anchorage is the second wild card team. 

RP1: Tom Gordon turned in an excellent season for Memphis, guiding them into the playoffs. He gets the Billy Wagner 00 treatment for the top reliever card.

RP2: Kazuhiro Sasaki dominated as well, and closely lost the vote to Gordon. Sasaki did not blow a single save for Nashville, but will not be advancing to the playoffs. 

RP3: Scott Sullivan was excellent for division winning Portland, and gets a card that would make him the top reliever in the 01 set. 

RP4: Keith Foulke is the only non-closer on the First Team, and has the highest ERA by far (2.87, next highest is 1.64). However, his innings count was absolutely absurd, logging 169.33, and his WHIP was a very impressive (1.09). I probably need to modify reliever rules to not allow an IP2 to pitch 2 of every 3 games like an IP 1. Due to his durability, Foulke would probably be a better used card than even the custom Gordon. San Antonio will not be advancing to the playoffs, however. Like Elarton, Foulke is wearing a different uniform than on his Showdown card, but for a different reason: I'm a Red Sox fan, so the picture I use of Foulke will be him celebrating after getting the final out in the 2004 World Series. Deal with it. 

Other Created Cards

Seven teams did not have any players win awards. I made one custom for each of those teams to showcase the other team templates, using who I determined had the best season on the team.

Billy Wagner had an excellent season, but somehow was only voted RP#6 so he missed an award. 

Sterling Hitchcock just barely missed out on being voted SP#5. He had a great season for Charlotte and looks to continue that in the playoffs.

Jeff Bagwell had a great season for the wild card winning Salt Lake City, but missed out on awards due to the incredible talent ahead of him at first, with both McGwire and Helton finishing top 3 in the MVP. 

Derek Jeter was the third best shortstop in the league, behind award-winner A-Rod and batting title winner Nomar Garciaparra. 

Fernando Tatis had a great season, but it paled in comparison to Chipper's incredible finish.

Larry Walker played very well, earning an OB11 but missing the cut for awards. 

Moises Alou had a good season, but not as impressive as most of the other guys on the list. Louisville had a number of good players but no absolute standouts.