SILVER SLUGGERS: GARVER, BREGMAN
Albuquerque natives Mitch Garver and Alex Bregman both won the baseball’s prestigious award for top hitters at their position.
New Mexico was well-represented when the 2019 Silver Slugger award winners were announced Thursday, as Albuquerque natives Mitch Garver and Alex Bregman were named as American League recipients.
Silver Slugger honors go to the top hitter at each position in the National and American leagues. Garver was selected as the top AL catcher, while Bregman picked up the honor at third base. Both are first-time winners.
Garver, a former La Cueva High and University of New Mexico standout, enjoyed a breakthrough season for the Minnesota Twins. The second-year player hit .273 in 93 games with a .995 OPS (on-base plus slugging), 31 homers and 67 RBIs. Garver helped the Twins win an AL Central title and advance to the American League Division Series.
Bregman, who is considered a candidate for American League MVP honors, was a key cog in the Houston Astros’ run to an AL pennant. The Albuquerque Academy and LSU alum hit .296 in 156 games with a 1.015 OPS, 41 homers and 112 RBIs.
Bregman filled in for injured teammate Carlos Correa at shortstop during the regular season, but the bulk of his playing time was at third base.
Garver and Bregman were among eight first-time Silver Slugger winners. Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout won his seventh. Only six players (Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, Barry Larkin, Wade Boggs, Cal Ripken Jr., and Manny Ramirez) have won more.
TOP ROOKIES: New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso and Houston Astros slugger Yordan Álvarez have been picked as this year’s top rookies by Baseball Digest.
Alonso was a unanimous choice in the National League, and Álvarez received six of seven first-place votes to take the AL honor. The other one went to Eloy Jiménez of the Chicago White Sox.
Alonso set a rookie record with 53 home runs for New York, becoming the first rookie to lead the majors outright in homers. He finished the season with 120 RBIs and a .941 OPS.
Álvarez made his debut June 9 and batted .313 with 27 homers, 78 RBIs and a 1.067 OPS in only 87 games for the American League champions.
Both players are finalists and favorites for the Rookie of the Year awards to be announced Monday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
ASTROS: Pesident Reid Ryan is shifting to a lesser role in the organization and owner Jim Crane’s son is joining the executive team, moves announced 11 days after Crane apologized to a Sports Illustrated reporter and retracted a statement by the club accusing her of trying to “fabricate a story.”
Crane said Thursday he was bringing in his son, Jared, to get more experience and to help in the organization. Crane maintained the moves were not related to the incident with SI or the firing of an assistant general manager.
“It’s a family issue. I have an older son that’s very good, very bright, and has got some experience but he hasn’t been around it, and I want to start teaching him,” said Crane, who turns 66 in January and has owned the team for eight years. “I’ve been working a long time, and very hard a long time, and I have other stuff, and so he’s just coming in to lend a hand.”
The team said that Ryan’s new role as executive adviser of business relations will allow him “more opportunities to focus on his other business ventures while remaining an important part of the Astros organization.”
Jim Crane said Ryan has done a good job for the Astros and will be helping his son and working with the executive team. Crane said it was a “very amicable” situation.
BLUE JAYS: Second baseman Devon Travis refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Buffalo and elected to become a free agent.
The 28-year-old spent the entire 2019 season on the injured list following surgery on his left knee.
He had a .274 average with 35 home runs and 153 RBIs in four seasons with Toronto.
Acquired from Detroit in a November 2014 trade, Travis became the fourth player with the Blue Jays to homer in his first big league game.
MARINERS: Seattle made a trio of promotions to fill out the major league coaching staff for next season.
Manager Scott Servais announced Thursday that Pete Woodworth would be the new pitching coach, Carson Vitale will be the field coordinator and Jarret DeHart will be the assistant hitting coach. Woodworth was the pitching coach for Seattle’s Double-A Arkansas affiliate last season. Vitale spent the past two seasons as Seattle’s minor-league field coordinator and DeHart was a roving hitting instructor for the club.