MLB Fantasy Astrology Awards 2019

With the 2019-20 offseason in full swing, it's time to look back at this past season's big award winners... through the lens of Fantasy Astrology! I'll be breaking down the seasons of the 2019 MVPs, Cy Youngs (Cy's Young?), Rookies of the Year, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, and Variously Branded Relief Pitcher Awards, all organized by sign, to determine if there are any patterns in who the stars favored this year. First of all, here's a reminder of all the signs, their colors, logos, and various astrological qualities. Then we'll go in award/calendar order, starting with a certain first-time MVP, who happens to represent both my home sign AND my hometown team:

Cancer Crabs (or Decapods, if you want to get technical / listen to the Moana soundtrack)

NL MVP: Cody Bellinger
2019 Points: 2,849 (18.2 per game)

The Dodgers' prized outfielder/first baseman won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2017, then went through a bit of a sophomore slump (not counting his NLCS MVP performance in the postseason, of course), before rebounding in a big way to take home not only the 2019 MVP trophy, but also a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove. His versatility is impressive, and kind of reminds me of the defensive profile of Lance Berkman, a famous Aquarius slugger from back in the day. Incidentally, Bellinger's father, Clay (a Scorpio) spent four years in MLB himself, mostly as a utility player for the Yankees.

AL Rookie of the Year: Yordan Alvarez
2019 Points: 1,552 (17.8 PPG)

Cancer also claims the Rookie of the Year winning Yordan Alvarez of the Astros. The slugging DH (and infrequent left fielder) didn't make his MLB debut until June, but he crushed 27 home runs in his 87 games with an OPS over 1.000 (1.067 to be exact). While Alvarez's light-tower power can't be denied, it's unfortunate that he won these accolades with a team that has been exposed as sign-stealers, but there's no evidence (as of yet) that this nefarious practice extended beyond the 2017 season... although Rob Manfred's assertion of that fact is likely motivated by an unwillingness to dig deeper into the problem at this point in time.

As far as other Cancer award winners go, Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu (speaking of versatility), and Twins DH Nelson Cruz (the opposite) both won AL Silver Sluggers. Cruz has two previous SS's on his resume, both while playing for Seattle, while LeMahieu (who also finished fourth in AL MVP voting) got his first SS, after three previous Gold Gloves at second base with Colorado. Picking up LeMahieu's defensive torch is Yolmer (formerly Carlos) Sanchez of the White Sox, whose bat might keep him out of a job in Chicago next year, despite his defensive excellence.


Leo Lions

AL MVP: Mike Trout
2019 Points: 2,568 (19.1 PPG)

I don't usually advocate for anything Astros-related these days, but I must say, I think Aries infielder Alex Bregman did more for his team than Trout this year, and the fantasy points bear that out (A-Breg finished the year with 2,739 points and 17.5 PPG). Of course had Trout's season not ended early due to injury, the two-time MVP (and also former ROY) likely would have eclipsed his division-mate to the east. But it's also true that the Angels finished far out of the postseason in 2019 - although their star player likely didn't have the assistance of sign-stealing trash can-bangers... not that he needs it. Trout also took home his whopping seventh Silver Slugger award (out of eight seasons in the bigs), although he has never won a Gold Glove.

The only other awards showing for Leo in 2019 were two NL Gold Glovers: Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo and Diamondbacks left fielder David Peralta. Rizzo defends his GG from the previous season, and adds it to a third one from 2016, a year he was also named the Silver Slugger at first base. Peralta actually switched accolades from 2018, where he took home a SS in the outfield with a 30-home run season. He takes home the GG for the first time, despite playing in fewer than 100 games in 2019.


Pisces Fish

AL CYA: Justin Verlander
2019 Points: 3,235 (95.1 PPG)

I heard (and agreed with) a reasonable proposal towards the end of the 2019 season: have teammates Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole share the AL Cy Young Award! It makes sense: they were the top two pitchers in the league (in EITHER league, in fact), and they were SO CLOSE in 2019 production; the Virgo Cole clocked in at 3,148 points and 95.3 per game. So what pushed Verlander over the edge? Was it his no-hitter against the Blue Jays in the fall, the third of his career? Or was it the previous MVP and Cy Young award that he had on his mantle from 2011 (plus a ROY in 2006)? Or could it have been the one win and 10 more innings he pitched than the now-free agent Cole, or the slightly lower WHIP (.803 to .895)? It certainly wasn't strikeouts (Cole had 6 more) or ERA (Cole's was .08 lower). Either way, they're both great, and after this winter, they'll both be rich to boot.

AL Reliever of the Year: Aroldis Chapman
2019 Points: 1,825 (30.4 PPG)

Previously known as the Rolaids Relief Man Award, then re-named for Mariano Rivera upon the legendary closer's retirement after 2013, Aroldis Chapman steps into the former Yankee's shoes with the 2019 version of the award. This was the first major awards consideration for the Cuban fireballer, and he took home the honors despite being out-fantasy-scored by Aquarius Roberto Osuna (who might have been overlooked for non-baseball related reasons) and Cancer Liam Hendriks (who, granted, did not occupy the closer's role from day one of 2019).

The other star Pisces for 2019 was Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, who won both a Silver Slugger (his second consecutive one) and a Gold Glove (his first) in his first year for his new team. D-Backs shortstop Nick Ahmed joined him in the GG department, and with the recent revelation that Didi Gregorius is now an Aquarius (more on that in a later post), Ahmed should have some more playing time in the Fish's middle infield.


Gemini Twins

NL CYA: Jacob deGrom
2019 Points: 2,495 (77.9 PPG)

The NL pitching champ defends his title in 2019, as the Gemini man took home top pitching honors in the NL for the second straight year from atop the Mets rotation. Actually, Leo Max Scherzer outscored deGrom in 2018 (3,020 to 2,827), but no pitcher in the NL topped deGrom in points in '19. Like the winners of the other three big awards, deGrom also earned a Rookie of the Year nod in his first season (2014), and he's been a mainstay on pitching leaderboards ever since. The only other Gemini to garner any awards consideration was NL MVP candidate and top free agent position player Anthony Rendon, who won a Silver Slugger while playing for the World Champion Nationals.


Sagittarius Archers

NL ROY: Pete Alonso
2019 Points: 2,456 (15.2 PPG)

A teammate of deGrom in 2019, the Mets tabbed Pete Alonso as their opening day first baseman, flying in the face of the tried and true (and much maligned) strategy of delaying a star player's debut in the majors in order to gain an extra year of team control. The bold move paid off, as Alonso hit 53 home runs, a record amount for a rookie, while also winning an extremely exciting Home Run Derby along the way. Sagittarius has serious firepower in the lineup to put around the man known as "Polar Bear" in Christian Yelich and Ronald Acuna Jr. Last year's MVP Yelich won his third Silver Slugger award in 2019 (he also has a Gold Glove to his name), while Acuna earned his first SS in his sophomore season, after taking home NL ROY honors in 2018.


Aries Rams

NL Reliever of the Year: Josh Hader
2019 Points: 2,149 (35.2 PPG)

The winner of the NL version of this award two years running (which is named after Padres great Trevor Hoffman), Hader saw his fantasy point totals skyrocket in 2019 after transitioning from a high-leverage reliever into the full time closer. The lanky Maryland native does have a couple of marks on his resume - most notably a collapse in this year's NL Wild Card Game against Washington, and some racist tweets uncovered during the 2018 All-Star Game - but his blazing fastball and wipeout slider should continue to strike fear into opposing batters, even as he enters his arbitration years.

Aries had a strong cast of supporting awards characters in 2019, including two Silver Sluggers and three Gold Glove winners. Both SS's were first time winners of the award: returning Indians first baseman Carlos Santana, and the above-mentioned Alex Bregman, who took home the award at third base, despite also spending significant time at shortstop. Speaking of third base, the Rockies star at the hot corner Nolan Arenado took home his stunning seventh consecutive GG award (one for every year he's been in the majors), while also breaking a run of four consecutive Silver Sluggers. Joining him on the NL side is Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain (his first time winning the award), while Athletics first baseman Matt Olson won his second consecutive fielding trophy.

Rounding out the rest of the signs, Libra starting pitcher Zack Greinke took home both the NL Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards for his position, despite the fact that he was traded away from the National League at the deadline. Former AL MVP Mookie Betts followed suit with a SS+GG season, his third such campaign - he missed out on the Silver Slugger in 2017, but still has a run of four consecutive Gold Gloves. Sticking with the Scales middle infield, Betts's teammate Xander Bogaerts won the AL Silver Slugger at shortstop, while Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong took home the NL Gold Glove at the keystone.

Sticking with the middle infield, Scorpio boasted two top-notch shortstops in 2019, as Trevor Story of the Rockies took home the NL Silver Slugger (his second consecutive one), while Francisco Lindor of the Indians won his second AL Gold Glove - the first one came in 2016, which means his two GG's bookend two SS's from 2017 and '18. Scorpions starting pitcher Mike Leake took home the AL Gold Glove for pitchers, despite the trade that sent him to the NL at the deadline. What Scorpio was to shortstops, Capricorn was to catchers, as Twins slugging backstop Mitch Garver took home a Silver Slugger, despite his injury-shortened season, while Indians stopped Roberto Perez earned a Gold Glove for his defensive prowess. Another Sea-Goat, Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies, won the NL Silver Slugger for second basemen in his third year in the bigs.

The 2019 Fantasy Astrology champion Virgo Maidens (or maybe Damsels, if you want to get old-school) boasted two Silver Sluggers in Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (who won the Gold Glove the previous year) and Astros outfielder George Springer (his second SS in three years). On the other side of the field, the Taurus Bulls had two Gold Glove winners: Matt Chapman took down his second consecutive Gold Glove as the A's third baseman, while Rays centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier earned his third such award. And bringing up the rear, we have the seemingly always-lowly Aquarius, which has Royals Gold Glove winning left fielder Alex Gordon, who has taken home a GG seven times in the last nine seasons.