The Major League Season That Was, And Was Not: Reflecting On 2010’s First Four Weeks As A Year All Their Own

This was a difficult selection out of a tight and talented pool, but based on what we saw over the course of the season, I have to give the nod to Robinson Cano. Cano's always had the talent, which made his prior failure to establish himself as a star something of a disappointment. 2010, however, saw him blossom, as he finished the year batting .387 with a team-leading nine home runs. Cano was expected to serve as a support bat in a potent lineup, but given the uncharacteristic struggles of Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, and Nick Johnson, he was forced to the lead, and he ran with it. Cano led the league in average, he flashed a lot of power, he hit .320 with runners in scoring position, and he played the middle infield. Robinson Cano was the league's most valuable player in 2010.

Guys like Justin Morneau, Evan Longoria, Miguel Cabrera, and Paul Konerko? Good players, all of them, but Cano's defense at a premium position pushes him over the top.

Another tough vote - it's funny how players don't separate themselves when the season's a month long - but this one goes to LA's Andre Ethier. While I realize how controversial it is to give an MVP to a player on a last-place team, Ethier hit .365, slugged .729, and batted an astonishing .481 with runners in scoring position. Though the Dodgers floundered, Ethier did his absolute best to keep them afloat. The entire outfield did, really. The Dodger outfield posted a combined OPS of .927. The infield came in at .765.

Ethier was productive, Ethier was clutch, and Ethier competently manned his position. He's the choice, with Chase Utley as runner-up.

Francisco Liriano has already made an All Star Game, and finished third in the voting for 2006's Rookie of the Year. Now he's deserving of some real hardware. Liriano was one of just three AL starting pitchers to last the entire season without allowing a home run, and to go along with that achievement, he threw in a strikeout an inning. His 1.50 ERA was among the best in the league, and better still, the Twins won each of his five starts. Back when Liriano was a prospect, scouts always said he had some Cy Youngs in his future. 2010's could end up being the first of many.

A tough pill to swallow for Doug Fister, who comes in second. Fister, like Liriano, kept the ball in the park, and also issued a meager four unintentional walks in 35 innings. Fister's control, true to form, was exceptional, and his failure to beat Liriano is in no way a criticism of his performance.

Little choice but to give this one to Mr. No-Hitter. Ubaldo Jimenez entered the 2010 season as a sleeper on everyone's radar - leading one to wonder if he still counted as a sleeper at all - and then burst onto the scene with a franchise record 22.1 consecutive scoreless innings and a no-hitter against the Braves. He didn't allow a single home run despite pitching in a hitter's ballpark, and when he got into trouble, he clamped down by allowing a .143 average with RISP. It's no coincidence that the Rockies went 5-0 in Jimenez's starts.

Making this a closer race than it could've been were the superb performances turned in by Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay, Jonathan Sanchez, and Barry Zito. While the Giants don't come away with the award, they were most pleased to feature three of the candidates. Lincecum stands as Exhibit A for why spring training stats are completely meaningless, as his 1.6 March K/BB blew up to 6.1 over the four-week season.

Perhaps the easiest pick of them all, Tiger center fielder Austin Jackson batted .367/.420/.495 while playing excellent defense in the middle. He struggled to make consistent contact, but when he hit the ball, he hit it hard, as nearly two-fifths of his balls in play were recorded as line drives. For good measure, Jackson managed to steal five bases. The 23 year old is a five-tool player, and the organization looks forward to his building off his tremendous early success.

Jason Heyward got all the press leading into the season, and though he wound up facing some stiff competition from an unexpected source, he still comes out as the clear choice for 2010's NL RoY. He shook off all the pressure and midseason issues with breaking balls to slug .580 and flash an impressive amount of discipline for a player his age. Not yet old enough to bitch about getting carded, it's almost impossible to envision what might lie ahead, but if you figure Heyward might play 20 seasons, there's reason to believe he could collect as many as 150 homers before it's all said and done.

The surprising runner-up, in case you were wondering, was one Jaime Garcia, who - under the tutelage of Dave Duncan - turned himself into an extreme groundballer and didn't allow a single home run all season. In Garcia's 26 innings, he allowed just five runners to score, and seems to be on pace to have a bright, if limited career.

Not a tough one here, as Ron Gardenhire took a team that lost star closer Joe Nathan and turned them into a god-damned powerhouse. The Twins never stopped hitting, they never stopped pitching, they excelled in the field, and Jon Rauch's only blown save came in a game they'd go on to win. The Twins, as always, did all of the little things right, but they also decided to go ahead and do most of the big things, too, and that's what guided them to a winning percentage of 64%.

What do you do when the only media attention your team ever gets concerns when you're going to trade your only star player to the Red Sox? You win 16 of your 25 games. Bud Black and the San Diego Padres were 2010's feel-good story, as the 1+24 ballclub embraced its no-name identity and rode it all the way to first place in the NL West ahead of the heavily favored Dodgers and Rockies. Not even the early loss of nominal ace Chris Young could slow down their run prevention, as arms like Wade LeBlanc, Kevin Correia, and Clayton Richard stepped up in a big way.

Vernon Wells spent the better part of the 2009 offseason languishing as a punchline, having posted an OPS of just .711 the season before in the second year of a seven-year, $126m contract. Fortunately for the Blue Jays, Wells seemed to feed off of the criticism, as he blasted four home runs in 2010's first three games and finished the year slugging .690. Wells is never going to be counted on to live up to his mega-deal, but the fact that we can even consider the possibility for more than a few moments says a lot about what he accomplished.

Carlos Silva would seem like the obvious choice, what with his bouncing back after being involved in a mutual salary dump, but me, I have to grant this one to Kelly Johnson. Johnson was unceremoniously non-tendered by the Braves in the offseason after batting just .224, but he was rejuvenated by the warm Arizona climate, as the Diamondbacks picked him up on a $2.35m deal and watched him slug .726 while leading the NL with 17 extra-base hits. Johnson went from being a potential star to a colossal disappointment in a hurry with Atlanta, but a change of scenery was able to set him right back on course.

With the baseball season having been cut down to four weeks in an attempt to please a greater percentage of the population, the playoffs were also shortened accordingly. The Tampa Bay Rays finished with baseball's best record, and as such have been awarded the Commissioner's Trophy. They defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, whose 17-8 simply couldn't measure up to Tampa's 18-7. Manager Tony La Russa said that, in future seasons, his team "really needs to focus on having a better record than the other team."