2005 White Sox heroes Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia among first-timers on Hall of Fame ballot

Jason Bauman (left) and Jon Garland. (Oh, is it obvious that I'm at left?)

The Baseball Hall of Fame and the Baseball Writers Association released the 2019 Hall of Fame ballot Monday, and there are some new names familiar to White Sox fans.

Most notably, half of the 2005 World Series champion rotation now is eligible for induction: My guy, Jon Garland, and Freddy Garcia, the man who got the win in the 1-0, championship-clinching victory.

While both of these guys had nice careers, obviously, neither of them has a chance in hell of induction into the Hall. However, I'll always be a fan of Garland. I remember him being described as a "fifth starter" coming into that 2005 season. I knew he was better than that, and he proved it that year, leading the Sox with 18 wins and making the All-Star team.

Who among the first-timers on the ballot will get elected? Former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. He might not be the only one, but I'd say he's the one guy who is a lock.

Other top eligible first-timers include the late Roy Halladay, Todd Helton, Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettitte and Miguel Tejada.

(Are you noticing a theme of guys who played in the 2005 World Series? Berkman, Oswalt and Pettitte all are former Houston Astros.)

Garland, Garcia and former Sox players Kevin Youkilis and Juan Pierre likely are one-and-done on the ballot, along with others such as Placido Polanco, Travis Hafner, Derek Lowe, Vernon Wells, Ted Lilly, Michael Young, Jason Bay, Darren Oliver and Rick Ankiel.

None of those guys were necessarily great players, but they all were good enough to have long careers and be placed on the ballot, and that should be considered a respectable accomplishment. A lot of players make the bigs, but only for a short time, and they never qualify to have the chance to get 1 percent of the vote from the Hall electorate. There's no shame in having that kind of career.

Is new Yankees left-hander James Paxton really an "ace" or a "star"?

James Paxton

There is a difference between being an ace and having ace stuff.

Case in point, left-hander James Paxton, the starting pitcher the New York Yankees acquired Monday from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for three prospects.

Let me preface this by saying I would take Paxton on my team. He was 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA in 28 starts for the Mariners in 2018. His fastball sits at 95-98 mph, and he's got a four-pitch mix that also features a cutter, a curve and a changeup.

That is ace stuff, no question about it, and he's got two years left of team control.

But I found myself disagreeing with a couple headlines I saw this morning: "The Yankees Now Have a Second Ace" on Fangraphs, and "Yankees acquire star pitcher James Paxton in trade with Mariners" on Yahoo Sports.

Paxton, for all of his good stuff, is entering his age 30 season, yet he's never made as many as 30 starts in a year, and his 160.1 innings pitched in 2018 represent a career high. Before this past season, he had never pitched more than 136 innings in a year.

Can you really be an "ace" or a "star" when you've been plagued by injuries throughout your career? The days of starting pitchers throwing 200-plus innings might be gone, but for me, 180 innings is the new 200. Paxton has never approached that, so despite his fantastic stuff, he's going to have to show me that he's reliable for a full season, plus playoffs, before I believe that he's the missing piece for the Yankees.

New York will slot him No. 2 in its rotation, behind Luis Severino and ahead of Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees also have CC Sabathia, but he's just a fifth starter at this point in his career. I expect New York to make another move to add a starter, likely in free agency, as a hedge against the possibility that Paxton gets hurt again.

As for the Mariners, it looks as though they are changing directions and going young. They acquired the Yankees' No. 1 pitching prospect, Justus Sheffield, in this deal. Sheffield is a 22-year-old lefty with a fastball that tops out about 97 mph. Right-handed pitcher Erik Swanson, 25, and outfielder Don Thompson-Williams, 23, also are headed to Seattle.

With Paxton gone, I assume the Mariners are listening to offers on Dee Gordon, Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager and Jean Segura, as well. I expect an active offseason in Seattle.

Stats for White Sox prospects in Arizona Fall League

Luis Robert impressed, Luis Alexander Basabe did not, and Zack Burdi's time was cut short. That's the quick, snap judgment for White Sox prospects who participated in the Arizona Fall League.

Sox prospects played for the Glendale Desert Dogs, who went 12-18 in 30 games, so for better or for worse, all of this represents a small sample size. But here's how Sox prospects did in the desert: 

Robert, OF: .324/.367/.432 with two home runs, 10 RBIs, two doubles, five stolen bases and 13 strikeouts with five walks in 74 at-bats. Robert has battled hand and thumb injuries all season, so it's good to see him show why he's highly regarded. 

Basabe, OF: .180/.333/.180 with no extra-base hits, two RBIs, four stolen bases and 16 strikeouts with 12 walks in 50 at-bats. Hey, at least he's taking his walks! 

Laz Rivera, 2B: .215/.271/.246 with two doubles, seven RBIs, one stolen base, 14 strikeouts and three walks in 65 at-bats. 

Burdi, RHP: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 5 Ks, 1 BB, 0.00 ERA. Burdi, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was removed from the roster Nov. 1 for "general fatigue." Burdi's velocity has been sitting at 92-95 mph, instead of his his pre-surgery 97-100 mph, so that's a concern. 

Tanner Banks, LHP: 22.1 IP, 30 H, 14 R, 11 ER, 10 Ks, 5 BBs, 4.43 ERA 

Zach Thompson, RHP: 13.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 15 Ks, 6 BBs, 2.70 ERA  

Danny Dopico, RHP: 12.1 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 15 Ks, 12 BBs, 6.57 ERA

Mookie Betts, Christian Yelich win MVP awards

Christian Yelich

The MVPs this season are both first-time winners, and neither of them is a surprise: outfielder Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox in the AL and outfielder Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL.

At the halfway point of the season, Yelich was not the front-runner for the award. But from July 8 on, he hit .367 with a .444 on-base percentage. His .770 slugging percentage after the All-Star Game was baseball's best in 14 years, and over 74 games, he totaled 25 home runs, 22 doubles and a 1.171 OPS.

The Brewers overtook the Cubs in the NL Central in a Game 163 and finished with a league-best 96 wins. Obviously, they do not accomplish that without Yelich's red-hot second half.

Yelich won the batting title with a .326 average. He finished tied for third in the league with 36 home runs, and his 110 RBIs ranked second.

Really, he was darn close to a Triple Crown, which made this vote obvious.

Yelich earned 29 of the 30 first-place votes -- the other went to New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom. The Cubs' Javier Baez had 19 second-place votes and finished second. Colorado's Nolan Arenado, who led the NL with 38 home runs, placed third.

As for Betts, he became the first player in MLB history to win a batting title in the same season in which he also had at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. The right fielder's slash line was .346/.438/.640, and simply put, he was the best player on the best team -- the 108-win and World Series champion Red Sox.

Betts finished with 47 doubles, 32 home runs, 129 runs scored and 30 stolen bases. He's also the best defensive right fielder in the game, earning his third consecutive Gold Glove at the position this season.

Twenty-eight of the 30 first-place votes went to Betts. Runner-up Mike Trout appeared first on one ballot, and he got 24 second-place votes. Cleveland infielder Jose Ramirez placed third.

Jacob deGrom, Blake Snell win Cy Young awards

Jacob deGrom

Here's a fun fact, courtesy of Sarah Langs' Twitter account, on NL Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom:

"deGrom: MLB-best 1.70 ERA. Mets went 14-18 in his starts & he went 10-9

Lucas Giolito: 6.13 ERA, worst in MLB. He went 10-13 & White Sox were 14-18 in his starts

That’s the same number of pitcher wins and same team record ... for the best and worst pitchers in MLB."

How about that? If that doesn't show you that wins is a lousy way to evaluate a pitcher, I don't know what does.

No pitcher has ever won a Cy Young with fewer than 13 wins until now, but New York's deGrom is deserving despite having only 10 victories in 2018.

He is a true ace, having made all 32 of his starts, throwing 217 innings and striking out 269 against only 46 walks. In those 32 starts, deGrom allowed three runs or less in 31 of them -- there was one start in April where he allowed four runs.

He set records for quality starts and consecutive starts allowing three runs or fewer. It was a dominant season for deGrom, and he totaled 29 of a possible 30 first-place votes, win-loss total be damned. He had one of the best seasons I've ever seen from a starting pitcher in my lifetime. Too bad he played on a crummy team. He pitched well enough to win 25 games, at least.

Washington's Max Scherzer got the other first-place vote, and he was listed second on the other 29 ballots. Philadelphia's Aaron Nola received 27 third-place votes and finished third.

On the American League side, Tampa Bay's Blake Snell got the honor on the strength of a 21-5 record.

Snell is interesting, because he pitched only 180.1 innings, or 33.1 innings less than the second-place finisher in the voting, Houston's Justin Verlander. A good case can be made for Verlander because he, like deGrom, shouldered an ace workload for his team.

But, ultimately, voters liked Snell's 1.89 ERA and 221 strikeouts pitching in the offense-heavy American League East.

We can say this for Snell: He was really, really good against top teams. In 12 starts against the five AL playoffs teams (Boston, New York, Cleveland, Houston and Oakland), Snell went 9-2 with a 2.00 ERA.

Snell was not getting fat on crummy competition, and that most have impressed voters, who gave him 17 of the possible 30 first-place votes. The other 13 first-place votes went to Verlander. Cleveland's Corey Kluber finished third.

Oakland's Bob Melvin, Atlanta's Brian Snitker win Manager of the Year awards

Bob Melvin

Oakland's Bob Melvin and Atlanta's Brian Snitker were named Managers of the Year in their respective leagues Tuesday.

For me, one of these winners was a surprise and one was not.

The 57-year-old Melvin is one of the best managers in the American League, and this is his third time winning the award. In fact, 2018 might have been his best managerial job, as he took an Athletics team with the lowest Opening Day payroll in baseball ($68 million) and molded it into a 97-win club that earned an AL wild-card spot.

Oakland improved by 22 wins in 2018, the most improvement by any team in baseball. Here's the thing that stood out to me about the A's: They used 34 pitchers to get through the season and not a single one of them threw enough innings to qualify for the ERA title.

It truly was a mix-and-match situation in Oakland, as injuries forced Melvin to give starts to journeyman pitchers such as Edwin Jackson, Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill.

I found it remarkable that the A's finished second in the AL West, which might have been the deepest division in baseball. Full credit goes Melvin, his staff and his players for the year that they had.

Melvin got 18 of a possible 30 first-place votes. Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora got seven first-place votes and finished second. The other five first-place votes when to the third-place finisher, Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash.

I'm a little surprised that Snitker won the award in the National League, not that he isn't deserving. The Braves had an 18-game turnaround under his direction and were surprise champions in the NL East.

Coming into the season, everyone picked the Washington Nationals to win that division. Instead, Atlanta spent 115 days in first place and never lost more than four in a row. That's the sign of a good manager -- the absence of a long losing streak. Most "experts" had the Braves finishing third at the start of the season, but their rebuilding plan came together a year ahead of schedule and quieted skeptics.

Snitker has to be enjoying this success. He's been with the Atlanta organization for 40 years, and often, a longtime organization man doesn't get the opportunity to manage. However, he had a big year in only his second season at the helm.

That said, I thought Milwaukee's Craig Counsell would win the NL award. Counsell guided the Brewers to a league-best 96 wins and the championship of the NL Central. Despite having significant deficiencies in the starting rotation, Milwaukee reached Game 7 of the NLCS before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, had the Cubs winning the NL Central this season. And given what the Cubs and Dodgers have accomplished in recent years, who had the Brewers emerging as the team with the most regular-season wins in the NL? Certainly not me.

But, the majority of voters gave the nod to Snitker. He got 17 of the 30 first-place votes. Counsell got 11 first-place votes and finished second. Colorado's Bud Black got one first-place vote and took third.

Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuna Jr. win Rookie of the Year awards

Shohei Ohtani

Los Angeles Angels pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. have been named Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues.

The vote was not close in either league, and it was not expected to be.

Ohtani won the AL award after becoming the first player since Babe Ruth in 1919 to have at least 20 home runs and 10 pitching appearances in a single season. He is the first player to hit at least 20 home runs and record 50 strikeouts as a pitcher in the same season.

The right-handed pitcher went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA in 10 starts before a torn elbow ligament shut him down. Ohtani will not pitch during the 2019 season.

Despite the injury, he played 104 games as a designated hitter, slashing .285/.361/.564 with 22 home runs, 21 doubles, 10 stolen bases and 61 RBIs.

Ohtani received 25 of a possible 30 first-place votes. The other five votes went to second-place finisher Miguel Andujar of the New York Yankees. Another Yankee, Gleyber Torres, placed third.

In case you were wondering, White Sox outfielder Daniel Palka received one third-place vote after  his 27-homer season.

Acuna, the NL honoree, was called to the majors April 25 and delivered 55 extra-base hits in his first 100 games. His season helped propel the Braves to an 18-game improvement and the NL East Division championship.

In 111 games, the 20-year-old hit .293/.366/.552 with 26 home runs, 26 doubles, 16 stolen bases and 64 RBIs.

Acuna's performance netted him 27 out of a possible 30 first-place votes.

Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals received two first-place votes and finished second. Right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler of the Los Angeles Dodgers earned one first-place vote and finished third.