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In Cameron Maybin’s defense, he hasn’t played an inning in a Padre uniform yet. But that inexperience didn’t keep him from making headlines Monday.

Because for all of the positives that social media represents, it also has its drawbacks. Unfortunately, Maybin found out about the drawbacks the hard way.

After dining at Panda Express, a fast-food style restaurant that serves Chinese cuisine, Maybin had an opinion about the food. So, he decided to do what every other athlete seems to be doing these days.

He took it to Twitter:

“Never eat panda express sh*ts had me feeling awful for 2 days back on my grind tomorrow, We got action…”

It didn’t take long for Maybin to remove that post after it was brought to his attention that Tom Davin, the CEO of Panda Express, also has part-ownership of the Padres.

Suddenly, this tweet appeared on Maybin’s feed:

“Man just got back on the wagon panda express was great today, now I’m ready for action…. Best oriental cuisine around… Let’s go…!”

Lesson learned: Think before you tweet—or at least pay better attention to your fortune cookie.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

San Diego was picked to finish dead in 2010 last by every major writer and scribe in the world, including myself. Just goes to show ya that the game is more than stats. The Padres were nothing short of amazing last year, nearly winning the N.L. West.

Pitching wise, this was one of San Diego’s best seasons, with Mat Latos and  Clayton Richard leading the way. Combined with the best bullpen in baseball most of the season, and the slam the door shut policy of closer Heath Bell, the Padres took the Giants right to the wall before conceding the division.  

Even though the Padres have lost 3 of the starters from last years rotation, namely Jon Garland, Kevin Correia and Chris Young, San Diego still looks strong,  adding  former Cincinnati Red and SDSU alum Aaron Harang to a young and hard throwing staff.

What follows is a reasonable extrapolation of what I feel will be the players who break camp and hit the show come the end of March.

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In articles such as this, many websites give readers a list of the best overall prospects at a given position, but the intention here is to focus on those prospects who are most likely to provide a significant fantasy impact during the 2011 season; thus, a guy like Red Sox SS prospect Jose Iglesias—who is blocked at the big league level by Marco Scutaro and Jed Lowrie—is not on my list.

Here is my list of the five shortstop prospects who will likely have the most impact at the major league level in 2011:

1. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, MIN
2010 performance: .346, 11 HR, 59 RBI, 22 SB, 121 R (for the Chiba Lotte Marines, Nippon Professional Baseball)

Nishioka, 26, was the premier offensive player made available through Japan’s (outdated) posting system last year. The Twins bid $5.3 million for the right to negotiate with him, and then signed him to a three-year, $9 million contract. The switch-hitter is coming off a career-year. He won the NPB batting title with a .346 average, collecting 206 hits in 144 games (the highest hit total since OF Ichiro Suzuki in 1994).

With that said, his success in the United States is anything but assured. As Aaron Gleeman pointed out, he entered last season as a career .280 hitter (batting just .260 in ’09). His performance last year was fueled by a .395 BABIP, a number that is not sustainable over the long term…therefore, he is unlikely to repeat such a performance. “Yoshi” has averaged 28 stolen bases over his last seven seasons of play.

Nishioka will likely play both second base and shortstop for the Twins, though it is very possible he will eventually settle in at second base. Ultimately, the determining factor as to where he’ll end up over the long term is the performance of shortstop Alexi Casilla.

2. Zack Cozart, CIN
2010 performance: .255, 17 HR, 67 RBI, 30 SB, 91 R (at Triple-A Louisville)

There were pundits who felt Cozart might be able to break camp with the Reds in March, but that was before the front office signed free agent Edgar Renteria two weeks ago. So for now it looks like he will probably return to Louisville in an effort to improve on his 107-40 strikeout-to-walk ratio from last year.

But with Paul Janish (a career .226 hitter) and Renteria as the only impediments to his promotion to Cincinnati, it seems very likely he could make his Reds debut during the second half of the season.

Janish has a good glove, but he has registered a lowly .634 OPS over parts of three seasons with the Reds. Cozart has some power, plus he has excellent range, a good glove and a cannon for an arm. For these reasons, it’s plausible he could end up with the Reds anytime after July 1st. As with Grant Green, below, his prospects for a 2011 debut are intertwined with the team’s success.

3. Grant Green, OAK
2010 performance: .318, 20 HR, 87 RBI, 9 SB, 107 R (at Single-A Midland)

Green has drawn comparisons to Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki at the early stage of his professional career, but before fantasy fans get too excited they need to remember he put up last year’s gaudy numbers in the hitter-friendly California League.

The Athletics have SS Cliff Pennington (who hit .250 last year) and utilityman Adam Rosales (a career .241 hitter) ahead of Green on the depth chart, so the road to Oakland may not be lengthy. But, Green will have to improve on his 117-38 strikeout-to-walk ratio to force the door open at the big league level.

Still, the A’s are desperate for offense and could be tempted by Green’s power potential if they have fallen out of the division race in the second half of the season. My gut instinct is that he’ll be overmatched in The Show should he get promoted, so caveat emptor!

4. Nick Franklin, SEA
2010 performance: .283, 23 HR, 65 RBI, 25 SB, 92 R (combined stats at High-A and Double-A, primarily at High-A Clinton)

Franklin didn’t get a lot of respect as a prospect last winter. Baseball America listed him among the team’s Top 10 Prospects because of his defense, not his offense. But he was one of only three players to forge a 20-20 season in the minors last year, and he did for Clinton in the Midwest League.

He is not quite two years removed from being chosen in the first year player draft, but scouts are already saying that he looks like he will develop considerably more power than originally thought. He could reach the majors in 2011—if only because Josh Wilson is all that stands between him and The Show.

5. Andrew Cumberland, Padres
2010 performance: .350, 7 HR, 41 RBI, 21 SB, 68 R (combined stats at High-A and Double-A)

Cumberland doesn’t come with the hype of the other guys on this list, but he grabbed scouts’ attention by hitting .365 with 20 SBs for Class-A Lake Elsinore (but, once again, they’re stats that were accumulated in the heavy-hitting California League and are thus subject to scrutiny).

Considering the Padres do not have an answer at the position right now, it’s possible he will compete for a job on the Opening Day roster during spring training.

More likely, he’ll return to Double-A for additional seasoning, and if he has a solid first half he could be promoted to San Diego after the All-Star break.

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If in 2006, you told the New York Mets that they held two of the future’s top closers in their grasp in Heath Bell and Billy Wagner, they would have questioned your sanity. In a season that the Mets fought their way to the NLCS and watched Wagner, Chad Bradford, Pedro Feliciano, and Duaner Sanchez each excel in their assigned roles, why would they even consider Bell, who appeared in just 22 games and posted an ERA above five, one of their bullpen’s best?

After three seasons, they had seen enough.

On November 15, 2006, the 28 year old Bell was traded, along with fellow reliever, Royce Ring, to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Ben Johnson and reliever Jon Adkins. The Mets saw little return out of their haul, as Johnson would appear in nine games, and Adkins would appear in just one. The Padres‘ gamble, on the other hand, paid immediate dividends. Bell adjusted well to his new role with San Diego, posting a record of 6-4 to go along with an ERA of 2.02.

Needless to say, the Padres were impressed. The following season, they promoted him to the eighth inning role, setting up the ninth inning for legendary closer, Trevor Hoffman. He excelled in this role as well, appearing in more than 70 gamed for the second straight season and posting a record of 6-6 and an ERA of 3.58 for a Padres team that struggled.

The next season, the long time Padre, Hoffman, signed on as the closer for the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Padres were left with a gap in their own bullpen. Instead of scouring the free agent market and paying top dollar for a closer to play for a team that wasn’t expected to compete, the team handed Bell the job. He thrived as the team’s closer, striking out more than ten batters per nine innings and converting a league leading 42 saves, to go with an ERA of 2.71. In 2010, his second year as the team’s closer, Bell was practically untouchable. The opposition hit just .221 against him, as he punched out more than 11 batters per nine innings and allowed just one home run over the course of the entire season, posting an ERA of just 1.93, and Bill James, stat projection extraordinaire, expects much of the same out of Bell in 2011.

So why is now the time to trade Heath Bell?

There are a couple of reasons, but for the Padres, the main reason is money. Because he broke into the major leagues at an older age, Bell has been providing the Padres’ with maximum value over the last few seasons. Since joining the Padres in 2007, Bell has cost the Padres just $6.06 million, while logging 251.1 innings, converting 91 saves, and posting an ERA of 2.56 over that same period of time. However, after a season that saw him dominate the National League in the ninth inning yet again, Bell is about to earn a hefty raise in his final year of arbitration. Though a price tag of somewhere between $6-10 million is reasonable for a closer of Bell’s caliber, the Padres may find that a little rich for their blood over the course of the season.

The second reason is Bell’s looming free agency. Even if he has a mediocre season in 2011, his track record as the Padres’ closer should effectively price them out of their range. Though 2010 was a difficult off-season to project a closer’s price tag, with Rafael Soriano yet to sign and Mariano Rivera’s true value hidden, thanks to his Yankee loyalty, the 2012 free agent market is filled to the brim with closers, including players like Jonathon Broxton, Matt Capps, Francisco Cordero, Brad Lidge, Joe Nathan, Jonathon Papelbon, Francisco Rodriguez, Koji Uehara, and Jose Valverde, but Bell may be the best of the bunch.

So how can we determine his value? In 2009, the best available closer was Jose Valverde of the Houston Astros. He converted just 25 saves in 54 innings, for the Astros in 2009, to go along with an ERA of 2.33. Eventually, he would sign with the Detroit Tigers for two years and $14 million. Valverde, like Soriano in 2010, was plagued by a weak market for closers, with a limited number of suitors. Bell will be able to fetch much more than $7 million a year, and with his track record of health and performance, should receive more guaranteed years as well.

One contract he’ll certainly look to surpass is the three year, $37.5 million deal that Brad Lidge signed with the Philadelphia Phillies during his perfect season in 2008. With Bell’s track record, he should have no trouble earning at the very least, four years, $48 million on the open market, with teams like the Phillies, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets all potentially in need of a closer. Once again, he will be way out of the Padres’ price range.

The third main reason the Padres should look to deal Bell now is the return they would receive, in prospects, for a full season of the closer. In the past, teams have been reluctant to trade top prospects for a closer before a season begins, due in large part to the streaky tendencies of the reliever in general. That shouldn’t be a concern for teams acquiring Bell. In years past, top closers have fetched at least one top prospect. When the Phillies acquired Lidge in the 2007 off-season, they traded talented outfielder, Michael Bourn. The Cubs sent talented pitcher, Jose Ceda, to the Marlins for Kevin Gregg, the Dodgers acquired George Sherrill from the Orioles for Josh Bell, and the Twins sent top catching prospect, Wilson Ramos, to the Nationals for Matt Capps.

For a full season of Bell, the Padres are in a position to demand two top prospects for their dominant closer, and may have potential suitors waiting on their doorstep in the American League. Two teams that were heavily involved in the Cliff Lee bidding, the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, could both benefit from Bell’s services, and have the prospects to make it happen. Despite having Mariano Rivera, the Yankees were rumored to be interested in Rafael Soriano this off-season, wanting to shore up their bullpen, since the starting pitching market was weak, after Lee. They’ve been dangling top prospect, Jesus Montero, for quite some time now, and could create an enticing package to offer the Padres. The Rangers are in much of the same boat. Without Lee, their rotation could use a boost from their 2010 closer, Neftali Feliz, and after failing to acquire Matt Garza from the Tampa Bay Rays, they could trade for Bell and move Feliz into the rotation.

A number of other teams could also be interested in Bell’s services, including the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who are assumed to be Soriano’s last real suitor. The price, in prospects, may be enough to drive them away, however, as San Diego would certainly love to have top prospect, Mike Trout. In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Florida Marlins could all use Bell, in different ways, and those are just a number of his suitors.

Using his performance, future price, and potential return in prospects as their reasoning, the Padres would have no trouble finding a suitor for Bell. Even still, there are reasons why they would be reluctant to move him as well. The first of those reasons is the depth in their bullpen beginning to dwindle. The bullpen was their strongest leg in 2010, and they’ve been trading from it’s depth all off-season. In November, they acquired outfielder Cameron Maybin from the Marlins for relievers Edward Mujica and Ryan Webb, and in December, they traded relievers Adam Russell and Cesar Ramos as part of a package to the Rays for shortstop, Jason Bartlett. Though they’ve signed relievers like Luis Perdomo and Dustin Moseley, they aren’t of the same quality.

Trading Bell, their best reliever, may be akin to shooting themselves in the foot. On one hand, if the Padres hope to contend in the NL West this season, they’ll need Bell’s services. On the other hand, if they don’t move Bell now or before the trade deadline, they will have lost the chance to add to their farm system.

If the Padres are convinved they can win this season, they will have one shot to win the World Series with Bell as their closer, before he likely skips town and heads to the highest bidder in the following off-season. If they decide to go into a small rebuilding season in 2011, they could move Bell for top prospects, and use last season’s set-up man, Luke Gregerson, as the closer. In 2010, he posted a record of 4-7 with an ERA of 3.22 (2.86 FIP), and used much of the same motive as Bell, striking out more than ten batters per nine innings while walking just over two. If the Padres decide that Gregerson is ready to become the next Heath Bell, moving the interim closer may be an easier decision.

The hardest thing for any team to do, however, is trade a fan favorite. After already having moved the face of the Padres, Adrian Gonzalez, earlier in the off-season, General Manager Jed Hoyer would have a tough time selling a Bell deal to a tough fan base. Sometimes, a general manager just has to close his eyes and pull the trigger. While it may be tough to trade a fan favorite now, it could reap huge rewards in the future.

Unless the Padres go on an unbelievable run and are running away with the division by the trade deadline, Bell’s days in San Diego seem numbered. The Padres would be foolish to let him leave as a free agent this off-season (with draft compensation up in the air as the league reconfigures it’s collective bargaining agreement), when they can add several quality pieces much closer to  being major league ready with a trade. They have the option of waiting until the trade deadline until teams are desperate, but there are desperate teams out there now.

It’s time for the Padres to cash in on Heath Bell.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

As my previous article about the Oakland A’s described the recent activity of these traditionally small-market and to some extent ’80s-competitive “super” power teams, because I discussed the A’s in that article I will omit them from this one, their moves notwithstanding.

With a weaker west, DeJesus and Matsui, can we just give the A’s the division now?

All of these teams were at some point (along with the Padres and Pirates, who will be discussed to some extent here but haven’t done as much as the above to warrant as much analysis) good in the 1980s when many of us of that generation started following baseball. It is because of this nostalgia that we endorse their resurgence since that is many of our first memories with the sport.

If I had to grade their activity to date I’d rank them in the following order in terms of competitiveness (translation: after these moves were made how likely they helped them move towards the playoffs):

1. Oakland A’s (see other article for in-depth details)
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. San Diego Padres
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Washington Nationals
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

Milwaukee Brewers

This team skyrockets to the top of this list with their bold move that literally had to make the increasingly irrelevant 🙂 New York Yankee$ jealous with their trade for Kansas City ace Zack Grienke.

We all know about the Brewers solid depth of hitting, and it was obvious it was being wasted. GM Doug Melvin made it a point to add two starting pitchers, and he did just that with ace Zack Grienke and solid No. 4 in Shawn Marcum, who should win a dozen or so games (likely more) out of that spot.

While I’d like to see them add one more starter yet, and I question who is going to close games, there is no question the rotation is so much better with:

Ace Grienke

Gallardo

Randy Wolf

Shaun Marcum

Chris Neverson

While I am still not convinced they could get second in the division which would mean a legit chance at fighting for the Wild Card since I think the NL Central is the Reds for the foreseeable future, they’ve at least given themselves a chance, on paper, to do just that. For the first time in a long time. It’s a move that could be seen as CC Sabathia II, basically a second chance at rolling the dice and acquiring an Ace for a second run at the playoffs for the small-market Brewers, who seem to win 80 every year now. That’s a vast improvement from the past.

San Diego Padres

After they lost a local marketable star in Adrian Gonzalez, everyone, myself included, expected the budget-conscious Padres to fall to fifth place after a surprising 2010 run.

While they have lost pitchers Jon Garland and Kevin Correia, whom they must replace, I have no doubt they will. They rebounded nicely with veteran additions Jason Barlett and Orlando Hudson, giving them a suddenly recognizable infield that could soon add Derrek Lee.

Maybe this team will be alright after all? While third place won’t get them in the playoffs, I think they have a legit chance at that now, which says a lot when you lose A-Gon early in the offseason for nothing (prospects), causing people to draw early conclusions about your 2011 chances.

Baltimore Orioles

The only reason they don’t move up higher is because they play in the American League East, and history shows even with their improvements all across the board, it’s still too much to overcome to make a difference.

Still, no one played better in the American League late than the O’s, who finished 2010 34-23 after new manager Buck Showalter came aboard. Can it carry over next year? Probably not, as I have no idea how the no-name pitching staff did that good, and we’ve seen teams like the Royals and notably Cito Gaston’s Blue Jays scorch at the end for seasons for 85 wins and fourth place year after year only to stay in that limbo.

This team has already taken on a lot of payroll, adding Mark Reynolds from the downtrodden Diamondbacks for two kids that never worked in their system, anyway, and in doing so added $10.5 million in payroll in moves not seen since their ’90s run.

Next, they added $7.25 million more in payroll by taking starting shortstop J.J. Hardy and utility man Brendan Harris off the Twins hands for two kids who may never pan out.

Finally, they re-signed solid relief pitcher Koji Uehara for $2 million less than he would he would have gotten had they simply picked up his option. They also remain in the hunt for Derrek Lee or Adam LaRoche at first, whom Reynolds wants, seeing how they played together in Arizona. The O’s also remain the favorites to land Kevin Gregg, who saved 37 last year for Toronto.

1B LaRoche or Lee

2B Roberts

SS Hardy

3B Reynolds

DH Scott

LF Pie?

RF Markakis

CF Jones

C Wieters

Suddenly that lineup looks solid with upgrades at 3B, SS and 1B from last year. If Showalter can have similar success with the X-factor starting rotation, this team may be a lot closer than you think, even in the suddenly crowded and competitive East where, outside of Boston, the gap continues to close.

Washington Nationals

They made their big splash with Jayson Werth. While its a highly controversial signing, it shows the once-small market Nationals have some money to spend and aren’t afraid to do it.

While they stupidly gave away Josh Willingham (see my A’s article), they claim it’s to save money to perhaps add a Derrek Lee, which, if true, is OK. But production-wise, it’s probably a wash, causing the team to not get better, but to hold ground.

While they didn’t land him, the fact they were in the Grienke talks shows how far this team has come in a willingness to spend. They dominated the winter meetings with their big splash as people continue to monitor them now. What else do they have up their sleeves? You have to think with losing out on Grienke, being in the talks for Cliff Lee before losing out on him, too, will only intensify their efforts to land Carl Pavano, to whom they’ve also been linked.

Like the Brewers, this team needs to add two starters to go with Jordan Zimmerman and Jason Marquis, but if they are able to do that their rotation looks like this:

???

Pavano

Zimmerman

Marquis

Lannan

That looks a lot better than in years past and like the Brewers moving Wolf down to his natural No. 3 and Gallardo to No. 2, they are able to shift guys down to their normal spots, causing them to pitch against more worthy, equal, and thus beatable opponents, allowing their teams to have a better chance than if they were mismatched due to lack of talent.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Don’t laugh, but adding Kevin Correia, Matty Diaz, and Lyle Overbay at SP, LF, and 1B are all upgrades over the crap they ran out their last year.

While these are all short-term, financially friendly contracts (i.e., asily movable contracts at the trading deadline so reminiscent of this franchise) they make the team better on paper (at least until they mess it up on the field, that is). Still, it’s nice to see they are active making Oakland A’s-like calculated moves and not just bargain shopping for scraps in January like usual small market teams in years past.

While the Phillies and Red Sox may steal all the headlines, these surprisingly active, small-market teams have quietly all improved, which is more than I can say for the big-market New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels or New York Yankee$.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It was a weekend of uncertainty, but Adrian Gonzalez was officially introduced as a member of the Boston Red Sox Monday.

It didn’t take him long to give the Boston fans what they wanted to hear.

“I’m very excited to be here in Boston and ready to beat the Yanks,” Gonzalez said in Monday’s press conference.

Next to playing for his hometown Padres, Boston was also always his second favorite destination.

“Ted Williams was from San Diego and played for Boston, “Gonzalez said. “We’re both left-handed hitters. I always felt I had a connection there.”

The trade signals the end of the discount days of the San Diego native’s services in a Padre uniform.

Gonzalez will earn $6.2 million next season in the final year of his contract, but there are reports that Gonzalez will eventually sign a seven-year extension worth more than $155 million, raising his contract to $162 million over the next eight seasons.

The Padres received four prospects: right-handed pitcher Casey Kelly (considered the top prospect in the Red Sox system), first baseman Anthony Rizzo (No. 3) and outfielder Reymond Fuentes (between sixth and 10th)—plus a player to be named later.

If you’re Boston, you’re elated. You picked up a 28-year-old, three-time All-Star first baseman without giving up a player on your major league roster.

If you’re San Diego—namely the Friar Faithful—there’s some frustration the Padres didn’t get a player ready to make an immediate impact.

“One of the things we wrestled with honestly was there were other trades we could have gotten that maybe included one major league player back,” Padres general manager Jed Hoyer told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “But the rest of the trade would have been weaker and not very deep. So I know there is a disappointment, I guess, that we didn’t get more major league players back.”

But if there is anyone that knows the Boston farm system, it’s Hoyer, who was the Red Sox assistant GM when the three prospects were drafted.

A deal wasn’t going to be done without Casey Kelly, the Red Sox 2009 Minor League Pitcher of the year. The Padres look for Kelly, 21, to be a fixture in the rotation.

Anthony Rizzo, 21, is a power-hitting first baseman who had 20 home runs and 80 RBI in less than a full season for Double-A Portland. Rizzo should slug his way to Triple-A in 2011.

Fuentes is the youngest of the three prospects that the Padres acquired in the deal. He is also the fastest. The 19-year-old Puerto Rican swiped 42 bags in 47 chances this past season at Single-A Greenville.

It’s the second major trade the Padres have made in as many seasons, including the deal that sent former ace Jake Peavy to the Chicago White Sox for Clayton Richard and three other prospects.

Richard downright outperformed Peavy in 2010, and the three prospects are progressing in the farm system.

The Gonzalez deal, however, differs from Peavy’s in the sense that Padres didn’t get a major league-ready player like they did with Richard. But building a solid farm system in all facets is Hoyer’s mission.

If you’re Adrian Gonzalez, you’re also elated. While the San Diego native likely would have preferred to stay in his hometown if financially possible, he is now batting in the hitter-friendly confines of Fenway Park as opposed to the spacious PETCO Park.

Now that the deal is done, look for Hoyer and Co. to be active in their pursuit of a first baseman and other key free agents.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

According to MLB Trade Rumors the Mets are are pursuing starting pitcher Chris Young (formerly of the San Diego Padres).  The deal will in all likelihood be for one year, laden with incentives. The Mets are looking to add depth to a rotation which will not feature Johan Santana for a good chunk of the year.  Right now the Mets starting rotation features R.A. Dickey, Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese.  

In the past, Chris Young has been a dominant pitcher posting an ERA under 4.00 from 2006-08.  His career, however, has been marred by injuries for the last three years.  Last year, Young pitched in only four games, and it is very unlikely that he will pitch more than 20 for the Mets.  Taking injury into account  this is still a great move for the Mets because they add another starting pitcher with limited funds that could win 10-15 games.  Adding Young to the Mets is a very low-risk high-reward deal which could alleviate the stress that will be put on Dickey, Pelfrey and Niese in the 2011 season.  This deal also shows that Alderson is willing to keep true to his word.  

Alderson has already said this offseason that he would not make any drastic changes to the Mets roster, which will shed over 40 million dollars by losing Oliver Perez, Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo.  By not signing any large/bloated contracts this offseason, the Mets are looking to a future where this team is built through the draft and will be able to be a legitimate contender in the NL East for years to come.  Mets fans might have to sacrifice this season as another average year, but the future looks bright in Flushing.       

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San Diego’s Bud Black won the 2010 National League Manager of the Year award on Wednesday, beating out Cincinnati skipper Dusty Baker by one vote.

Black finished with 104 points, topping the 103 of Baker, who led the Reds to their first playoff appearance since 1995. Bruce Bochy of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants finished third with 30 points, while Atlanta’s Bobby Cox (28 points), Philadelphia’s Charlie Manuel (20) and Houston’s Brad Mills (3) rounded out the voting.

Black won 90 games with a Padres team that many predicted would finish last in the National League West, holding the lead for 131 days before finally giving way to the eventual World Champion Giants on Sept. 25.

Still, the Pads pushed the Giants to the final day of the season before San Francisco’s win finally eliminated San Diego.

Following are five of the top reasons why Black received his first manager of the year honor.

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Next week, the Baseball Writers Association of America will begin to unveil its picks for Major League Baseball’s most important end-of-season awards: Rookies of the Year, Managers of the Year, Cy Youngs and Most Valuable Players.

But Bleacher Report’s featured columnists didn’t have the patience to wait for the BBWAA to announce their picks, so we responded with our own mock vote.

With this post, we have reached the end of Week 3 of our 16-part series on the MLB awards.

Yesterday, we looked at the best skippers in the American League, so naturally today is time for the results of our NL Manager of the Year vote.

The top five vote-getters are featured here with commentary from people who chose them. The full list of votes is at the end.

So read on, see how we did and be sure to let us know what we got wrong!

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It is almost time for the baseball awards to be announced. Many fans overlook the value of a good manager. You can look to teams like the Mets and the Marlins that have had turmoil with their managers and see why it is important to have someone who can take control of what is going on. There have been a few managers that have stood out this year.

The candidates include Padres manager Bud Black, Reds manager Dusty Baker, Giants manager Bruce Bochy and Braves manager Bobby Cox who will likely get some votes based on his lifetime achievements.

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