With Joey Votto creeping onto the "Single-Tweet-fueled speculation" quadrant of the trade rumor radar, maybe it's rationalizing that handed Brandon Phillips a narrow victory over Joey Votto in the final player poll: "No, I won't be reducing to a sobbing mess if the Reds get rid of Joey Votto. He's not even the best player on the team." But, of course, he is the best player on the team. While I'm surprised that Votto didn't cruise to a relatively comfortable victory over BP, Phillips is a defensible choice (get it?) And while I think trading Votto this offseason is likely to be a bad idea - given the narrow universe of possibilities for the right trading partner to emerge, especially if the Reds want to stay in "contend" mode - it's also a defensible decision to make him available. Though, it seems to me, he's "available" in the same way Justin Upton was last offseason.
Here are the winners from all four ballots and the honorable mentions who just missed inclusion as nominees. Cueto was the only awardee close to a consensus pick - which, depending on what you think of Daniel Corcino, might mean pitching talent in the minors wasn't quite as underwhelming as it seemed.
Best position player (MLB): Brandon Phillips (49%)
Best pitcher (MLB): Johnny Cueto (81%)
Best position player (minors): Devin Mesoraco (44%)
Best pitcher (minors): Daniel Corcino (38%)
Honorable mentions (after the jump)
Stalin Gerson* (Billings, Dayton): 80 IP, 3.01 ERA, 1.326 WHIP, 2.5 SO/BB *was not disqualified because his first name is STALIN
Blaine Howell (Dayton): 66 IP. 1.91 ERA, 1.227 WHIP, 2.16 SO/BB
Dennis Phipps (Carolina, Louisville): 511 PA, .346/.397/.527, 14 SB
Jeremy Hermida (Louisville): 450 PA, .319/.400/.524
Zach Cozart (Louisville): 350 PA, .310/.357/.467, 9 SB
Dave Sappelt (Louisville): 336 PA, .313/.377/.458
Ramon Hernandez: 328 PA, .282/.341/.446, 37% CS
Ryan Hanigan: .356 OBP, good pitch framing?
Dontrelle Willis (Louisville/Cincinnati):
L'ville: 75.1 IP, 2.63 ERA, 1.208 WHIP, 3.35 SO/BB
Cincinnati (batting): 34 PA, .387/.387/.645