Miggy heads Tigers' large group of 2013 GIBBY nominees

Miggy heads Tigers' large group of GIBBY nominees
Cabrera, Scherzer, Sanchez, Iglesias and Leyland among those in running

By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 10/31/2013 10:00 A.M. ET

Miguel Cabrera isn't just looking to repeat as the winner of the American League Most Valuable Player Award. He's also in line for more GIBBYs.

Depending on how the voting goes, he has a very strong case to repeat at the Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards presented by MLB.com.

Major League Baseball's A-listers will take home 2013 GIBBY trophies -- the ultimate honors of the industry's awards season -- based on votes by media, front-office personnel, MLB alumni, fans at MLB.com and the Society for American Baseball Research.

This year's GIBBY Awards feature nominees in 22 categories. Individual honors will go to the MLB MVP, in addition to the year's best starting pitcher, hitter, closer, setup man, rookie, breakout hitter, breakout pitcher, comeback player, defensive player, manager, executive and postseason performer.

GIBBY trophies also will be awarded for the year's top play, storyline, hitting performance, pitching performance, oddity, walk-off, Cut4 topic, regular-season moment and postseason moment, from MLB.com's Must C highlight reels.

Cabrera won the top two honors last year, taking Major League MVP and hitter of the year honors for his Triple Crown season. He's up for both again after leading the AL in batting average for a third consecutive year, OPS for a second year in a row and finishing second in home runs and RBIs.

In addition, Cabrera's three-homer Sunday night performance in Texas in May is up for the best single-game hitting performance of the year. His competition in that category includes teammate Omar Infante, whose 5-for-5, six-RBI performance against the Royals in September made the list.

Cabrera isn't the only Tigers player up for consideration in three different categories. The slick-fielding shortstop to his left, Jose Iglesias, is among the finalists for top rookie and defensive player of the year, while his tumbling, barehanded grab and throw against the White Sox in August is one of the front-runners for play of the year.


Two-fifths of Detroit's rotation is under consideration for starting pitcher of the year. One, of course, is Max Scherzer, whose 21-3 record, 2.90 ERA and 240 strikeouts make him a leading contender. The other, Anibal Sanchez, quietly posted the best ERA in the AL while recording 202 strikeouts over 182 innings.

Drew Smyly was a surprise consideration for setup man of the year, a nomination that might well have gone to Joaquin Benoit had he not taken over the closer's role at midseason. Jim Leyland is a finalist for top manager, and Dave Dombrowski is up for top executive.

Prince Fielder landed two highlights for consideration for top the Cut4 category. One was his grab at a fan's order of nachos while chasing after a foul ball. The other was a Fielder lookalike in the stands at Citi Field in New York in August.

In the past five years, fans have cast more than 50 million votes across the various GIBBY categories, none of which was restricted to individual League affiliation. Fans can vote through Sunday, December 1.

Winners will be presented their GIBBY trophies at the MLB.com Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards extravaganza during the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.