Three Rockies earn MVP votes

Nolan Arenado a head-scratching fifth in MVP voting | Roxpile

Kevin Henry has a write up on the results of the National League Most Valuable Player award, which, despite certain media reports, did not go to Nolan Arenado. In all seriousness, Nolan was a huge longshot to actually win the award, but it does seem he finished lower than he deserved. Henry appeals to more traditional stats to make his case like home runs and Gold Gloves, but Arenado also finished second in the National League with 6.5 bWAR, second in slugging percentage, eighth in wOBA, and also won the Fielding Bible award, and played the most games in the NL. Granted, the Nationals’ Daniel Murphy and the Cubs’ Kris Bryant (who won the award) were ahead of him in several of these categories. However, it still seems that Arenado got #Coorsed in finishing so low.

On a plus side, DJ LeMahieu finished with five votes (three ninth place and two tenth) and Charlie Blackmon snuck in with one tenth place vote. This serves as a great coda to the two players finishing with the best seasons of their careers. You can find the full results from MLB.com here.

MLB is considering major changes to roster sizes | FOX Sports

Focus now switches to the upcoming deadline for the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The owners and Players Association has until December 1 to agree on a new CBA for the upcoming season. There are many things on the table, but one that appears to be gaining at least a little traction is changing rules about roster sizes, especially in September. It’s become increasingly apparent over the past several years that September roster expansion creates an entirely different environment for the game right when the games themselves matter most. One proposed solution seems to be adding a 26th roster spot during the regular season as a means of compromise. This seems like a reasonable enough solution, except you know it will be just another excuse for teams to carry yet another reliever, furthering the endless parades of relievers in the late innings of games. So it seems, as with most things in life, proposed solutions create more, or at exacerbates, problems than they originally intended to resolve.

A Roadmap for a Potential MLB Work Stoppage | Fangraphs

If you really want to dig into everything on the table for the CBA negotiations, Fangraphs offers this piece which, despite its alarmist title, offers a lot of helpful information.