Peter Botte
peterbotte.bsky.social
Peter Botte
@peterbotte.bsky.social
Sportswriter. BU alum. Tyler's/Hayley's dad. Brody’s grandpa! FishSticks/Big 50: NYY.
https://www.amazon.com/Big-50-New-York-Yankees/dp/1629377546
I don’t go by career numbers as much as the year by year. Felix was much better, & more dominant. Two ERA titles. Three top-2 Cy Young finishes, one win.
Buehrle very durable, but didn’t have one season with an ERA under 3 and only 3 under 3.50. Only received any Cy votes once in his entire career.
December 12, 2025 at 4:28 PM
I can’t speak for other voters. I would not have voted for Vlad off a 68-win team. I wouldn’t have voted for ARod the year he won for Texas or Dawson when he won for the Cubs.
Point is Abreu wasn’t considered a top-10 NL player in any season, made two AS teams. Fine player but falls short for me.
December 12, 2025 at 3:03 PM
The Phillies were 77-85. The Reds were 96-66.
Vaughn carried them. I know Abreu had a higher war. It’s not Stats of the Year. It’s MVP. It would take an extraordinary feat (like Ohtani on the angels) to vote an MVP off a bad team.
December 12, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Premium defender at a premium position. Won an MVP. I get that OBP would be appreciated more if Abreu were playing today, but zero top-10 MVP seasons.
December 12, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Extremely durable, but didn’t have one season with an ERA under 3 and only 3 under 3.50. Only received any Cy votes once in his entire career.
December 12, 2025 at 2:23 AM
It is. It’s why I came around on Rolen and was hoping Mattingly got in on the Vets ballot.
December 11, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Their overall numbers are pretty close. I’d give Felix an edge though, had a more dominant stretch. Two-time ERA leader, more All-Star teams, finished top 5 in Cy four times (including one win and two seconds). Hamels finished fifth one time.
December 11, 2025 at 4:38 PM
And you didn’t come off as rude, we are allowed to disagree.
December 18, 2024 at 8:04 PM
Same reason I don’t vote for Buehrle, who was very durable but rarely great.
December 18, 2024 at 8:02 PM
I believe you have to have an outlier year to win MVP on a terrible team, like Ohtani. I don’t believe ARod should’ve won that year in Texas. My point on Abreu is he never was considered a top player in his league/never led the league in any category except 2Bs one time. Not enough dominance for me.
December 18, 2024 at 8:02 PM
The Reds were 96-67.
December 18, 2024 at 1:57 PM
The Phillies were 77-85 that year.
December 18, 2024 at 1:55 PM
More weight because he’s a SS. Also won an MVP, while Abreu never finished top-10.
December 18, 2024 at 1:52 PM
I would argue there are different levels of actual crimes, too (felonies, misdemeanors, driving violations, etc). I consider the PED suspensions as a worse infraction than stealing signs. I also did not vote for Beltran his first year because of it.
December 16, 2024 at 9:13 PM
I will revisit them again next year. I do like Felix better, I think he had a stretch of dominance, which Abreu never did. (No top-10 MVPs, never led league in anything except doubles one time).
December 16, 2024 at 6:35 PM
Pedroia was my closest no vote, but I foresee adding him, maybe even next year.
December 16, 2024 at 6:17 PM
Most of the egregious Hall of Famers were put in by the Vets committees.
December 16, 2024 at 6:06 PM
I stand by it.
December 16, 2024 at 6:04 PM
Lee Smith was not voted in by the writers, but by a 16-person vets committee. He was on the writers ballot for the full 15 years and never got particularly close.
December 16, 2024 at 6:04 PM
Pedroia was my closest No vote. Will reconsider next year.
December 16, 2024 at 5:27 PM