Jose Altuve won the 2016 Player of the Year award at the Players Choice Awards. Altuve was one homer and four RBI from a .338-25-105-100-30 line. A stupendous season for Mighty Mouse.

The NL Award went to Daniel Murphy who was outstanding for the Nationals. Murphy went .347-25-104, all career best numbers. He also had 47 doubles, another career best, while his 88 runs scored were the second most he’s swiped. He had a .985 OPS too in one hell of a season. Here is a list of the rest of the winners.

Cody Anderson had arthroscopic debridement on his elbow. He should return to throwing in eight weeks. Anderson went 2-5 with a 6.68 ERA and 1.62 WHIP over 60.2 innings for the Indians last season. He’s not worth anything in fantasy.

The Cardinals are seemingly intent on entering spring next year with about 23 starting pitching options. They recently brought back Jaime Garcia, a dubious move according to this scribe. Now we’re getting word that former all-star level closer Trevor Rosenthal, a guy with two 45-save seasons, will be stretched out in spring to see if he can enter the rotation. Rosenthal, Garcia, Adam Wainwright, Mike Leake, Carlos Martinez, Alex Reyes, Michael Wacha, Lance Lynn, Marco Gonzalez… on and on. Speaking of Wacha the team wants him to add a lot of heft to his physique in the hope that it will help him to add enough mass so that he can avoid the shoulder issues that have plagued him.

Zack Cozart might be dealt this offseason. The 31 year old shortstop is arbitration eligible for the final time this offseason. A decent ballplayer, he can’t hit. He did hit 16 homer with 50 RBI and 67 runs scored so if you’re in an “only” league and he’s playing daily OK, but no way in a mixed league.

R.A. Dickey has signed with the Braves. To see more about those men looking for new clubs this offseason make sure you check out the 2017 MLB FREE AGENT TRACKER. Dickey is just a guy at this point. After 5-straight efforts over 200-innings he fell to 169.2 last season with a 4.46 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. He did post a 3.57 ERA last season in 14 road starts as a minor positive.

Brian Dozier is owed $6 million next season and $9 million in 2018. Sounds like teams are a calling the Twins and they are listening. Return is going to be huge if they deal him given that cost after Dozier went .268-42-99-104-18 last season. Of course, he will never repeat that overall line, but you already knew that.

The Giants are looking to solve the main issue that plagued them this season – the ninth inning. They have contacted the agents for Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon. The first two arms are said to be looking for $100 million, a sum I simply cannot see the Giants paying. At least the club from the Bay is intent on doing something. Speaking of bullpens, Jeurys Familia pleaded not guilty to his domestic violence charges Thursday. For more on Familia see Award Talk & More.

Zack Greinke went 13-7 with a 4.37 ERA and 1.27 WHIP over 26 starts in his first season in the desert. GM Mike Hazen said the team has no intention of dealing Greinke who signed a 6-year, $206.5 million deal last offseason. Greinke should be a lot better next season.

The Jays want back Edwin Encarnacion. They aren’t willing to pay enough money at the moment. For more see Free Agency is Coming.

Lance McCullers dealt with an elbow sprain last season that cost him a big chunk of the season half. The expectation is that he will be completely fine heading into the 2017 season. His agent, Scott Boras said so. It must be true then (uh huh). "There's nothing from the doctors that we've heard that would suggest that there's going to be any problem for '17," Scott Boras said. McCullers is a borderline elite talent who has a 12-12 record over 206.2 career innings. Check out some other numbers that speak to the talent: 10.23 K/9, 1.81 GB/FB ratio. He has to get the walks in check though as his 3.83 BB/9 career mark stinks and his 5.00 mark from 2016 is atrocious. If he throws more strikes, and stays healthy, he takes off in 2017.

Jose Ramirez was an out of nowhere star level performer in the fantasy game this season as he went from the waiver-wire to the penthouse thanks to his .312-11-76-84-22 line. What an effort. Ramirez will qualify at third base (117 games) and the outfield (48 games) next season. “He was so good at third base both offensively and defensively. But he’s a natural second baseman, and can play shortstop and the outfield,” Indians GM Mike Chernoff said. “It gives us a lot of options, and opens up a lot of possibilities.” He will be playing daily next season somewhere, but it may not be at third base depending on what happens in free agency this offseason.

The Rockies plan to keep Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez next season according to GM Jeff Bridich. CarGo will make $20 million while Blackmon is up for arbitration and will see his $3.5 million salary explode. Gonzalez hit “only” 25 homers last season, but for the second straight year he played more than 150-games which is huge. He also produced a 3-year high with his .298 batting average and a six year high with 100 RBI. His .855 OPS was just off his .868 career mark. He can still mash at 31 years of age. Blackmon started slowly and foot woes limited him to just 17 steals after averaging 36 the previous two years. Still, how can anyone complain about a guy who hits a career best .324 with a career best 29 homers, 82 RBI and 111 runs scored? Yep, ya really can’t.

I actually laughed when I read the following story. Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi said that Hyun-Jin Ryu will be in the rotation in 2017 if he’s healthy. “If healthy, he’s still one of the top starting pitchers in the NL,” Zaidi said, “but he’s been through a lot physically since he was at that point. Hilarious. Ryu has thrown 4.2 big league innings the last two seasons. You can decide who is right, me or Zaidi, but come on. Some honesty out of front office types, for once, would be nice.

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).