SB Nation MLB Awards 2015: Hitter of the Year

It has been 43 days since the Padres' 2015 season came to an end and 15 days since the World Series was won. The offseason is well underway with the Padres roster already looking a little different than it did on October 4th. But before we put the 2015 season in our collective memory bank and go full steam ahead for 2016, we're going to ask you to help us out in determining the best players and moments of this past year.

As many of you know, each year SB Nation holds its own end-of-the-season baseball awards. It was once just our own version of the BBWAA Awards also held yearly around this time (Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, MVP, etc.). In recent years SBN has transformed its yearly awards to make it more distinct. And this year they've taken feedback from previous awards seasons to create something everyone can enjoy.

There will be five categories, and YOU GUYS will help us vote on winners for each. Every day this week, we'll be announcing the category and listing our nominees in a poll, where you'll vote for your picks. The results of these polls will be factored into the league-wide final vote and SB Nation will announce the winners next week.

The voting schedule will be as follows:
TODAY, November 16: Hitter of the Year (MLB-wide)
Tuesday, November 17: Pitcher of the Year (MLB-wide)
Wednesday, November 18: Defensive Play of the Year (Padres only)
Thursday, November 19: Bat Flip / Celebration of the Year (Padres only)
Friday, November 20: Best breakage of Unofficial Rules (MLB-wide)

So onto our first vote, the aforementioned MLB Hitter of the Year. We've been given no criteria or rules on how to vote, so it's really up to you to determine who you consider to be the best hitter in all of MLB in 2015. Be as objective or subjective as you want, because we aren't the BBWAA and we can do that. Also because our SBN front office, if you will, told us team sites we can define each category however we want, and I want you to follow your heart and vote however you like, even if that means not voting for any Dodgers ever just because they're Dodgers.

For simplicity's sake, I will list five nominees in a poll at the bottom of this post. I'm picking guys who are probably no-brainers, by conventional means, in this category. You will also have the option to nominate your own choices for Hitter of the Year. Just drop a comment in this post indicating your nomination. If others agree with your choice, they can rec your comment to place their votes that way as well.

I'll be closing the poll (and cutting off voting in the comments) at 4:05 am PT tomorrow, so get your votes in before then.

Tomorrow we'll be voting on MLB Pitcher of the Year, and we'll be giving you guys a chance to help us choose those nominees later today, so stay tuned for that and start thinking of your picks.