MVP, Cy Young, ROY, Manager of the Year...

Who should win them? Who will win them?


here's my picks:



AL MVP

Dustin Pedroia - Boston Red Sox/ASU Sun Devils

[image=http://www.thediamondangle.com/archive/may04/asu/2b_big.jpg]

Carlos Quentin getting hurt at the end of the season, Josh Hamilton fading away, and A-Rod getting hurt early opened this up for Pedroia IMO. Pedroia was second in the AL in batting average, by two measly points. He was first in runs scored with 118, and he tied for the league lead in hits. Ichiro Suzuki and Pedroia both had 213 hits, but Pedroia did it in 33 less at bats.



NL MVP

Albert Pujols - St. Louis Cardinals

[image=http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects/Baseball/Hitting/Images/Hitters/AlbertPujols/AlbertPujols_003.jpg]

Ryan Howard will NOT be stealing this away from Pujols again. Pujols was the only player this season to finish in the top 5 of every triple crown category. He hit .357, second to only Chipper Jones. He hit 37 home runs, tied for 4th in the NL. And he drove in 116 runs, once again 4th in the NL. He had the highest OPS, second most walks, and third most hits in the NL. He had 100 runs as well... this should be a no brainer for the voters.



AL Cy Young

Cliff Lee - Cleveland Indians

[image=http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070618/070618_cliff_hmed_7p.hmedium.jpg]

The only two people that even came close to Lee this season were Dice-K and Halladay... but they're both way back. Lee had the best record in the AL, 22-3... it's not even close. Dice-K has the next best at 18-3(18 wasn't the second most wins, but as far as total record goes, 18-3 is better then Mussina's 20-9 and Halladay's 20-11) Lee's 2.54 ERA was the AL's best by a wide margin.(Halladay's 2.78 was second) Lee pitched the second most amount of innings in the AL, and did that in only 31 starts, that's 2-3 less starts then everyone else in the top 10 in innings pitched except for one other person. Cliff Lee should be the unanimous winner here.


NOTE: I would like to add that this picture also came up in google's image search when I typed in Cliff Lee. I can only assume that one of these people is Inty.




NL Cy Young

Brandon Webb - Arizona Diamondbacks

[image=http://suttonplace.mlblogs.com/brandon%20webb.jpg]

Alright, I'll admit my bias here. But let's look at the facts kids, Lincecum pitched with no pressure all season, his team was mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in spring training. Webb had 4 more wins then anyone else in the NL. Lincecum had the 7th most amount of walks in the NL, Webb had the 24th most. Lincecum had 25% of his team's total wins, Webb had 27% of his team's total wins. Webb's inflated ERA? All from 3 starts. Webb had the worst 3 start stretch of his career and still finished the season with a 3.30 ERA. In all of his other starts, Webb had a 2.70 ERA. Lincecum's league leading 17 wild pitches have to be accounted for as well. Webb is a groundball pitcher, Lincecum is a strikeout pitcher. Webb led the league in groundball outs, Lincecum led the league in strikeouts. But how did they fare in their opponents category? Lincecum finished 31st in groundball outs while Webb finished 11th in strikeouts.



AL Rookie Of The Year

Evan Longoria - Tampa Bay Rays

[image=http://socialbaron.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/evan_longoria_rays_042008.jpg]

Not too many candidates this season... it's pretty much between Jacoby Ellsbury, Alexei Ramirez and Evan Longoria. Ellsbury's 98 runs and 50 stolen bases look great. But Longoria led all rookies in doubles, homers, RBI's, OBP, Slugging PCT, and OPS. Not to mention he's already a leader on his team.



NL Rookie Of The Year

Joey Votto - Cincinnati Reds / Geovany Soto - Chicago Cubs

(couldn't find a picture of Votto)

[image=http://www.knucklecurve.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/geovany-soto-cubs-catcher_nc.jpg]

ok, these two had nearly identical seasons, so I

 

Good picks overall. Here's mine:

AL MVP- Dustin Pedroia
In a year without a dominating offensive performance, you go with quality scrappiness. That's Dustin.
Honorable Mentions - Cliff Lee; Kevin Youkilis; Josh Hamilton; Carlos Quentin; Milton Bradley; Ian Kinsler.

NL MVP - Albert Pujols
He was so thoroughly the best player in the NL this year, I don't know why we're discussing it.
Honorable Mentions - Manny Ramirez; CC Sabathia; David Wright; Chase Utley

AL Cy Young - Cliff Lee
Need I add anything to what has already been said. The guy was good enough that I'd be okay if he won MVP, not just the Cy Young. If the overrated Francisco Rodriguez steals a first-place vote, I'll be unbelievably cranky.
Honorable Mentions - Daisuke Matsuzaka; Roy Halladay

NL Cy Young - CC Sabathia
I don't care if he wasn't in the NL for the full season. He dominated like a Pedro Martinez, a Sandy Koufax, or a Lefty Grove. Brandon Webb had a fine season, but you could make the argument that Danny Haren is Arizona's best pitcher. Lincecum was great, and would be deserving, but Sabathia's superhuman efforts have swayed my heart.
Honorable Mentions - Tim Lincecum; Brandon Webb; Danny Haren; Brad Lidge

AL Manager of the Year - Joe Maddon
No one else should even be considered.
Honorable Mentions - None

NL Manager of the Year - Lou Piniella
The Cubs were the best team in the National League from April through September, never stumbling even as the CC-led Brewers made a ferocious charge. Given all the hype, the hope, and the drama surrounding Chicago, that Piniella not only led his team to such a great season, but did so without exploding like a firecracker on the Fourth of July, is very impressive.
Honorable Mention - Joe Torre

AL Rookie of the Year - Evan Longoria
He'll win MVP awards if he stays healthy. He was the best player on the winner of the best division, and that merits an award.
Honorable Mentions - Alexei Ramirez; Jacoby Ellsbury

NL Rookie of the Year - Geovany Soto
He established himself as the best catcher in the National League. He's more better at catcher than Votto is at first base.
Honorable Mention - Joey Votto

 

CC Sabathia won't even finish in the top 3 in Cy Young voting. Brad Lidge and Johan Santana will both finish ahead of him.


EDIT: and watching over 25 starts this season by both pitchers, I can assure you that Haren is not the best Diamondback pitcher.

 

I'm just saying that statistically speaking, the guys are interchangeable, with Haren having a slight edge in a number of categories. I don't think CC will win, but if the award was mine to give, he'd be the guy.

 

I'd also give it to Sabathia, despite the half season. While in the NL, he was just too dominant, and combine that with single-handedly putting the Brewers in the playoffs down the stretch... he'd get my vote.

 

AL MVP: Dustin Pedroia, no real contest here both Quentin and Hamilton just faded. Hamilton probably would have won it due to the Boston hate but he just didn't post the numbers needed.
NL MVP: Albert Pujols, not pleased to say it but he is something else, he could become one of the all time greats.
AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee absolutely dominated. He was so good it was scary.
NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, any talk of CC getting the NL Cy Young should just stop. Webb and Lincecum is a tough one to decide between but Lincecum gets my choice simply because he came out of no where and dominated. Webb has proven he is a force to be reckoned with but Lincecum is younger and was able to win 18 games with a terrible team.
AL Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon, what he did with Tampa is what the great stories are made of. Tampa all ways had young talent but to unite them and finally come out of obscurity was the product of Joe Maddon.
NL Manager of the Year: Lou Piniella. Torre doesn't deserve it nor should he be credited for the Dodgers success, he struggled in his National League comeback and it wasn't till Manny came that the Dodgers found any consistency. 97 wins is still impressive even if he couldn't give them that ever elusive "next year"
AL Rookie: Evan Longoria, this player alone gives me faith that the Rays won't be the laughing stock of baseball anymore.
NL Rookie: Geovany Soto, I see the case for Votto but Soto deserves it. Not only did he put up impressive offensive numbers but we have also have a Gold Glove catcher here, to both is all most never seen

 

You saying Lincecum was a better pitcher than Sabathia, or that your criteria requires a full season with the club?

 

Full year

 

Normally I would want a Cy Young candidate to have a full year as well... but Sabathia was just so good and utterly dominating that requiring a full year in this case seems almost silly. Hence, my vote would be Sabathia.

 

Funny thing is, Sabathia had 11 wins in 17 starts. double those numbers and it would be 22 wins in 34 starts. You know who did that? Webb.


Sabathia was lucky enough to not have a chance to blow it in a full season of play in the NL.

 

Clearly, you're all missing the obvious candidate here: Casey Blake. He should win both MVP's.

 

lol.


...



lol.

 

Cliff Lee is going to win the AL Cy Young, BUT Doc Halladay SHOULD win it. The problem is that the people that vote on it will only look at win-loss record and ERA. Halladay faced tougher competition in the AL East and received far less run support (4.72) per outing than Lee (6.13). Halladay had 11 losses, true, but he only had 24 combined runs to work with in those appearances, which included three complete-game losses in a row. Consider that, compared to Lee, Halladay logged more innings, had a better strikeout-to-walk ratio, a better WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched), more than twice as many complete games, and averaged more strikeouts per nine innings and fewer pitches per frame, while holding opponents to a lower batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The stats point to Halladay having the more impressive season.

 

Regardless of run support, a pitcher that loses double-digit games will not and should not win the Cy Young. I'm not saying that Roy Halladay didn't have a great season, because he did. But he should not win the Cy Young.

 

Halladay did edge Lee in some categories, but by very small margins in most of them.

 

Right - small leads in several categories, but Lee with a similar lead in ERA and a MAJOR lead in record.

 

I won't go that absolute, but I'd be willing to say that 99.99% of the time, that's the case.

I can see if a guy goes 22-11 with a sub-two era still winning the Cy Young. Unlikely in today's game, but possible.

 

Halladay is an excellent pitcher though, and if anybody steals votes from Lee, I'd rather it be him than Rodriguez.

 

Double-digit losers have won the Cy Young before - though, admittedly, that was in the days when pitchers pitched more than they do now.

 

That doesn't count. I'm talking about when pitchers start 35 games in a season, tops, and usually a little under that. When they started 50... thats a different story entirely.

But those days won't be back.

 

And that's too bad. I can live with five or six innings pitched if you go to a four-man rotation, but teams seem to feel that pitchers need to be babied in both respects.

 

Longoria and Soto take the ROYs, as expected.

Jair Jurrjens placed 3rd in the NL voting, which I'm glad of - he deserves it.

 

Soto beat out Votto 158-76... not as close as it probably should have been, but still, either were deserving.

 

Tim Lincecum wins the Cy Young award

 

Unfortunately for this year's NL Cy Young award, no one won it. Brandon Webb had it won and threw it away, Lincecum was just the guy that picked up the scraps. He wasn't the true winner, just the guy that had to be picked since Webb let 3 starts ruin his season.