Midseason Baseball Awards

I meant to post this like two weeks ago. Oops. do not take into account anything that has happened since the All-Star Break.

We all know that Major League Baseball writers will not pass out their awards until October when they do it over the course of a two week period, but that does not mean I cannot hand out my first-half awards.

American League Rookie of the Year

If Carlos Santana was called up by Cleveland sooner than June, he might be a more serious contender to win the award. For now, I will go with Detroit Tigers Outfielder Brennan Boesch. He was named the AL Rookie of the month for the first two months of the season and is hitting a sparkling .342 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI’s. He trails the AL batting title by only .004 heading into the break and is sure to be a contender for the title if he holds up down the stretch.

National League Rookie of the Year

This is actually a very tough call and it has come down to two guys for me that have not even been in the Major Leagues the entire season: Buster Posey and Stephen Strasburg. In just 38 games, Posey has hit .350 with 7 home runs and 25 RBI’s. Strasburg has been for the most part dominant. In his first start, he struck out 14 Pirates (yeah, I know it’s the Pirates but still, he also walk zero batters!). Overall he is 3-2, with a 2.32 ERA with a ridiculous 61 strikeouts and 11 walks in just 42.2 innings. Don’t forget about that 1.01 WHIP. For now, I’ll go with Strasburg. Apologies to Jaime Garcia and Stephen Strasburg

American League Manager of the Year

Over the last 30 games, The Chicago White Sox are 25-5 and have vaulted into first place in the AL Central; however, the AL Central is always a division up for grabs. What nobody really expected this year was for The Texas Rangers to be leading the AL West at the All-Star Break; therefore, Ron Washington gets my vote at Texas (for now).

National League Manager of the Year

There are a lot of fresh faces at the top of divisions in the National League, but none more phenomenal to me than The San Diego Padres. Bud Black has done a tremendous job getting the Padres to a 51-37 record and two game lead in the NL West despite their shortcomings. Exactly what shortcomings? Well, for one, The Padres hit .250 as a team which is 25th out of 30 Major League Teams. How do you overcome that? Well, a league-leading 3.25 ERA does not hurt, as the Padres pitching staff has been the backbone of this team since Opening Day. For the Padres to contend down the stretch, I still think they need to get another bat in their lineup, especially to provide protection to Adrian Gonzalez (I mean seriously, why does anyone pitch to this guy? His protection is Scott Hairston who hits an incredible .241!)

American League Cy Young Award

Lot of good candidates out there, but right now Tampa Bay’s David Price is tied for the league lead in wins (12) and is the leading ERA man (2.45 ERA). Combine that with a 1.20 WHIP and 100 strikeouts in 115.1 IP and you have yourself a Cy Young Award winner.






National League Cy Young Award winner

You tell me.

Ubaldo Jimenez 15-1, 2.20 ERA, 1.05 WHIP
Josh Johnson 9-3, 1.70 ERA, 0.96 WHIP
Adam Wainwright 13-5, 2.11 ERA, 1.00 WHIP
Roy Halladay 10-7, 2.19 ERA, 1.05 WHIP

I do not even know where to begin. It is very hard to overlook the 15-1 record though. It’s Jimenez for now, but this race is on.

American League MVP

The Detroit Tigers trail the AL Central by ½ game heading into the break. A big reason why is Miguel Cabrera. He leads the AL in hitting (.346), RBI’s (77) and is only 2 jacks off the home run lead. Can you say Triple Crown? That’s more than enough to override the credentials of the other contenders in this category.

National League MVP

Adrian Gonzalez (Please see above under NL Manager of the Year category)

I know the Padres backbone is their star studded pitching staff, but there is no way in hell they are in first place or even contending with Adrian Gonzalez, who somehow is hitting .301 with 18 home runs and 56 RBI’s with no legitimate hitters in front of him, or behind him.