First half awards, except Manager of the Year which I could careless about. The smart managers are usually smart every year and the dumb managers are usually dumb every year. The award itself is striclty based preseason predictions and who exceeds them.

 

National League

 

Starting with the MVP of course in my view it is still Albert Pujols' award to lose but in the view of the baseball writer's it appers to be David Wright's award to lose. If the Mets continue to blow away the rest of the N.L. and Wright continues to hit as his current pace he many win the award rather easiy. As you'll see I don't even consider Wright the best player on his team in the first half. Carlos Beltran is getting zero respect simply because he signed a huge contract and because he underachived last year. You'll hear Jose Reyes' name mentioned for MVP more than Beltran's.

 

10. Nick Johnson, Nationals

.295/.421/.538, 65 RC, .319 EQA, 33.8 VORP, 16 Win Shares

 

9. Carlos Lee, Brewers

.290/.353/.563, 69 RC, .297 EQA, 27.8 VORP, 17 Win Shares

 

8. Bobby Abreu, Phillies

.293/.447/.467, 69 RC, .312 EQA, 27.8 VORP, 17 Win Shares

 

7. Jose Reyes, Mets

.300/.357/.481, 71 RC, .285 EQA, 34.5 VORP, 17 Win Shares

 

6. Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks

183 ERA+, 4.90 K/BB, 1.11 WHIP, 51.2 VORP, 15 Win Shares

 

5. David Wright, Mets

.316/.386/.575, 75 RC, .310 EQA, 36.8 VORP, 17 Win Shares

 

4. Miguel Cabrera, Marlins

.334/.442/.566, 73 RC, .325 EQA, 42.2 VORP, 16 Win Shares

 

3. Lance Berkman, Astros

.317/.405/.607, 77 RC, .320 EQA, 36.9 VORP, 19 Win Shares

 

2. Carlos Beltran, Mets

.279/.388/.606, 69 RC, .315 EQA, 38.7 VORP, 20 Win Shares

 

1. Albert Pujols, Cardinals

.316/.435/.703, 79 RC, .350 EQA, 46.4 VORP, 22 Win Shares

 

For Cy Young this was a pretty easy choice of Brandon Webb as he's been a cut above the competition all year. Jason Schmidt is not getting any notice because of a 6-5 record but he's been dominant. For 3rd it was a toss up between Chris Capuano and Bronson Arroyo but I gave the nod to Capuano for his K/BB ratio.

 

3. Chris Capuano, Brewers

141 ERA+, 4.48 K/BB, 1.18 WHIP, 39.0 VORP, 13 Win Shares

 

2. Jason Schmidt, Giants

163 ERA+, 2.50 K/BB, 1.11 WHIP, 44.4 VORP, 12 Win Shares

 

1. Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks

 

Rookie of the Year is another fairly easy choice of Dan Uggla although if I had to bet I think Ryan Zimmerman may end up emerging as the top rookie by the end of the year. Prince Fielder has only 8 Win Shares and a .320 OBP in case you were wondering where he is.

 

3. Hanley Ramirez, Marlins

.271/.337/.413, 50 RC, .268 EQA, 19.1 VORP, 10 Win Shares

 

2. Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals

.287/.350/.478, 58 RC, .278 EQA, 15.3 VORP, 13 Win Shares

 

1. Dan Uggla, Marlins

.307/.366/.510, 61 RC, .292 EQA, 30.0 VORP, 13 Win Shares

 

American League

 

Travis Hafner I think deserves the crown as the most underrated player in baseball now. He's arguably been the best hitter in baseball not named Albert Pujols over the last two and a half years yet he still has yet to make an All-Star team. The race is wide open but Hafner doesn't have a prayer unless the Indians go on another second half run and even then it seems highly unlikely they'll get close enough to the Tigers and White Sox for anyone to really notice. Where's David Ortiz? This was actually the first time all year I even gave consideration to Ortiz but he ended about 12th for me. The writers love him because he's "clutch" yet he's hitting a modest .280 with RISP and of course because he leads the leauge in the almighty RBI. Manny Ramirez is besting him in AVG/OBP/SLG and has hit .303 with RISP.

 

10. Curtis Granderson, Tigers

.278/.367/.462, 64 RC, .285 EQA, 23.1 VORP, 17 Win Shares

 

9. Carl Crawford, Devil Rays

.319/.359/.521, 72 RC, .297 EQA, 28.9 VORP, 17 Win Shares

 

8. Jason Giambi, Yankees

.260/.415/.611, 70 RC, .329 EQA, 33.5 VORP, 15 Win Shares

 

7. Johan Santana, Twins

155 ERA+, 5.75 K/BB, 1.00 WHIP, 42.9 VORP, 15 Win Shares

 

6. Derek Jeter, Yankees

.345/.427/.462, 68 RC, .314 EQA, 42.0 VORP, 16 Win Shares

 

5. Jermaine Dye, White Sox

.318/.397/.646, 66 RC, .326 EQA, 36.2 VORP, 16 Win Shares

 

4. Manny Ramirez, Red Sox

.306/.434/.615, 70 RC, .335 EQA, 38.4 VORP, 17 Win Shares

 

3. Joe Mauer, Twins

.378/.447/.535, 60 RC, .331 EQA, 44.2 VORP, 18 Win Shares

 

2. Jim Thome, White Sox

.298/.414/.651, 80 RC, .334 EQA, 43.4 VORP, 18 Win Shares

 

1. Travis Hafner, Indians

.322/.461/.650, 88 RC, .361 EQA, 55.8 VORP, 17 Win Shares

 

For Cy Young there are three candidates that are head and shoulders above everyone else. I couldn't put Liriano over Santana and Halladay because Liriano has thrown 40+ fewer innings. If they were hitters he'd have about 120+ less plate appearances. That's tough to make up.

 

3. Francisco Liriano, Twins

250 ERA+, 4.43 K/BB, 0.97 WHIP, 41.9 VORP, 14 Win Shares

 

2. Roy Halladay, Blue Jays

164 ERA+, 4.50 K/BB, 1.03 WHIP, 44.0 VORP, 14 Win Shares

 

1. Johan Santana, Twins

 

ROY was a pretty easy list to put together. Myself personally I think both Liriano and Papelbon will level off in the second half as there is no way two rookie pitcher's are going to be this unstoppable all year long. Papelbon's ERA+ is insane but he'll have some bad luck eventually that will shoot that ERA up.

 

3. Justin Verlander, Tigers

147 ERA+, 2.09 K/BB, 1.17 WHIP, 35.4 VORP, 12 Win Shares

 

2. Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox

803 ERA+, 5.88 K/BB, 0.72 WHIP, 28.3 VORP, 12 Win Shares

 

1. Francisco Liriano, Twins