MLB End of the Year Awards

So, we have finally reached the end of the 2007 MLB Season. A 162 game season that had 163 games for 2 teams. A season that saw one of, if not the worst collapse in baseball history. A season that saw one league have all 4 playoff spots clinched before the other league had 1. Most of all, a season that displayed tremendous athletic ability. So, without further ado, here are my selections for the End of the Year Awards, along with my preseason picks. (Also, for the record, my division picks were not so hot. AL: NYY, DET, LAA, and MIN. NL: NYM, MIL, SD, and LAD)


AWARDS

AL MVP
And the award goes to: Alex Rodriguez NYY - This is not a terribly difficult pick to make. While there were other very deserving players who I will list in my also rans, Alex Rodriguez was the only thing keeping the Yankees afloat in the first 2.5 months of the season. He was winning games for them that they probably should have lost. The Yankees were 14.5 games back of Boston, and it would've been a lot worse had he not had the season he had. He batted .314, led the majors in runs scored (143), RBI (156), and homeruns (54). He became only the fifth player in the history of the sport to hit more than 50 HRs and drive in more than 150 runs. All this added to his 500th career homerun made this one special season for ARod, or as Yankee fans have been calling him lately, STAY Rod.

Also worthy of contention: Magglio Ordonez DET, Vladamir Guerrero LAA - Both men had outstanding years. Ordonez dominated AL pitching, compiling a batting average of .363. Pair that with a #4 showing in the AL in runs scored (117), #2 in the AL in RBI (139), #2 in hits behind only Ichiro (216), and #1 in MLB in doubles (54), Ordonez was one of the most impressive statistical players all year. But with Detroit fading out of the playoff picture, ARod seems more valuable. Guerrero also had a monster year statistically. A .324 batting average, 125 RBI, and 45 doubles all put Guerrero towards the top in AL. The Angels beneiftted from outstanding pitching which won a lot of games, hurting Guerrero in the MVP race.

Preseason Pick: Alex Rodriguez NYY - Hit this one square on the head.



NL MVP
And the award goes to: Matt Holliday COL - This race was just as close as all the division races in the National League. This race came down to three players for me, one from each division. Each were deserving, but Holliday took the cake for me for a couple of reasons. First, his stats. He led the NL in batting average (.340), was third in runs (119), was second in RBI (135), first in hits (216), first in doubles (50), fourth in homeruns (36). Secondly, he pretty much put the Rockies on his back and brought them to the playoffs for the first time since 1995. This was a team that not many people thought (if any) would make the playoffs. And of course, who scores the winning run (albeit controversial) in last night's elimination game against the Padres? Right, Holliday. He does it all.

Also worthy of contention: Ryan Howard PHI, Prince Fielder MIL - As I said earlier, anyone could've won this race. Both Howard and Fielder had monster seasons. Howard led the NL in RBI (136.. only 1 more than Holliday), and was second in the NL in homeruns (47). Fielder was seventh in the NL in runs scored (109), third in RBI (119), and first in homeruns (50). In my opinion, they lost this award in the way their teams finished the season. Milwaukee looked like it might make the playoffs for about 3/4 of the season. Then, they fell apart. As well as Fielder and Braun played, their pitching did them in. As for Philadelphia, yes they made the playoffs and I don't want to take anything away from them, but I think their making the playoffs had more to do with the Met collapse. Yes they played well against the mets destroying them in the season series. But, had the Mets won 2 more games, the Phillies wouldn't be here. So over the last 17 games, the Mets went 5-12. I don't think it's too much to ask for a supposed top tier team to go atleast 7-10 over a 17 game stretch.

Preseason Pick: Carlos Beltran NYM - Beltran looked great the first month or so of the season, and I thought I was going to go 2 for 2 in my MVP picks. LOL Oh how I was wrong!



AL Cy Young
And the award goes to: C.C. Sabathia CLE - This is another award that has many deserving candidates. Sabathia, in my opinion takes the award though. He was 19-7 (only one win behind the major league leader), with an ERA of 3.21 and 209 strikeouts. Pair that with the fact that he led the Indians to tie for the best record in baseball, he wins. His numbers are very similar to my #2 (one less win, a couple of points better on the ERA, and 15 more strikeouts).

Also worthy of contention: Josh Beckett BOS, John Lackey LAA, Eric Bedard BAL - Beckett is my #2 here. I think that he is just as deserving as Sabathia. Maybe it is my hatred of the Red Sox that keeps him from the award, but one more win doesn't mean you take the cake. He pitched extremely well and I find it hard to criticize anything he has done this season (20-7, 3.27 ERA, 194 SO). Lackey as well could easily be picked for the award (19-9, 3.01 ERA, 179 SO). An ERA of 3.01 was second only to Jake Peavy in all the Majors. Lastly, I don't necessarily think Bedard should win, but his season really needs to be recognized. Being the ace of a staff that is awful at best, Bedard compiled a 13-5 record, good for fifth best winning percentage in the AL. He also had an minute ERA of 3.16 while striking out 221, good for fourth in all the majors.

Preseason Pick: Johan Santana MIN - Although he was third in the majors in strikeouts, this was not the same dominating season we have all become accustomed to by Santana.



NL Cy Young
And the award goes to: Jake Peavy SD - This is probably the easiest pick of them all. Peavy, although unable to get a win for the Padres in the Elimination Game, dominated the National League bats all year. He was the only starting pitcher in the majors to have an ERA under 3 (2.54), he led the majors in strikeouts (240), and he led the National League in wins (19-6). In other awards, I have knocked people from winning because their team didn't make the playoffs. In this case, no one is even close to Peavy, so the award is his.

Also worthy of contention: Brandon Webb ARI, Brad Penny LAD, Aaron Harang CIN - These three had very good years, but are all competing for the also ran position, because none of them could touch Peavy. Webb put together another outstanding year (18-10, 3.01 ERA, 194 SO). Penny faltered very few times losing only 4 games all season (16-4, 3.03 ERA, 135 SO). Harang seemed to be one of the few shining lights on a Cincinatti team that was just down right awful this year (16-6, 3.73 ERA, 218 SO).

Preseason Pick: Ben Sheets MIL - Had he stayed healthy, this might've been a possibility, but he broke down and took himself out of this race rather early.

AL Manager of the Year
And the award goes to: Joe Torre NYY - Some people will call me a homer but what the Yankees accomplished this year was outstanding. And they did it by NOT being the Yankees of old. Part of how well they did can be put on ARod's shoulders. Another part can be put on Cashman's shoulders for not trading his young talent for old beat up players (ie. Eric Gagne). The last part can be put on Torre's shoulder. He was able to piece together lineups when many people were injured. He was willing to stick with youth over experience when he made the decision to keep Melky Cabrera as the everyday centerfielder. Rather than be the Torre of the past and rely too heavily on the experienced players, he actually made his decisions based on merit.

Also worthy of contention: Mike Scioscia LAA, Eric Wedge CLE - Scioscia is a perenial contender for this award. He gets a lot out of his team. Granted he is surrounded by a great pitching staff and a great team on the field, he just does a nice job of managing the ins and outs, the intangibles, so well. Wedge is mentioned here because he took his team and won the toughest division in baseball. When you have to play 18 games a year against the Twins and the Tigers, you have a hard road ahead of you. Again, a great pitching staff and talented team on the field, but Managers are like Quarterbacks in football. They get too much credit when they win, and too much blame when they lose. Leading a team to a tie for the best record in baseball while playing in the toughest division is a great feat.

Preseason Pick: Ron Gardenhire MIN - Minnesota either had an over achieving year last year, or an under achieving year this year. With the talent on that team, I would say they UNDER achieved this year, and unfortunately, Managers tend to get that blame, so Gardenhire is clearly not worthy of the Manager of the Year award.



NL Manager of the Year
And the award goes to: Lou Piniella CHC - There are many deserving managers in the NL this year. I give this award to Piniella because of the turnaround he got out of his club. The first month or two, this Cubs team looked to be heading straight to the cellar of the division. And that is hard to do considering how awful the NL Central is (PIT, CIN, HOU). After having to deal with teammates fighting in the dugout AND the clubhouse, Piniella turned this team around by doing what he does best; throw a temper tantrum. He went out on the field to argue a call, throwing hats, bumping people, kicking dirt around. It sure seemed to fire the Cubs up as they roared after that, taking first place away from the Brewers and never looking back.

Also worthy of contention: Bob Melvin ARI, Clint Hurdle COL, Ned Yost MIL - Bob Melvin is probably the best chance of these three to actually win the award. He took a Diamonbacks team that was picked to be middle of the road in the division, to a division title. Not only the NL West title, but the best team in the entire National League. That isn't saying much because the National League is the weaker league, but it is impressive none the less. Many people, including myself, thought that Arizona would be an improved team, but I don't think anyone expected this. Hurdle and Yost both managed well this year, helping their teams achieve winning records for the first time in a long time (2000 for Hurdle and the Rockies, 1992 for Yost and the Brewers).

Preseason Pick: Ned Yost MIL - I think that Ned Yost actually did a great job with this team. He managed to keep his team around the playoff picture for almost the entire season despite having little experience on the field, and a multitude of pitching woes, including injuries, poor starts, and blown saves. Overall, not a bad pick.



AL Rookie of the Year
And the award goes to: Dustin Pedroia BOS - While there were more rookies in the American League that produced than there were in the National League, Pedroia is the clear decision here. He batted .317, with 8 homeruns, 50 RBI, and 7 SB. Is it as impressive as the National League rookies? No. But it is more impressive than any other rookie in the American League. Not to mention how awful he was at the beginning of the season. To make the improvement in his rookie year is a testament to how good this kid is.

Also worthy of contention: Reggie Willits LAA, Hideki Okajima BOS, Daisuke Matsuzaka BOS, Brian Bannister KC - Willits had an outstanding rookie year, hitting .293, with 34 RBI and 27 stolen bases. He also had very few errors in the field and had a decent amount of outfield assists. The power numbers don't compare to Pedroia though, and well all know we are a society that lives on power numbers. Okajima had an outstanding year as well. The first half of the season he was untouchable, thrusting himself into position as the early favorite for this award. But stumbling a little towards the end of the season, combined with Pedroia surging on the same team doomed Okajima. Dice-K put together a relatively good year for a "rookie". He was 15-12 with an ERA of 4.40 and 201 strikeouts. He started off really well, but the length of the season definitely wore on him. His ERA was a little too high to win this award. Plus, like Okajima, he had to compete with the winner of this award on the same team. Bannister put together a very nice rookie season for a team that was, to be nice, not very good. He went 12-9 with a 3.87 ERA and 77 strikeouts. While it amounted to a nice season, that's about all we can say.

Preseason Pick: NONE



NL Rookie of the Year
And the award goes to: Ryan Braun MIL - Braun has Brawn. That has been the slogan all year long. This kid had an amazing season batting .324, with 34 homeruns, 97 RBI, and 15 stolen bases. There really is not much more you could ask for from a rookie. He played relatively well in the field and produced monster offensive numbers. This kid will be a threat for a long time to come.

Also worthy of contention: Troy Tulowitzki COL, Hunter Pence HOU - Tulowitzki had an outstanding year as well. He batted .291, with 24 homeruns, 99 RBI, and 7 stolen bases. Yes he produced two more runs than Braun did, but the other power numbers are down. He batted more than 30 points lower than Braun and had 10 less homeruns. Granted a third baseman is supposed to hit more homeruns than a shortstop, but overall, I believe Braun had a stronger year. Not by much, but just enough to win him the award. As for Pence, his year was incredible (.322 BA, 17 HR, 69 RBI, and 11 SB), but getting hurt really ruined his chances of winning this award. Had he been able to play all season the way Braun and Tulowitzki did, he would've had a shot at winning this thing.

Preseason Pick: NONE