We are more than half way through this baseball season and the MLB stars will be gathering in New York to celebrate All Star midweek. It should be one of the most memorable all star games in a long time. But there is much more important business that needs to be taken care of. Here are my baseball mid season awards.
Managers of the Year:
Fredi Gonzalez and Joe Maddon both get the nod for the same reason. When you looked at your pull out section of the newspaper at the beginning of the year, I guarantee it did not have Florida and Tampa Bay both at the top of their divisions. The Marlins sit at 5 games over 500, and were looking back at the two favorites of their division for some of the season. Tampa, even more impressive have flip flopped in and out of the division lead but held it until the last game going into the break. These managers have good young talent. Both teams should continue to grow this year, and next year even more. But that is too far off to judge with Florida, you never know who could go packing.
So Close but so Far Away: Lou Pinella, Ozzie Guillen, and Charlie Manual.
Rookies of the Year:
Lets get the easy one out of the way, Evan Longoria. I don't know what to say about him that he hasn't already showed you him self. He is amazing. Evan had a great spring, then was sent down to the minors to start the year. Evan was called up April 11th, and now look what he has done. He was so good that first week, he was signed until 2016 on April 18th. By season's end, look for his name in the MVP voting. It could be there.
In the NL, it is a very close race for me. He is a cub. But is it 31 year old Fukodome, or the young catcher Geovany Soto. Fukodome lost it when he hit a wall for a couple weeks. Soto gets it because he is 25 and hasn't played pro ball is Japan for 6 years. Soto will be starting for the National league at catcher this year, which is a rarity in itself. But his rookie team mate is starting too. I can not find that ever happening in league history.
So close but so far away: Fukodome
Cy Young
The National league is a close race between to young pitchers. But there are so many candidates and it will really be a nice race come the end of the year. Tim Lincecum is pitching out of his mind. I can not even think of a pitcher this dominant on a team so bad. He has just under a third of his teams wins standing at 10-2 with a 2.66 era.
In the AL, the 10-5 Justin Duchscherer is having an incredible year. Although standing at 10-5, he has the leagues lowest era at 1.82. He is an Oakland pitcher that is for sure. Duchscherer is making just over a million dollars while posting these stats.
MVP
The man who is most valuable with his team? His team goes when he goes. Wins when he plays well and loses when he does not. Chase Utley started off with this award in his pocket from the first week of the season. Utley is hitting the ball really well this year. He has 25 home runs, just three off the league lead. It does not matter who surrounds him in that lineup, when Chase hits his team wins.
comments (9) write a comment »
write a new comment
5 months ago
How about Mariano Riviera as the AL Cy young, I saw it as Jayson Starks pick on ESPN
5 months ago
The Braves team ERA is one of the best in baseball.
from 5 months ago
thanks for the update, they still suck and are ranked 4th in their division. And lost their three starters.
5 months ago
yeah i agree as a whole the team isn't very good and that they lost a lot of arms, but somehow they've kept it together and have pitched pretty well.
5 months ago
There are better measures then a pitchers W/L record to show whether they are over paid or not. I also think it doesn't surprise anyone that Zito is overpaid. The day he signed on the dotted line people were calling it a terrible contract.
from 5 months ago
Your right, the fact that Carlos Silva hasn't won a game really has no effect on him being overpaid or not. He is actually pitching really well this year, I was way off.
It doesn't surprise anyone that Zito is overpaid? come on, everyone and their mother wanted him on their team. Yes everyone knew it was way to high to go on a contract, but nobody expected this out of him. But I am sure you did
from 5 months ago
Everyone and their mother? Any information to back that up?
5 months ago
Michael, Barry Zito won the Cy Young Award in 2002. He signed with the Giants after the 2006 season. Look at the way he was trending from 2003-2006, and you'll see that Barry Zito's was probably the WORST free agent contract decision ever made. This isn't even a case of hindsight being 20/20. The Giants should have known what they were getting into when they offered him the Brinks truck.
from 5 months ago
How easily that it is forgotten that he was being looked at by both Ny teams, Philly, Boston, The whole LA coast of teams. Whether the guy was trending down or not, he was the most popular free agent. You can throw all that out there as far as trends, but he was signed for that much money and he was expected to perform. He hasn't. Every year til that contract runs out he will be listed as under performing.
write a new comment