Season Awards Talk

With roughly five and a half weeks left in the regular season, there are some pretty hot races out there in both leagues when it comes to MVP and Cy Young Award. That said, now would be a good time to break it all down make some final predictions.

MVP:

In the National League, Albert Pujols was the runaway favorite until about two or three weeks ago when he went into his first slump of the season. Amazingly, though, he's been able to keep a little distance between him and a couple of the other guys chasing him, most notably Prince Fielder and Mark Reynolds. But because they play on non-contending teams at this point, chances are Pujols will still win in a landslide. Without him, the Cards would likely be buried in a mediocre NL Central.

In the American League, despite missing the first month of the season due to injury, Twins catcher Joe Mauer has put up near record numbers for a catcher, and hasn't really let up much. He currently stands at .378 entering today, and his OPS is in Pujols' territory, something unheard of from catchers. The last catcher to put up the kind of numbers Mauer is putting up now was Mike Piazza in 1997. You could make an argument for guys like Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter and even Miguel Cabrera, but right now, in my opinion, the award is Mauer's to lose.

Cy Young:

Back in the N.L. again, two pitchers stand out right now as frontrunners: Tim Lincecum and Chris Carpenter. Lincecum, who won last year, is dominating in almost every stat category with the exception of wins and ERA. Carpenter leads the league (and Lincecum) in ERA by a quarter of a run at 2.16, and is tied with two others, including teammate Adam Wainwright, who is fifth in the N.L. in ERA, with 14 wins. Also in the mix is Lincecum's teammate Matt Cain, who has 14 wins and the same 2.43 era as Lincecum. So which of the four will be left standing? My gut tells me Lincecum because of his complete package, including his league leading 214 strikeouts.

In the A.L., the race was a little more tight until the past week or so. Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett and Zach Greinke were all in the mix until the each had at least two bad outings in a row to pretty much take them completely out of the race, leaving Felix Hernandez standing alone. However, one other pitcher can give King Felix a nice run with a solid September: Justin Verlander. That's not to say Halladay and Greinke are completely out of it, but right now, Hernandez has the edge.

Rookie of the Year:

Before the season started, Colby Rasmus appeared to be the early favorite to win the N.L. honors. When the season started, a couple other names popped early on, but then faded. But J.A. Happ has quickly emerged as the clear-cut favorite for the N.L. honors with a 10-2 record and a 2.59 ERA for the World Champs. In the A.L., four players stand out as favorites: Jeff Niemann, Ricky Romero, Rick Porcello and Gordon Beckham. Niemann and Romero are neck and neck in just about all of the pitching categories, while Porcello's ERA is a about half a run lower than Niemann's. Porcello also has more losses, and fewer strikeouts. Gordon Beckham leads all A.L. rookies with a .289 avg and an .836 OPS. If I had a vote and a gun to my head, Jeff Niemann wins by a hair over Beckham.

Manager:

Two managers stand out to me right now, one in each league, as the frontrunners: Jim Tracy in the N.L. and Ron Washington in the A.L. When Tracy took over the Rockies back in May, the team was buried 15½ games back of the Dodgers. Since then, the Rockies are 52-26, and have made up 12 games in the standings, and are now leading the N.L. Wild Card race by three games over the Giants. Texas, meanwhile, is just one game back of the Red Sox in the A.L. Wild Card, and has the A.L.'s third best team ERA, primarily with a bunch of young pitchers who weren't expected to contribute until next season. With the help of pitching coach Mike Maddux, and a more hands-on president in Nolan Ryan, the Rangers could finally have the pitching they need and could be headed to the post-season, when very few thought they'd even compete this season. (N.L. Honorable Mention: Bruce Bochy; A.L. Honorable Mention: Mike Scioscia.)

That about covers it. Of course these are just my opinions, and anything can still happen in all of these races and with the votes (in which I don't have one). But it should make for great debates and good conversation either way.