And The Award Goes To...

Predicting who will have the best seasons in the MLB is never an easy task. Predicting what the voters think, that’s an even tougher task. But now that the regular season is over we can take a step back and look at what everyone has given us. Here is who I think is deserving of each award.

American League MVP

1. Michael Young- DH Texas Rangers

Yep, Michael Young. MVP stands for Most Valuable Player (duh) and in my opinion should be given to the player who has helped their team the most. There hasn’t been a player who has helped his team more than Young. Without Young, the Angels win the West Division and the Rangers are looking at hopefully a wild-card race. When defending AL MVP Josh Hamilton went down with a broken arm, along with third-baseman Adrien Beltre and right-fielder Nelson Cruz, Young was forced into a role of playing utility man for Texas, a team he didn’t even want to play for coming out of the offseason. Young has done everything and more the Rangers have asked of him, and hasn’t disappointed, hitting .338 and leading the majors in hits with 213. I know he won’t win it but he should. Pile 106 RBI onto his resume and he’s my MVP.

2. Miguel Cabrera- 1B Detroit Tigers

3. Jacoby Ellsbury- CF Boston Red Sox

4. Curtis Granderson- OF New York Yankees

5. Jose Bautista- OF/3B Toronto Blue Jays

Honorable Mention- Adrian Gonzalez- 1B Boston Red Sox

He had an outstanding year. Unfortunately for him, so did a lot of other players.

American League Cy Young

1. Justin Verlander- RHP Detroit Tigers 

Verlander has been getting a lot of talk, in fact he’s been getting almost all of the talk, for the AL MVP. I may be one of the extreme few who believe pitchers shouldn’t be able to win the MVP because they have their own MVP award, but let’s save that debate for another day. Verlander seemingly carried the Tigers pitching staff for most of the season and gave his offense a chance to win in just about every game he pitched. There really is no debate here. Just look at the statistics; 24-5, 2.40 ERA, and 250 strikeouts in 251 innings. Not to mention opponents are hitting just .192 against him. Remarkable. The Cy Young is yours Justin.

2. Jered Weaver- RHP Los Angeles Angels 

3. James Shields- RHP Tampa Bay Rays 

4. CJ Wilson- LHP Texas Rangers

5. CC Sabathia- LHP New York Yankees

Honorable Mention- Doug Fister- RHP Detroit Tigers 

His record doesn’t do justice to what he’s done this season. Great year for Fister. He will be a huge factor in the playoffs and next year as well.

American League Rookie of the Year

1. Jeremy Hellickson- RHP Tampa Bay Rays 

Hellickson had an outstanding first year in the bigs. Posting just a 2.95 ERA in the daunting American League East. He may look like a rookie, but he has the attitude and poise of a veteran. He’ll have a chance to impress people even further once the playoffs start. Nothing but a bright future ahead for Hellickson. 

2. Eric Hosmer- 1B Kansas City Royals

3. Mark Trumbo- 1B Los Angeles Angels

4. Ivan Nova- RHP New York Yankees

5. Jordan Walden- RHP Los Angeles Angels

Honorable Mention- Matt Moore- LHP Tampa Bay Rays

I know he doesn’t qualify with less than 10 innings of work, but what he did in his short stint truly was impressive and should be recognized. It’s been announced already that he will get the ball in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Rangers. Tampa Bay fans have to be excited about this kid.

American League Manager of the Year

1. Joe Maddon- Tampa Bay Rays

Enough can’t be said for the skipper of the Rays. Fantastic job getting his team to believe and never give up. A lot of people picked the Blue Jays to finish ahead of them in the East. Hell of a job.

2. Jim Leyland- Detroit Tigers

3. Ron Washington- Texas Rangers

4. Joe Girardi—New York Yankees

5. Mike Scioscia- Los Angeles Angels

Honorable Mention- Manny Acta- Cleveland Indians & Buck Showalter- Baltimore Orioles

The Indians are on the rise and the Orioles wound up being the most important team in the American League East.

National League MVP

1. Matt Kemp- CF Los Angeles Dodgers

The numbers don’t lie. Kemp has had an unbelievable year putting up massive numbers on his way to a potential, very well deserved MVP Award. Kemp will end up a few batting average points shy of a Triple Crown, but that shouldn’t be taken away from anything. With 39 HR’s, 126 RBI and a .324 batting average, not to mention his .399 on base percentage, Kemp hit in a lineup that provided him zero protection. Congratulations Mr. Kemp (from me at least). 

2. Ryan Braun- LF Milwaukee Brewers

3. Lance Berkman- RF St. Louis Cardinals

4. Prince Fielder- 1B Milwaukee Brewers

5. Albert Pujols- 1B St. Louis Cardinals

Honorable Mention- Jose Reyes- SS New York Mets

Reyes has been in the press a lot the last few days with the way he went about “sealing” the NL batting title. Regardless, had he not gotten hurt, he might have been the MVP anyways. Practically everyone had him winning the award at the All-Star break. Good season Jose, but quit being such a cake-eater. 

National League Cy Young 

1. Clayton Kershaw- LHP Los Angeles Dodgers

Just like Verlander did in the American League, Kershaw won the pitching Triple Crown for the National League. With 21 wins (on a terrible team), a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts in 233 innings, it’s clear that there is no one more deserving in the National League than Kershaw. Don’t forget, he just turned 23 at the beginning of the season.

2. Roy Halladay- RHP Philadelphia Phillies

3. Ian Kennedy- RHP Arizona Diamondbacks

4. Cliff Lee- LHP Philadelphia Phillies

5. Cole Hamels- LHP Philadelphia Phillies

Honorable Mention- Tim Hudson- RHP Atlanta Braves

Hudson was hands down the Braves best starting pitcher. Whenever they needed a win he would come through in big spots. Despite putting up double digits in the loss column, he still was 16-10 with a 3.22 ERA. Not bad for pitching behind an anemic offense.

National League Rookie of the Year

1. Craig Kimbrel- RHP Atlanta Braves

Whether you want to look past the blown saves in September or not, Kimbrel was a machine in his rookie season. He set a rookie saves record with 46, striking out 127 men in just 77 innings finishing with an ERA of 2.00. Job well done Craig.

2. Freddie Freeman- 1B Atlanta Braves

3. Brandon Beachy- RHP Atlanta Braves

4. Vance Worley- RHP Philadelphia Phillies

5. Danny Espinosa- 2B Washington Nationals

Honorable Mention- Wilson Ramos- C Washington Nationals

Ramos is yet another young, rising star for the Nationals. He hit .269 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI.

National League Manager of the Year

1. Kirk Gibson- Arizona Diamondbacks

Is there really a whole lot of explanation needed here. Gibson has done the same thing Joe Maddon has done with the Rays. He took a team that no one gave a shot at anything and took them to the playoffs. 

2. Ron Roenicke- Milwaukee Brewers

3. Tony La Russa- St. Louis Cardinals

4. Charlie Manuel- Philadelphia Phillies

5. Don Mattingly- Los Angeles Dodgers

Honorable Mention- Terry Collins- New York Mets

I don’t know why but I just feel like Terry Collins is the perfect fit for the Mets. I loved the way he got onto him team for not playing hard towards the end of the season, and despite a handful of injuries he still made the Mets a tough team to play.