NL MVP:
1. Albert Pujols
2. Ryan Howard
3. Lance Berkman
Ryan Howard is very deserving and obviously had one hell of a year, but don’t overrate home runs here. Pujols beats him in average, OBP and slugging percentage, while striking out 131 fewer times. He plays a far superior defense, is more of an asset on the basepaths, hit in the weaker lineup and led MLB in game-winning RBIs by a sizeable margin. With RISP, Pujols has a 1.337 to .942 OPS advantage. Howard is the man, but Pujols is baseball’s best hitter.
AL MVP:
1. Johan Santana
2. Derek Jeter
3. Justin Morneau
This is where I expect to get the most flak, and I understand it’s unorthodox, especially considering Santana will win the Cy Young, and an offensive player of the year award doesn’t exist. Still, I’m sticking to it, mainly because I am so underwhelmed with all other options. Derek Jeter had a fine year and all, but he was one out away from finishing with an OPS in the 800s. Joe Mauer deserves serious consideration as well but losing at-bats because of catching certainly hurts his chances. David Ortiz is another tough pick, considering he’s a DH on a non-playoff team. Same goes for the AL’s best hitter this year, Travis Hafner. If you want to get all “most valuable to their team” on me, look no further than Frank Thomas, who absolutely carried an inept Oakland offense on a very affordable contract. Morneau helped lead a weak lineup into the playoffs with 130 RBI, but his OPS doesn’t even crack the AL’s top-5. Ask yourself this, would the A’s rather play the Twins without Morneau (or Jeter, hypothetically speaking) or without Santana in their series? Of course it’s Johan.
NL Cy Young:
1. Chris Carpenter
2. Brandon Webb
3. Roy Oswalt
I would have no problem if this list was flipped, as it really is that close. Webb deserves credit for his extra 15 innings and calling Chase Field home, but he also pitches in the NL West and has the weakest K/BB ratio. Oswalt paces them all in ERA and flashes a brilliant 166/38 K/BB ratio, but batters hit nearly 30 points higher against him than the other candidates, resulting in a higher WHIP. Which brings us to Carpenter, who limited hitters to a .235 BAA, posted a 3.09 ERA and 1.07 WHIP to go along with a nifty 184/43 K/BB ratio. But really, all three are deserving.
AL Cy Young:
1. Johan Santana
This one is the easiest pick of all and is pretty much undebatable.
NL Rookie of the Year:
1. Takashi Saito
2. Hanley Ramirez
3. Ryan Zimmerman
Another extremely tough call, as the National League had a huge year for rookies. Dan Uggla, Prince Fielder, Josh Willingham, Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen and Matt Cain all deserve attention as well. Whether or not a 36-year-old from Japan should be truly considered a rookie is up for debate, but his performance during his first year in the majors certainly is not. While there are rumblings that Trevor Hoffman should receive some Cy Young votes, Saito quietly put together an even more impressive campaign. While his 24 saves won’t jump off the page, his 107 strikeouts in just 78 1/3 innings do. A 2.07 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and .177 BAA reveal the most dominating season by a first year player in the National League.
AL Rookie of the Year:
1. Francisco Liriano
2. Jonathan Papelbon
3. Justin Verlander
A lot can be said for simply staying healthy, which makes this another tightly contested battle. I tend to completely ignore the wins category, but in this case, it was Verlander’s extra innings that allowed him to accrue them. Still, he might as well have been hurt when the other two were, as he sported a 5.87 ERA once July ended. His 124/60 K/BB ratio also looks downright embarrassing compared to Liriano’s 144/32 and Papelbon’s 75/13. Since he tossed 50 more innings than Papelbon and was basically baseball’s most dominant hurler when on the hill, Liriano gets the nod.
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