MVP, Cy Young, and ROY

[STL FANATIC]

Just thought I'd start a discussion on the baseball awards.

I follow the entire MLB, but I still don't feel qualified to speak on the AL awards, so I'll let someone else give their thoughts there.

I'm actually to busy to look up all the stats to give my full thoughts, so I'll keep it simple.

At MVP, there's three main candidates: Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, and Carlos Beltran. Howard's got a pretty good grip on it at the moment. Albert's still got a decent shot, but he needs to get hot and needs Howard to cool off. Beltran's got more of an outside shot at the award.

At Cy Young, it's a pretty close battle. Chris Carpenter may be the leader right now, but Zambrano's right there, Brandon Webb is right there, even Roy Oswalt and Josh Johnson could have a shot.

At ROY, I'm just not sure. I know Fielder seems like a sure bet, but has cooled off. I know the Cardinals' Chris Duncan has been perhaps as impressive as any rookie, but has less than half the at bats of most of them, so he doesn't have much of a shot. There's plenty of other candidates that I don't have time to look up.

Mostly, I just thought I'd see what other people's thoughts are.

[Roger Clemente]

I was Josh Johnson to win the Cy Young. Cause that would be cool.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[Audiodrama]

I'll cover the American League since I'm pretty familiar with it.

MVP - Very, very close call here between three main candidates: David Ortiz, Jermaine Dye and Derek Jeter. Dye's name has been thrown around in MVP talks by every sportscaster imaginable, but honestly, I don't see the big deal with him. He hasn't done enough to separate him from the White Sox lineup and make him a stand-out player. His stats are solid, yes, but Dye doesn't seem to have that "superstar" intangible needed to be named Most Valuable Player. So that brings the discussion down to Ortiz and Jeter. Derek Jeter is, honestly, one of the top ten shortstops in the history of the game. He's clutch, solid in the field, and able to handle all of it being under the microscope of the Big Apple. That said, there's one thing bigger than the Big Apple, and that's Big Papi. You take Jeter out of the Yankee lineup, and they're still the most fearsome in the game. You take Ortiz out of the Red Sox lineup, and they go on a stretch where they lose 9 of 11 games, as they recently have. Ramirez stops seeing pitches, Loretta stops seeing pitches, and walk-off wins at Fenway would be far more scarce. Ortiz, despite being injured for the better part of two weeks, still dominates the power and run-producing numbers in the American League. He's Mr. Clutch, and carried the Red Sox through the summer. My vote goes to Big Papi.

Cy Young - Really no contest here. This one goes to Johan Santana for the second time in three years. He's the most dominant pitcher in the game, and a southpaw on top of it. He can confuse any lineup he wants, and often does. Santana should win this one easily.

Rookie of the Year - Like the MVP voting, this one is also very close between a trio of stars -- Justin Verlander, Jonathan Papelbon and Francisco Liriano. I'm going to eliminate Liriano right off the bat, since he didn't come close to pitching a full season, so the numbers just aren't there, despite how dominant he was. Verlander had a fantastic first half of the season, but has struggled down the stretch, giving up 3 or more earned runs in four of his last five starts, including 8 earned runs last time out in Cleveland. Papelbon has posted 35 saves amidst a dominant 0.93 ERA. Verlander has posted great numbers in Detroit...Papelbon has done it in Boston, one of the country's top two hardest cities to play in (along with New York). My vote goes to Papelbon.

Agree? Disagree? Post your comments!

[randyc]

my picks-

AL MVP - David Ortiz

AL Cy Young - Roy Halladay, 16 wins on a mediocre Jays team

AL Rookie of the Year - Justin Verlander

NL MVP - Ryan Howard

NL Cy Yound - Carlos Zambrano

NL Rookie of the Year - Josh Johnson

[pcgd]

My Picks:

NL-

MVP- Carlos Beltran, the best player on the only decent NL team

CY- Chris Carpenter, I pick him mainly because nobody else was as consistantly dominate this year. He wasn't always lights out but he didn't have the slumps the other contenders had. without him the Cardinals would most likely be in 3rd place. The guy has not only had impressive stats, but he's acted as a stopper for slumps every 5 days.

ROY- Fielder. Nobody else has stepped up for long enough.

AL-

MVP- Manny Ramierez, similar stats to papi (minus HRs/RBI, but much better average), better "clutch" stats than Big Papi (better BA and Slugging with Runners in scoring position, runners on base, and with runners in scoring position with 2 outs) PLUS he has nobody batting behind him. Papi has manny to protect him, Manny has the 5th spot in the sox lineup which is one of the worst spots in the AL. That's the biggest thing to me, someone batting behind you. close second to jeter. Plus both those guys play in the field. (Yes I read that in SI)

CY- Santana, most dominate pitcher this year.

ROY- Weaver, Verlander, Papelbon. If any of these three get it, it'll be fine. They've all had fantastic seasons.

[Tazz013]

NL:

Cy Young: Chris Carpenter.

ROY: Dan Uggla or Prince Fielder

MVP: Wide open right now. Beltran, Howard, Pujols, Reyes, and Soriano all have a shot at it.

AL:

Cy Young: Johan Santana.

ROY: Nick Markakis.

MVP: Jermaine Dye.

[FiddySicks]

I think for NL MVP its gotta be howard. Hes one of the big reasons Philly is still in the hunt. Add that to all the deep shots, and hes got my vote.

[CC97]

AL MVP: David Ortiz. No other player is as important to his team as Ortiz is to the Red Sox.

AL Cy: Johan Santana. My heart says Roy, but Johan matches him in wins, and beats him in ERA and K's... unfortunately ATM Santana has the edge.

AL ROY: Jonathan Papelbon. He has been amazing as the BoSox closer... doing better than our $45 million man

AL MOY: Jim Leyland. It's a no contest.

NL MVP: Ryan Howard. The man could break 60 homers this season and is showing he was the true crucial part of the Phillies lineup... look who they dealt at the deadline and look how they've performed since. All Howard.

NL Cy: Brandon Webb. He hasn't dominated, but who has in the NL this season?

NL ROY: Dan Uggla. One of the main reasons for Florida's surprise season so far.

NL MOY: Joe Girardi. Noone, and I mean NOONE predicted the Marlins would be a game back of the wild card in September. Atta boy Joe.

[TBGKon]

My Picks -

AL

MVP - Ortiz

Cy Young - Santana

ROY - Verlander (hard to believe this guy was in Class A minor leagues last summer, I know because I saw him pitch, and he was a beast then)

NL

MVP - Howard

Cy Young - Carpenter or Webb

ROY - Fielder (Mil) or Ethier (LAD)

[fiasco!]

AL

MVP - Justin Morneau....between him and Mauer and the twins starting pitching, they are in the race, and creeping up on the division lead.

Cy Young - Santana. no doubt.

ROY - Verlander. i'm a homer, but Verlander has been pretty special this year. If he doesn't finish strong, i'd say the award should go to Papelbon.

NL

MVP - Howard. No player means more to his team than this guy. amazing.

Cy Young - Carpenter. ERA below 3? check. Ridiculously good WHIP? check. Playoff Contender? check.

ROY - Josh Johnson. can we just give the ROY to the Marlins as a team?

[Shumway]

my picks-

AL MVP - Bengie Molina ...obviously joking, but one of my favorites. Papi's got it in my book.

AL Cy Young - Johan Santana

AL Rookie of the Year - Tough call here...Liriano, Verlander, Markakis, Papelbon, Weaver....Although I'm pulling for Weaver, I've gotta go with Verlander.

NL MVP - Ryan Howard

NL Cy Young - Chris Carpenter

NL Rookie of the Year - Dan Uggla

I've gotta agree with Chris' picks for managers of the year(Leyland, Girardi)

[KevinMcD]

AL

MVP - Big Papi-questionable with injury and sox falling out of the race, but he is unbeliveable. And I will not praise any Yankee

Cy Young - Halladay-great season

ROY - Verlander-I woud love Markakis to get it but Verlander is good.

MOY-Leyland-Suprise team + best record=Manager of the year

NL

MVP - Howard- Come on he is great in his second year.

Cy Young - Webb

ROY - Uggla, Marlins are in it with like 5 rookies leading them, one of them has to win it.

MOY- Girardi, period.

[OnWis97]

AL ROY: Gotta be Verlander

AL MVP: If the White Sox get in, I think it will be Jermaine Dye. If not, It will be Jeter.

AL Cy Young: Will be Santana if the Twins get in. If not, will be Haliday.

NL ROY: Fielder

NL MVP: How could it not be Howard?

NY Cy Young: Tough one. Probably Carpenter, particularly if they end up winning the division.

[Nesi427]

AL MVP - Derek Jeter (the captain, leader, heart or the franchise/city)

AL CYA - Ching Ming Wang (my sleeper pick)

AL ROY - Melky Cabrerra or Justin Verlander

AL MOY - Jim Leyland (duh!?)

--

NL MVP - Albert Pujols

NL CYA - Chris Carpenter

NL ROY - Dan Uggla

NL MOY - Joe Girardi (and will probably get fired...hello Cubbies!!)

[BBTV]

NL MOY - Joe Girardi (and will probably get fired...hello Cubbies!!)

Hey - get to the back of the line. If the Phils can't get Sweet Lou during the offseason, I'd take Girardi over Uncle Charlie any day!

[NJTank]

If Girardi gets fired hes a Cub, he played for the Cubs twice is from Peroia and went to Northwestern.

[Fred T. Jane]

ROY - Josh Johnson. can we just give the ROY to the Marlins as a team?

Right on there. Though, if I had to pick one, it would be Uggla and Johnson... Drat!

[NJTank]

Dont over look Ryan Zimmerman for ROY hes going to get 100 RBI

[Joshawaggie]

Yay! I'm gonna be a ROY pitcher for the Marlins!

[Fred T. Jane]

Yay! I'm gonna be a ROY pitcher for the Marlins!

Your name's Dan Uggla?