July Awards

This week I will give my July awards. These are as if the season ended at the end of July (stats are as of July 26th).

Rangers Awards:

Rangers MVP: Josh Hamilton, TEX: .306 AVG, 24 HR, 103 RBI’s: Without Josh I can assure you that we would be 3rd place, completely out of contention, and under .500.
Runner-up: Ian Kinsler, TEX

Rangers Cy Young: Vicente Padilla, TEX: 12-5 W-L, 4.56 ERA, 80 K: Vicente has thrown the most innings of any Ranger pitcher and has had a solid year, leading the team in wins.
Runner-up: Eddie Gaurdado, TEX

Rangers Rookie of the Year: David Murphy, TEX: .272 AVG, 14 HR, 64 RBI’s: Murphy is having a great season, and may very well have 100 RBI’s in his rookie year along with 25 homers and a .275 average which would be a very solid year.
Runner-up: Chris Davis, TEX

AL Awards:

AL MVP: Josh Hamilton, TEX: .306 AVG, 24 HR, 103 RBI’s (in only 100 games): Josh has 24 more RBI’s than any AL player, is batting over .300, and is 3rd among the AL in home runs along with his seven stolen bases. He has more RBI’s than games played.
Runner-up: Jermaine Dye, CWS

AL Cy Young: Justin Duchscherer, OAK: 10-6 W-L, 1.87 ERA, 70 K: Justin has double-digit wins and an ERA under two. The only thing going against him is his number of strikeouts.
Runner-up: Mike Mussina, NYY

AL Rookie of the Year: Armando Galarraga, DET: 8-4 W-L, 3.27 ERA, 75 K: It’s a tight race between Armando and Longoria, but at this point I’m going to give a slight edge to Galarraga because of how good his ERA is.
Runner-up: Evan Longoria, TB

AL Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon, TB: Joe has turned a nobody into a force to be reckoned with in just one year.
Runner up: Ron Gardenheier, MIN

NL Awards:

NL MVP: Ryan Braun, MIL: .299 AVG, 26 HR, 74 RBI’s: Ryan is almost hitting .300, is on a contending team, and has very good power numbers.
Runner-up: Chase Utley, PHI

NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb, ARI: 13-4 W-L, 3.11 ERA, 116 K: Webb is tied for the NL in wins, has a very good ERA and a good number of strikeouts.
Runner-up: Kyle Lohse, STL

NL Rookie of the Year: Jair Jurrjens, ATL: 10-5 W-L, 3.02 ERA, 92 K: Jair is having a great year. He has won two-thirds of his decisions and has an ERA that is almost in the two’s.
Runner-up: Yunel Escobar, ATL

NL Manager of the Year: Fredi Gonzalez, FLA: Fredi has done a great job in his first year managing the Marlins and has made them a contender.
Runner-up: Ned Yost, MIL

Also, this weekend I went to see the Grand Prairie Airhogs for the first time. They’re an independent minor league team that was created this year. They’re in the same league as the Fort Worth Cats. They play in the same complex that has Lone Star Park and Nokia Theater. They have a very nice stadium, with a nice play area for little kids, and good food choices. It was a much better experience than the Cats.

Results of last weeks’ poll:
What position do you think the Rangers need to trade for the most?
Starting pitching – 82%
Relief pitching – 18%
All other positions – 0%

Come back next week for an analysis of any trades the Rangers make this next week.