End-of-Season Awards

This week I will give out my awards for the MLB 2008 regular season.

Rangers Awards:

Rangers MVP: Josh Hamilton, TEX: .304 AVG, 32 HR, 130 RBI: Josh led all of the AL in RBI’s, had a batting average over .300, and had over 30 home runs. It’s pretty obvious that he should be the Rangers MVP for this season.
Runner-up: Ian Kinsler, TEX

Cy Young: Vicente Padilla, TEX: 14-8 W-L, 4.74 ERA, 127 K: Vicente didn’t really have that great of a year at all. He just was the best Rangers pitcher due to a lack of competition.
Runner-up: Scott Feldman, TEX

Rookie of the Year: David Murphy, TEX: .275 AVG, 15 HR, 74 RBI: David Murphy only held on to the Rangers ROY Award because he has 19 more RBI’s than Chris Davis, even though Chris has two more home runs and a better batting average. David also has more at-bats, more total bases, and more doubles.

AL Awards:

AL MVP: Kevin Youkilis, BOS: .312 AVG, 29 HR, 115 RBI: To me it comes down to Josh Hamilton, Justin Morneau, and Kevin Youkilis. Josh leads the three in both home runs and RBI’s, and is second in batting average, although last in OBP. Youkilis is leading the three in both batting average and OBP, while second in home runs, but last in RBI’s. I think Kevin gets the edge only because his team made the playoffs.
Runner-up: Josh Hamilton, TEX

Cy Young: Cliff Lee, CLE: 22-3 W-L, 2.54 ERA, 170 K: Cliff Lee should obviously be Cy Young, as he leads the AL in both wins and ERA, and has only lost three games on a losing team.
Runner-up: Roy Halladay, TOR

Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria, TB: .272 AVG, 27 HR, 87 RBI: It’s pretty clear that Evan Longoria should be rookie of the year, because he has great numbers, and the Rays probably wouldn’t have won the division without him, and might not have even made the playoffs.
Runner-up: Alexei Ramirez, CWS

Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon, TB: Joe took a team that hadn’t had a winning record in franchise history and made them the AL East champs over the Red Sox.
Runner-up: Ron Gardenhire, MIN

NL Awards:

NL MVP: Ryan Braun, MIL: .285 AVG, 37 HR, 106 RBI: The Brewers wouldn’t have made it to the playoffs without CC Sabathia, nor Ryan Braun. Ryan put up huge power numbers for them, and had a very good batting average, not to mention his two key homers down the stretch, one a walk-off shot, and another a game-winning, playoff-clinching homer in the 8th inning in the last game of the year. Albert Pujols would be the Most Outstanding Player, but not the Most Valuable Player.
Runner-up: Albert Pujols, STL

Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, SF: 18-5 W-L, 2.62 ERA, 265 K: Tim won 18 games this year, while only dropping five on the Giants, has a 2.62 ERA, and has struck out 265 batters in just 227 innings. It’s hard to go against Webb and Santana, but Lincecum has had the better year.
Runner-up: Johan Santana, NYM

Rookie of the Year: Ricky Nolasco, FLA: 15-8 W-L, 3.52 ERA, 186 K: Ricky has been the Marlins only reliable pitcher that pitched throughout the whole year, and is probably one of the main reasons that they stayed in the playoff race so long into the year.
Runner-up: James Loney, LAD

Manager of the Year: Charlie Manuel, PHI: Charlie and the Phillies just had a great year and won the NL East.
Runner-up: Fredi Gonzalez, FLA

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think will win the Dodgers/Cubs series?
Cubs – 55%
Dodgers – 45%

Come back next week for divisional series recaps as well as championship series predictions.