May Awards

This week I did my May Awards. These are who I would give my awards to as if the season ended today.

I’d like to wish a speedy recovery to Eric Nadel and Josh Hamilton. Also, I’m interested to see how Padilla responds tomorrow to being putting on waivers and being left unclaimed. I predict a strong game from Padilla.

Rangers:

MVP: Nelson Cruz, TEX (.286 AVG, 16 HR, 41 RBI): Nelson is tied for second in the American League in home runs, and first among Rangers. Also, he has a good batting average and is 9-for-10 on stolen base attempts and has a chance to be in the 30-30 club.
Runner-up: Ian Kinsler, TEX (.281 AVG, 15 HR, 44 RBI)

Cy Young: Kevin Millwood, TEX (5-4, 2.96 ERA, 48 K): Kevin is tied for 7th in the AL in ERA and has a winning record. Not only that, but he has been an innings-eater, throwing the 3rd most innings in the AL.
Runner-up: Scott Feldman, TEX (5-0, 3.79 ERA, 31 K)

Rookie of the Year: Elvis Andrus, TEX (.278 AVG, 3 HR, 12 RBI): His defense has saved so many runs and saved the pitchers so many pitches, he would probably be here if he didn’t even bat at all. The fact that his offense has been above expectations is just a bonus.
Runner-up: Darren O’Day, TEX (2-0, 1.06 ERA, 15 K)

AL:

MVP: Justin Morneau, MIN (.344 AVG, 15 HR, 51 RBI): Justin is tied for 1st in batting average among the top 10 RBI leaders in the AL and is 3rd in RBI’s in the AL. That doesn’t even mention the fact that he is tied for 5th in the AL in home runs with Ian Kinsler.
Runner-up: Evan Longoria, TB (.322 AVG, 13 HR, 55 RBI)

Cy Young: Zach Grienke, KC (8-2, 1.55 ERA, 91 K): Even though Grienke’s ERA has skyrocketed from April, he still leads the majors in ERA by almost half a run per game. He also is 2nd in the American League in strikeouts and is tied for 2nd in wins.
Runner-up: Roy Halladay, TOR (9-1, 2.77 ERA, 82 K)

Rookie of the Year: Rick Porcello, DET (6-4, 3.70 ERA, 34 K): Rick is tied for 18th in the AL in ERA, and has 6 wins on the year. Even though most years that might not be ROY worthy, there is very weak competition this year.
Runner-up: Elvis Andrus, TEX (.278 AVG, 3 HR, 12 RBI)

Comeback Player of the Year: Jason Bartlett, TB (.373 AVG, 7 HR, 30 RBI): After having an on-base percentage of just .329 last year, Bartlett is leading all of baseball in batting average at .373, and has already hit 6 more home runs than last year and is closing in on his RBI total.
Runner-up: Victor Martinez, CLE (.344 AVG, 9 HR, 40 RBI)

Manager of the Year: Ron Washington, TEX (32-22, 1st place): The Rangers are tied for the best record in the American League and lead their division, and with the Rangers having a losing record last year, that should get him the award.
Runner-up: Terry Francona, BOS (32-23, 2nd place)

NL:

MVP: Raul Ibanez, PHI (.332 AVG, 19 HR, 54 RBI): Raul is dominating National League pitching, as he is well over the century mark in batting average at .332, is leading the NL in RBI’s, and is 2nd in the NL in home runs.
Runner-up: Albert Pujols, STL (.344 AVG, 18 HR, 49 RBI)

Cy Young: Matt Cain, SF (7-1, 2.27 ERA, 53 K): Matt is 7-1, and is tied with four other pitchers for the National League lead in wins, but among that group, Cain has the least amount of losses. Plus, Matt is 2nd in the NL in ERA, behind only Johan Santana of the Mets.
Runner-up: Johan Santana, NYM (7-3, 2.00 ERA, 89 K)

Rookie of the Year: Chris Volstad, FLA (4-5, 3.65 ERA, 59 K): Don’t let the record betray you. Volstad has done great this season and just hasn’t gotten the run support. When you have a 3.65 ERA, you shouldn’t have a losing record.
Runner-up: Dexter Fowler, COL (.256 AVG, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 11 SB, Terrible Competition)

Comeback Player of the Year: Nick Johnson, WAS (.323 AVG, 4 HR, 27 RBI): After injuries held Johnson to just 109 at-bats last season, where he hit just .220, Johnson has been able to stay healthy so far this year, and is hitting .323.
Runner-up: Michael Bourn, HOU (.302 AVG, 1 HR, 13 RBI)

Manager of the Year: Ken Macha, MIL (32-23, 1st place): It’s pretty amazing that the Brewers are in first place in their division with their pitching staff. Really, I would’ve been less surprised if they were in last place at this point, so I think that Macha deserves this award.
Runner-up: Joe Torre, LAD (38-19, 1st place)

Come back next week for numbers 31 through 35 on my Top 50 All-Time Rangers list.