End of Season Awards

This week I will give my end-of-the-season awards.

Rangers Awards:

MVP: Michael Young, TEX (.322 AVG, 22 HR, 68 RBI): Michael Young is the Rangers’ MVP even after missing most of September. If he hadn’t done that, he would’ve gotten 200 hits, possibly 25 home runs, and probably 75 RBI’s. That’s pretty good, but he doesn’t even need that to be the MVP.
Runner-up: Marlon Byrd, TEX (.283 AVG, 20 HR, 89 RBI)

Cy Young: Scott Feldman, TEX (17-8, 4.08 ERA, 113 K): Scott Feldman threw the second most innings on the team, had the second most strikeouts on the team, the most wins on the team, and the second best ERA among starters on the team, and he didn’t even start the first month of the season.
Runner-up: Kevin Millwood, TEX (13-10, 3.67 ERA, 123 K)

Rookie of the Year: Elvis Andrus, TEX (.267 AVG, 6 HR, 40 RBI): Elvis should be the AL ROY, so he’s obviously the Rangers ROY.
Runner-up: Julio Borbon, TEX (.312 AVG, 4 HR, 20 RBI)

AL Awards:

MVP: Joe Mauer, MIN (.365 AVG, 28 HR, 96 RBI): He missed the first month of the season, is ‘only’ (by MVP standards) tied for 16th in the AL in RBI’s, and is ‘only’ tied for 17th in the AL in HR’s. But his .365 batting average makes up for all of that and more. In my mind, he’s the obvious choice.
Runner-up: Miguel Cabrera, DET (.324 AVG, 34 HR, 103 RBI)

Cy Young: Zack Grienke, KC (16-8, 2.16 ERA, 242 K): He is on the Royals and he still has 16 wins. That’s pretty incredible. He leads all of baseball with a 2.16 ERA. He’s also 2nd in the AL in strikeouts with 242. I think that those two categories will make up for the three extra wins that CC and Verlander have on him.
Runner-up: Justin Verlander, DET (19-9, 3.45 ERA, 269 K)

Rookie of the Year: Elvis Andrus, TEX (.267 AVG, 6 HR, 40 RBI): Elvis may not have the best stats out of all the rookies, but he has the most stolen bases and the best defense by far out of all of them. And he had a solid average to go along with that.
Runner-up: Gordon Beckham, CWS (.270 AVG, 14 HR, 63 RBI)

Manager of the Year: Ron Gardenhire, MIN (87-76, 1st place): Ron took a team that really wasn’t very good to the playoffs and had a huge run at the end to get them there. I don’t think there’s much more to say.
Runner-up: Mike Scioscia, LAA (97-65, 1st place)

NL Awards:

MVP: Albert Pujols, STL (.327 AVG, 47 HR, 135 RBI): Albert Pujols was 3rd in the NL in RBI’s. He was 3rd in the NL in batting average. He was 1st in the NL in home runs. He was 1st in the NL in on-base percentage. And he’s 1st in the NL for my MVP vote.
Runner-up: Prince Fielder, MIL (.299 AVG, 46 HR, 141 RBI)

Cy Young: Chris Carpenter, STL (17-4, 2.24 ERA, 144 K): Chris leads the NL in ERA at an outstanding 2.24, and is second in the majors only to Zack Grienke. He also has 17 wins and, to me, had a better season than the other Cy-Young-worthy Cardinal.
Runner-up: Adam Wainwright, STL (19-8, 2.63 ERA, 212 K)

Rookie of the Year: Garrett Jones, PIT (.293 AVG, 21 HR, 44 RBI): Garrett is a Pirate, I know. And Pirates don’t win awards, I know. And the Pirates don’t have anyone most people in Pittsburgh have ever heard of, I know. But Garrett leads all NL rookies with 21 home runs, has 44 RBI’s, and has a solid .293 batting average. This is probably the only time you’ll see me say a Pirate should win an award, so read this closely. A Pirate deserves to win this award.
Runner-up: J.A. Happ, PHI (12-4, 2.93 ERA, 119 K)

Manager of the Year: Jim Tracy, COL (72-42, 2nd place): The Rockies were 20-28 when he took over from Clint Hurdle and now they are 92-70 and in the playoffs. I’d have to say that makes him a deserving manager.
Runner-up: Tony La Russa, STL (91-71, 1st place)

Come back next week for a playoff analysis.