April Awards

This week I will give my April Awards. The awards are as if the season ended today.

Rangers:

MVP: Adrian Beltre, TEX (.263 AVG, 7 HR, 21 RBI) – Adrian leads the team in both home runs and RBIs, and his batting average is just good enough to allow him to be team MVP.
Runner-up: Michael Young, TEX (.340 AVG, 0 HR, 17 RBI)

Cy Young: Alexi Ogando, TEX (3-0, 2.30 ERA, 21 K) – Alexi is tied for the team lead in wins, and has the best ERA of any Rangers starter, making him the Rangers Cy Young for the month of April.
Runner-up: CJ Wilson, TEX (3-1, 3.35 ERA, 34 K)

Rookie of the Year: Pedro Strop, TEX (1.17 ERA, 9 K, 7.2 IP) – As there are no rookies that have had an at-bat, and only two rookies have pitched 5 innings or more (one of them with a 6.75 ERA), this award became more a process of elimination than anything else.
Runner-up: Cody Eppley, TEX (1-0, 1.93 ERA, 4.2 IP)

AL:

MVP: Robinson Cano, NYY (.319 AVG, 8 HR, 21 RBI) – Cano is tenth in batting average in the American League, second in home runs, and tied for second in RBIs, and, while he may not be the best at anything so far, he is the best all-around player to this point.
Runner-up: Jose Bautista, TOR (.372 AVG, 9 HR, 15 RBI)

Cy Young: Jered Weaver, LAA (6-0, 0.99 ERA, 49 K) – Weaver is a no-brainer. He leads the majors in wins, ERA, strikeouts, and innings pitched, all outright. This guy is ridiculous.
Runner-up: Dan Haren, LAA (4-1, 1.23 ERA, 38 K)

Rookie of the Year: Michael Pineda, SEA (4-1, 2.01 ERA, 30 K) – Pineda has four wins in one month while pitching for the Mariners. That automatically means you get some sort of award, and his 2.01 ERA doesn’t hurt, either.
Runner-up: Zach Britton, BAL (4-1, 2.84 ERA, 19 K)

Manager of the Year: Manny Acta, CLE (17-8, 1st place) – The Indians are a very, very bad team, but right now Manny Acta has gotten the Indians to the best record in the AL.
Runner-up: Joe Maddon, TB (15-12, 2nd place)

NL:

MVP: Lance Berkman, STL (.402 AVG, 8 HR, 22 RBI) – As much as it pains me to say it, Lance Berkman is having a decent year. Okay, he’s having a great year, with an average above .400 and great power numbers.
Runner-up: Ryan Braun, MIL (.362 AVG, 10 HR, 23 RBI)

Cy Young: Josh Johnson, FLA (3-0, 1.06 ERA, 33 K) – Like Jered Weaver in the AL, Josh Johnson is an obvious choice for NL Cy Young at this point. He leads the league in ERA by almost 0.60, which is a huge margin, and is undefeated.
Runner-up: Kyle Lohse, STL (4-1, 1.64 ERA, 24 K)

Rookie of the Year: Darwin Barney, CHC (.321 AVG, 1 HR, 13 RBI) – Barney has had the best season among all National League rookies, and not just because of his name, although I’m sure it plays a part in it. Barney (I love typing his name) is hitting over .300 with a good amount of RBIs.
Runner-up: Craig Kimbrel, ATL (6 SV, 1.59 ERA, 14 K)

Manager of the Year: Edwin Rodriguez, FLA (16-8, 2nd place) – Edwin has the Marlins only one game out of first place and playing above expectations.
Runner-up: Jim Tracy, COL (16-8, 1st place)

Come back next week for part one of my ballpark rankings.