August Awards

This week I will post my August Awards.

Rangers Awards:

MVP: Michael Young, TEX (.336 AVG, 11 HR, 90 RBI) – Michael leads the team in batting average (2nd in the AL) and RBIs. He has had a fantastic season, and is on pace to get to both 200 hits and 100 RBIs this year.
Runner-up: Josh Hamilton, TEX (.300 AVG, 19 HR, 76 RBI)

Cy Young: CJ Wilson, TEX (14-6, 3.28 ERA, 173 K) – CJ leads the Rangers in wins (14), ERA (3.28), and strikeouts (173), and has pitched well enough this year to be named to the All-Star team. This decision was a no-brainer.
Runner-up: Alexi Ogando, TEX (12-7, 3.68 ERA, 115 K)

Rookie of the Year: Craig Gentry, TEX (.235 AVG, 0 HR, 7 RBI) – Craig won this by process of elimination. He plays great defensively, and has played in the majors. That got him this award.
Runner-up: Leonys Martin, TEX (.500 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI)

AL Awards:

MVP: Adrian Gonzalez, BOS (.342 AVG, 23 HR, 103 RBI) – Adrian leads the league in batting average and is 2nd in RBI. He is having a great season, and is making my pre-season prediction of him for MVP look very good.
Runner-up: Curtis Granderson, NYY (.271 AVG, 38 HR, 107 RBI)

Cy Young: Justin Verlander, DET (21-5, 2.34 ERA, 224 K) – You know a pitcher is having an unbelievable season when there is talk about him being MVP. Verlander leads the AL in wins, ERA, and strikeouts, and is on track for the pitching triple crown.
Runner-up: Jered Weaver, LAA (16-7, 2.49 ERA, 176 K)

Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Hellickson, TB (11-10, 3.01 ERA, 106 K) – Jeremy is having a great rookie year, with an ERA just barely above 3.00, and without any really good offensive rookies this year, I think he definitely deserves this year’s ROY.
Runner-up: Mark Trumbo, LAA (.256 AVG, 25 HR, 77 RBI)

NL Awards:

MVP: Matt Kemp, LAD (.320 AVG, 31 HR, 102 RBI) – Despite playing on a very bad team, I still think that Kemp deserves to be the MVP. His numbers this year are incredible, as he is 4th in the NL in average, tied for 4th in home runs, and 3rd in RBI.
Runner-up: Ryan Braun, MIL (.331 AVG, 25 HR, 91 RBI)

Cy Young: Ian Kennedy, ARI (18-4, 2.96 ERA, 167 K) – Kennedy leads the National League in wins with 18, and on top of that, he has an ERA under 3.00 and is right on the verge of 200 innings for the season. Ian has had a great year.
Runner-up: Clayton Kershaw, LAD (17-5, 2.45 ERA, 212 K)

Rookie of the Year: Craig Kimbrel, ATL (42 SV, 1.60 ERA, 112 K) – Craig has already broken the rookie saves record set last year by Neftali Feliz (40), has a good chance at 50 saves on the season, has an ERA well below 2.00, and has a ridiculous 112 strike-outs in 67.2 innings.
Runner-up: Freddie Freeman, ATL (.291 AVG, 18 HR, 64 RBI)

Come back next week for part 3 of my ballpark rankings.