End Of Season Awards

This week the Rangers defeated the Rays 3 games to 1 in the ALDS. They will play either the Yankees or the Tigers in the ALCS, and I think they match up well with both teams. I will make my predictions once I know which team they will face.

This week I will do my end-of-season awards for the AL, NL, and Rangers.

Rangers:

MVP: Michael Young, TEX (.338 AVG, 11 HR, 106 RBI) – Michael led the Rangers in batting average, and was second in the AL in that category. And while he didn’t have many home runs, he still got over 100 RBIs.
Runner-up: Adrian Beltre, TEX (.296 AVG, 32 HR, 105 RBI)

Cy Young: CJ Wilson, TEX (16-7, 2.94 ERA, 206 K) – CJ led the team in ERA, strikeouts, and tied for the team lead in wins. He obviously deserved this one.
Runner-up: Derek Holland, TEX (16-5, 3.95 ERA, 162 K)

Rookie of the Year: Craig Gentry, TEX (.271 AVG, 1 HR, 13 RBI) – Craig played well, as he stole 18 bases on 18 attempts, played great defense, and had a respectable batting average. But, he won this award because of weak competition. The runner-up had 8 at-bats on the year.
Runner-up: Leonys Martin, TEX (.375 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI)

AL:

MVP: Justin Verlander, DET (24-5, 2.40 ERA, 250 K, 251 IP) – Verlander was amazing, and despite being a pitcher, he deserves the MVP. He had 24 wins, which is a crazy number nowadays, to go along with a league-leading 2.40 ERA, and 250 strikeouts in an astounding 251 innings pitched.
Runner-up: Miguel Cabrera, DET (.344 AVG, 30 HR, 105 RBI)

Cy Young: Justin Verlander, DET (24-5, 2.40 ERA, 250 K, 251 IP) – If he won my MVP, he obviously is going to win the Cy Young. He won the pitching triple crown.
Runner-up: Jered Weaver, LAA (18-8, 2.41 ERA, 198 K)

Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Hellickson, TB (13-10, 2.95 ERA, 117 K) – Hellickson had an ERA in the 2.00s on a playoff team in his rookie year. That is just unbelievable.
Runner-up: Mark Trumbo, LAA (.254 AVG, 29 HR, 87 RBI)

Manager of the Year: Joe Madden, TB (91-71, wild card) – Joe brought a team back from the largest September deficit ever for a playoff team. This one is a no-brainer.
Runner-up: Jim Leyland, DET (95-67, AL Central Champs)

NL:

MVP: Ryan Braun, MIL (.332 AVG, 33 HR, 111 RBI, 33 SB) – Braun’s stats might not be quite as good as Matt Kemp’s, but the difference is that while Braun is on a playoff team, Kemp was on a 3rd-place team. Braun hit over .330, and was a 30-30 man this year. He had an amazing year.
Runner-up: Matt Kemp, LAD (.324 AVG, 39 HR, 126 RBI, 40 SB)

Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw, LAD (21-5, 2.28 ERA, 248 K) – Kershaw won the pitching triple crown in the National League, so there is no way you can pick against him. He had 21 wins, the best ERA in the major leagues, and almost 250 strikeouts.
Runner-up: Ian Kennedy, ARI (21-4, 2.88 ERA, 198 K)

Rookie of the Year: Craig Kimbrel, ATL (46 SV, 2.10 ERA, 127 K) – Despite a late-season collapse by Kimbrel, he still had an incredible season. He set the rookie saves record with 46, had an ERA just above 2.00, and had a crazy 127 strikeouts in just 77 innings pitched.
Runner-up: Josh Collmenter, ARI (10-10, 3.38 ERA, 100 K)

Manager of the Year: Kirk Gibson, ARI (94-68, NL West Champs) – Gibson manages a team that was projected to finish in last place this year, after finishing in the cellar of the division last year, and made them into the runaway NL West Champions. He definitely deserved to be the NL Manager of the Year.
Runner-up: Tony La Russa, STL (90-72, wild card)

Come back next week for my ALCS and NLCS series predictions.