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In the next two days, MLB will reveal who won the popularity/hype contests that are the Most Valuable Player awards.

The following awards have already been announced: Jack McKeon/Tony Pena Managers, Dontrelle Willis/Angel Berroa Rookies, and Eric Gagne/Roy Halladay Cy Young.

Silver Sluggers and Gold Gloves were also announced, but I’ll be dammed if I can find it on the Internet any where. Not on MLB.com, and not on the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” ESPN.com. Oh well, no time to really dig now.

Anyway, here is how I’ve done so far:
Rookie of the Year
AL: Jody Gerut
NL: Brandon Webb

0-2 so far. Berroa is defendable in the American League, as he played shortstop and I doubt some writers even know who Jody Gerut was. What?s funny is now I look back, and I would have made my ballot differently. Gerut still would have won, but I probably would have put Teixeira second and flipped a coin on Berroa and Hideki Mastui.

I might have blown the AL voting, but the writers really dropped the ball on the NL side. I can think of no defensible argument that Dontrelle Willis was the best rookie pitcher in the National League, never mind the best rookie. I suppose someone could make the case for Podsednik, but not Willis. Completely unfathomable.

Manager of the Year
AL: Jerry Manuel
NL: Jack McKeon

I think I was drunk when I picked Manuel. Very very drunk. Originally, I picked Felipe Alou in the NL, because I just plum forgot McKeon. I reserved the right to change my mind and picked Trader Jack about a week later. By the way, I think it is Federal law to call McKeon “Trader Jack” at least once in all articles about him, or the 2003 Florida Marlins.

Cy Young
AL: Tim Hudson
NL: Mark Prior

Both contests were tough for me to pick. The top four in the AL, and the top three in the NL were all more then worthy champions in the Denton Young award. Halladay won it on the strength of 260 very good innings, compared to Loazia’s out of nowhere season, Hudson’s 240 excellent innings and Pedro Martinez’s 186.2 unspeakable innings. The only thing that really surprised me in the voting was that Loazia finished 2nd, and Hudson garnered almost no support.

In the NL, the top three were so compacted that you really couldn’t mess this one up. The only thing I can really complain about was that two writers thought that Russ Ortiz was the 2nd best pitcher in the NL, and three thought he was the third best. He was about the 15th best. Kevin Brown and Brandon Webb should be able to sue for malpractice.

All and all, I’ve done a shitty job as prognosticator, going 1-6, hitting on the McKeon gimme. Of course, the writers have done a pretty shitty job as well. Votes like the National League Rookie of the Year cheapens awards, and people making statements through withholding votes makes them at best inaccurate (Looking at you 2003 AL ROY, and 1999 AL MVP). Its become much ado about nothing.

The best player in the American League this year was Carlos Delgado, and in the National League, it was Barry Bonds. I expect neither will win though, while players like Shannon Stewart, and Preston Wilson garner support. All part of the hype machine.