Red Carpet Continued (NL Awards)
NL MVP Award: Albert Pujols – 1B/STL
There comes a time where you have to put aside the “unwritten rule”. You know what I’m talking about, the invisible guideline for MVP voters which restricts candidates to contending teams. The Cardinals did win 86 games, yet finished in 4th place, an unfortunate footnote which might preclude Pujols from winning his 2nd career MVP Award. That fact that he only has one so far is astonishing to me, given his unprecedented streak of dominance. He deserves another one.
Runner Up: Chipper Jones – 3B/ATL
NL Cy Young Award: Johan Santana – NYM
The Mets are baseball’s laughingstock, but it has nothing to do with their big offseason acquisition. No, Johan has been worth every penny, leading the league in innings and ERA. Let me give you a hint: when a pitcher leads his league in innings and he has been the most effective pitcher in preventing earned runs during those innings, it’s safe to say that the player should win this award unanimously. Unfortunately, we have another talented pitcher in Arizona who obtained a flashy milestone: TWENTY WINS!!1!!! (twenty-two, actually). So, you can probably expect Brandon Webb to give Johan a run for his money in the actual voting. When you can publicly see which writers voted for Webb over Santana, you’ll have a clear litmus test for journalistic incompetence.
Runner Up: Tim Lincecum – SFG
NL Rookie of the Year: Edinson Volquez – P/CIN
This is a tough one. There are a handful of guys who could easily lay claim to this, and at the top of the pile are Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez and Cubs catcher Geovany Soto. I rank the performance of a dominant 200 inning pitcher as more valuable than decent offense from a catcher, and thus, Volquez brings home the award. (Yes, thanks to my diligent readers for the correction – Chad Billingsley is not the rookie pitcher in LA’s rotation.)
Runner Up: Geovany Soto
NL Manager of the Year: Lou Piniella – CHC
You’re probably looking at my picks and thinking to yourself: “Yawn. So predictable. Of course he picks Pujols and Santana. Of course he picks Piniella. You are one unoriginal scumbag, Jimmy. I hope you die is an avalanche, you uncreative tumor on society.” Well, Occam’s Razor applies here, as it usually does. Piniella is thriving in a tough environment. He made the wise decision to switch Ryan Dempster from a reliever back to a starter, and that move probably won him the division title. Oh, and speaking of Dempster…
Runner Up: Cecil Cooper – HOU
NL Comeback Player of the Year: Ryan Dempster – P/CHC
I’m in an odd position here, as the BBWAA has already voted for the winner of this award (they chose reliever Brad Lidge of the Philadelphia Phillies). Now, when I openly defy their decision and attempt to show the world how hip and clever I am, it appears that I am doing it intentionally. I swear to you, I was going to pick Ryan Dempster. Take my word on it. He went from being a below average reliever in 2007 to an ace-quality starter in 2008. Lidge went from being merely “good” to “dominant”, and I don’t think the spirit of this award really applies to that type of transition.
Runner Up: Carlos Delgado – 1B/NYM
You can give that RotY to Volquez. Billingsley isn’t a rookie.
You know what? Huge brain fart on my part – I confused him with Clayton Kershaw. Thanks for the correction.