We are just past the midpoint of the 2008 MLB season, so it’s time to dole out the mid-season awards. Some of the awards are very different from my preseason predictions (especially my picks for Manager of the Year), but that’s to be expected.
American League
- Most Valuable Player - Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers. Hamilton is everyone’s feel-good story of the year, but don’t forget that he’s having a helluva year. He has 80 RBI already, 12 more than Lance Berkman who is in second place. The only thing that may keep Hamilton from winning this award is that the Rangers are a third place team that likely won’t be a contender late in the year. But nobody on any of the contending teams is having a DY-NO-MITE season worthy of an MVP award. Carlos Quentin of the White Sox is having a very good season, but I’m not convinced that it’s MVP-caliber. The 2008 AL MVP race is eerily similar to 2003, when no players on a contending team were worthy of the award, so it went to Alex Rodriguez (also a Texas Ranger back then) whose team finished with a 71-91 record, good for last place in the AL West. But like Rodriguez in 2003, Hamilton is having hands-down the best individual season of any AL player, which could be enough to get him the award. Also receiving consideration: Carlos Quentin, J.D. Drew, Alex Rodriguez
- Cy Young - Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians. It’s hard to argue against an 11-1 record and a 2.34 ERA. Mariano Rivera deserves consideration with his 22 saves and 0.74 ERA, but if the asinine voters gave Bartolo Colon the award over Rivera in 2005, there’s no way Rivera will beat out Cliff Lee in 2008. Also receiving consideration: Justin Duchscherer.
- Rookie of the Year - Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Devil Rays. For the record, I will always call them the Devil Rays, even though they changed their name to the Rays. My preseason pick to win the ROY, Longoria (no relation to Eva) is having a tremendous rookie campaign, especially catching fire as of late. But keep an eye out for Joba Chamberlain, who has settled beautifully in the starting role and could easily snag this award if he keeps up his dominance as a starter.
- Manager of the Year - Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Devil Rays. If Maddon doesn’t win this award unanimously, there is something seriously wrong with the voters. It’s July 1 and Tampa has already won 50 games. Since entering the league in 1998, they have never won 50 games before the month of August, and it has twice taken them until September to notch 50 W’s. I never thought I would live to see the day when the Devil Rays became a good team, but it has actually happened. Maddon deserves some serious DAP for that.
National League
- Most Valuable Player - Lance Berkman, Houston Astros. Like Hamilton, Berkman does not play for a contender. But he is having such an incredible season that it would be hard to give this award to anyone else. Chase Utley and Chipper Jones (now on the DL) are also having great seasons, but the Big Puma tops them all.
- Cy Young - Edinson Volquez, Cincinnati Reds. It’s neck and neck between Volquez and Tim Lincecum of the Giants. They’ve both been lights out so far and it’s tough to pick which one has been better. I give a slight edge to Volquez, partly because he pitches in a great hitters ballpark in Cincy while Lincecum has a much more pitcher-friendly home ballpark in ‘Frisco.
- Rookie of the Year - Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs. In the weakest crop of NL rookies since 2004, Soto has shined. Hitting .284 with 13 home runs and 47 RBI while playing solid defense is easily enough to earn him the NL ROY against the 2008 competition. He would have been no match for either Ryan Braun or Troy Tulowitzki in 2007, Hanley Ramirez or Ryan Zimmerman in 2006, or Ryan Howard in 2005. But against the likes of teammate Kosuke Fukudome and Jair Jurrjens of Atlanta, Soto picks up some hardware.
- Manager of the Year - Tony LaRussa, St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals and Marlins are the only (Inter)National League teams overachieving this year, so LaRussa and Fredi Gonzalez both deserve consideration. I give the edge to LaRussa, whose team has a slightly better record. Also, it is astounding that the Cards are winning with a makeshift rotation consisting of Kyle Lohse (found him off the scrapheap in the spring), Braden Looper (former garbage reliver), Todd Wellemeyer (who???), Adam Wainwright (very good, but hurt at the moment), and Joel Piniero (found him off the scrapheap last year). LaRussa should give a large share of this award to pitching coach Dave Duncan for getting such great results out of a patchwork starting staff.
Filed under: MLB - Mets, MLB - Yankees, Writer - Bill Slattery
