Post Season Awards

The 2008 regular season is, at this time, not yet over.  In fact, it's not really that close to being over.  However, given that our beloved Birds on Bat seem to be pretty much toast at this point, I've begun to put some thought into the award winners in the two leagues, and for the sake of brevity I'll just bang out my list for the NL today.  Obviously this is not a Cardinals specific topic, but I think we can all agree we're fans of the game first (or at least second), and therefore have at least a morbid fascination with who wins these awards.  Without any further ado, here is what I've come up with.  Feel free to ponder my idiocity in these particular picks, and I do not mind if you feel my picks are, for lack of a better term, dumb.  I don't mind!  Oh, and PS...I included a who will win and who should win category for each, as they are often not the same (see MVP race, 2007, Senior Circuit...)

MVP: Albert Pujols (should win), Ryan Braun (will win)

As has been said on here a time or two-dozen, Albert Pujols is, hands down, the best player in the National League, and probably all of baseball too.  His numbers this season are, once again, staggering.  He leads the league in OBP and OPS, and is quite far ahead of the next guy in the latter category.  He also has 30 home runs, again, and plays a sterling first base.  However, the guy, despite being considered great by all, is still underrated by the mainstream media (ahem, ESPN, ahem) and does not receive nearly the pub he deserves.

So...given that Pujols is guaranteed to be overlooked, I have to go with my gut and say that Ryan Braun will grab this honor this year.  Despite posting a pretty low OBP (.344), the guy has a respectable OPS and has more home runs than anyone not left-handed and gargantuan.  Furthermore, writers don't seem to care much about OBP, seeing as how Rollins won last year with an OBP identical to Braun's.  If you take that out, his line is pretty impressive, and his team is going to be in the playoffs, which adds that almighty playoff team thing.  So, my gut says Braun is going to steal another award this season.  Chase Utley or David Wright could probably enter into the discussion as well (and would probably make better candidates if you used the redbirdnation8206 criteria) depending on which team makes the playoffs, which, once again, writers get giddy over. C.C. could probably get some votes as well, but pitchers should not win the MVP except in specific circumstances...at least in my book.

Cy Young Award: Tim Lincecum (should), Brandon Webb (will)

Lincecum is the best pitcher in the NL who has been there the whole season (C.C., I'm looking at you sir).  He's number one in ERA (and FIP, in case you're curious) and ERA+, he's number one in K/9, number one in total K's (and by a lot too), and has allowed the fewest HR/G of anyone in the NL.  If you think wins are important, which I don't, Lincecum would probably have several more if he played on a non-awful team.  I think in his chat today on this very subject Jayson Start said he had like 5 blown saves behind him or something like that, plus several starts with almost zilch run support.  Simply put, Lincecum has pitched better than anyone in the NL this year in my book.  He's my choice.

Webb, on the other hand, has the most wins.  Is that stupid? Um, duh.  But that's just the way the cookie crumbles on that one.  The rest of his line is pretty decent, really.  His K/9 is pretty far down the list at 7.8, but the guy is a sinkerballer so he can dominate a game without punching out a ton of folks.  He's third in FIP, ahead of guys with lower ERAs (i.e. Santana, Haren).  His K/BB is a very respectable 3.14, which is rather far down the list but good nonetheless.  Did I mention he's leading the league in wins?  The stupidity of that "logic" is fodder for another day, but writers still cling to it like some sacred object of a bygone era.  It's a measure of your manliness, or clutchitude, or your will to dominate, or something like that.  Plus, it's what you play the game to do, to win, and starting pitchers have ultimate control over that, right?  Anyway, snark aside, Webb has been very good this season and will probably be rewarded with a second Cy Young.

Now, this topic is not complete until a certain gigantic left-hander is brought into the discussion.  C.C. has been utterly lights-out since become a Beermaker.  As one AL scout said, putting him in the NL midseason is simply unfair.  The man has the NL lead in shutouts in all of 11 games, and probably should have a no-hitter as well.  He has a microscopic 1.43 ERA, and has K'ed batsmen at a rate of 9.6/game.  He also hardly ever walks anybody.  I think if he has an unbelievable September he very well may win this thing.  However, I'm not sure that's right given the presence of other viable candidates that a guy who has been with the team about half the season should win this thing.  That's just how I feel.  And, in some ways, Lincecum has STILL outpitched him.  His FIP is STILL lower than C.C.'s, and he has a higher K/G.  This should be a very interesting issue once it is all said and done.  It's a shame they can't give C.C. something, b/c his arrival utterly changed the landscape of the NL Central, and probably of the whole NL too.  I mean, Sabathia, Sheets, Parra, Suppan is a pretty solid crew to run out there in a short series, don't you think?

Rookie of the Year: Geovany Soto (both)

Despite being a Cub, and therefore scum of the Earth and worse at life then a cockroach (HYPERBOLE ALERT...and I suppose cockroaches are good at life, I mean they don't die easily...hmmm...), Soto is a beast with a bat in his hands.  This is one that isn't up for debate at all.  The only other guy with a case is Joey Votto, and Soto is a catcher who has him lapped in pretty much everything.  31 doubles, 21 home runs, an OPS of .890, and a decent catcher to boot.  I mean, he hasn't gotten in a fight with Big Z, so that counts for something, right?  He's a HUGE part of the Flubs' success this season.  I feel only slightly queezy about giving him this award. 

I suppose I could go ahead and bang out the Manager of the Year, Exec of the Year, and the Gold Glovers, but really those awards are somewhat uninteresting to me.  I couldn't even tell you the last five Managers and Execs, and the Gold Glove is a joke and is time-consuming to predict anyway.  So, I will leave the good folks of VEB with just this.  I feel like I've given a pretty good rundown of my opinions on this issue, and have used some respectable logic as well, but if not feel free to say whatever you like.  I may do an AL version if there is decent feedback, but of course, if no one gives a particular crap, then this is all I'll do.  It's whatever, as my kids say to me.

Enjoy!