2006 MLB Awards

The writers vote before the playoffs for a reason, these awards are based on the regular season and I wait to do this post until after the World Series, Johann Santana might be my AL MVP, when that might not be the case right now. So let's get rolling:

NL MVP- I was firmly in the Ryan Howard for MVP camp until last Wednesday, mostly because the things Howard has done with the bat this year have been amazing. But Wednesday made me realize that there's only one player who has single-handedly carried a team to the post-season this year, and it's Albert Pujols. He's certainly got all the numbers, both traditionally and sabermetrically, and his homer on Wednesday night literally put the Cardinals into the playoffs. If the Cards had lost 2-1 to San Diego that night, I feel certain that the Astros would have won the Central instead. This Cardinals team isn't the Cards team of the last two years, and their in the playoffs because of Pujols. That makes him MVP.

NL Cy Young- No one won a ton of games in the NL this year and I think this one comes down to Brandon Webb and Roy Oswalt. Oswalt had a better ERA, but Webb had a better WHIP, more strikeouts (and K/9), and gave up fewer hits. Of course, all of these things were by a narrow margin. Oswalt pitched in Minute Maid, but the BoB is almost as much of a hitters park. Oswalt had a narrow margin in VORP, but it was a very narrow one. It just kind of feels like there's no right answer to this one. I'll go with Webb, because on the nights that his sinker was on, he was flat out unhittable.

NL Rookie of the Year- About half the Marlins roster is up for this one, but I think that ultimately no one had the rookie year that Hanley Ramirez had. He had an impressive .292/.353/.480 line that was bettered by the position he played (shortstop). He even stole 51 bases in 65 attempts. 17 homers and 59 RBIs are impressive for a guy that spent much of the year in the leadoff spot. Dan Uggla is a close second.

AL MVP- This is the tough one. At this point, it comes down to three players, Jeter, Morneau, and Santana. As much as Santana might deserve it, you could convincingly argue that he wasn't even the best pitcher on his team for half the year. The big push the Twins made for the playoffs started when Liriano arrived in the rotation. Santana kept it going once Liriano got hurt and ultimately ended up having a much better year, but it's hard to give an MVP to a guy that wasn't the best pitcher on his team from start to finish. I'd like to say that Morneau will get it, but that's mostly wishful thinking because I don't want to see Derek Jeter win, when he clearly actually deserves it this year. All of the reasons why he deserves to win are illustrated nicely here(by Red Sox fans, no less), and the fact of the matter is that this year, "intangibles" translated into a really good season.

AL Cy Young- This one is a little easier. The Pope is Catholic. Bears shit in the woods. Johan Santana is the AL Cy Young. I'm sure of all 3 of these things and you can't convince me otherwise.

AL Rookie of the Year- This is another tough one, only it's 4-way between Liriano, Verlander, Weaver, and Papelbon. Liriano was the best of the four when healthy, but he only made 16 starts, which has to hurt him. Weaver was also very good, but only made 19 starts. Papelbon was good, but not as good in the second half as he was in the first, got hurt at the end, and was a closer, which is less valuable than a starter. I think this one is going to have to go to Justin Verlander. He was the ace of the team that was more or less the best team in the AL all year until the end, he still put up good numbers even with the predictable second half rookie fade, and he did it all year long, not just in parts of the season like Weaver and Liriano.

AL Manager of the Year, NL Manager of the Year, Gold Glove Awards- Don't care, don't care, really don't care.