Handing Out Awards and Predicting the Second Half

The first half of the baseball season is gone and it is time to dish out the awards of the first half and some predictions for the second half. Some major questions are around baseball: will the Detroit Tigers maintain their great play and keep the best record in baseball? Will the Yankees miss the playoffs? Will the Cincinnati Reds make the playoffs in the National League, even with the bizarre trade they made today? Who will win the Western divisions, both AL and NL?


Awards First, Predictions Later

First, the awards of the first half:

AL MVP: David Ortiz Boston Red Sox. Slugger Jim Thome of my hometown Chicago White Sox is a sentimental pick in my heart, but Ortiz has the better numbers and always comes through with huge hits for the Red Sox. Breaking it down, I think Boston would be in more trouble than Chicago if they were missing Ortiz than if the White Sox were missing Thome. Boston is built around Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, and getting those two at bat with some runners on base. The White Sox have more power from top-to-bottom this year compared to Boston.

NL MVP: Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols was putting up ridiculous numbers before his injury, and even since he returned his numbers are still some of the best in the league. The guy is a hitting machine. There are a few other options in the NL (David Wright and Carlos Beltran of the Mets, and Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros) but Pujols is the pick, he is the most valuable to his team (they really suffered when he was injured).

AL Cy Young: Francisco Liriano Minnesota Twins. Right now, today, he is the best pitcher in the game. His numbers are ridiculous, 10-1 with an ERA under two in the ridiculously loaded American League. Roy Halladay, Johan Santana, Jon Pappelbon and Jose Contreras are all candidates as well, but at the moment it is tough to go against Liriano.

NL Cy Young: Tom Glavine New York Mets. The Mets are the best team in the NL and Glavine is at the top of their rotation, and as of right now he has better numbers than staff-mate Pedro Martinez. NL All-Star Game starter Brad Penny was a close second, but his Dodgers haven’t been as good as the Mets have, I give the nod to Glavine for the first half.

AL Rookie of the Year: Francisco Liriano Minnesota Twins. I picked him for the Cy Young, how can I not pick him for Rookie of the Year? Pappelbon is close, but Liriano passed him in the recent weeks.

NL Rookie of the Year: Dan Uggla Florida Marlins. I love how this guy plays, he is the total package, and a big part of a very good up-and-coming Marlins team.

Predictions

There is a ton of time for something to happen in the second half of the baseball season. Who will make a run like the Oakland A’s teams of the past and the Cleveland Indians last year? Will there be a giant collapse and what will happen in the always-exciting Wild Card races?

Here are my division winners and Wild Card picks

AL East: Boston Red Sox. They have a better team than both the Yankees and Blue Jays, not to mention the best clutch hitter in the game, David Ortiz. He is a huge X-factor. Alex Rodriguez is great for the Yankees, but he just doesn’t seem as clutch as Ortiz or Manny Ramirez. With those two in the lineup and Pappelbon at the end, I’ll go with the Sox.

AL Central: Chicago White Sox. Yes, the Tigers are the current leaders, but I’m going with the more experienced White Sox team. The White Sox have more firepower in their lineup, and they have played the Tigers great head-to-head so far (5-1). With 10 games left against Detroit, I like the Sox chance to erase their current two game deficit.

AL West: The wild, wild west. Oakland and Texas are currently all square and the dead-last Mariners are just two and a half games back, with the Angels sandwiched in between, but I think the A’s have the best shot down the stretch. They have notoriously made second half runs (usually in the month of August) and they have much better hitting than the Rangers do (not to mention that Rich Harden should be back soon for the A’s).

AL Wild Card: Detroit Tigers. I think they will fall off a little in the second part of the season, and that the White Sox can catch them for the division, but I think Detroit will be good enough to beat out the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rangers and the surging Twins for the Wild Card.

NL East: New York Mets. Currently a 12 game lead, and I don’t think anybody is going to chase them down. The NL East is just too weak this year.

NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals. Despite their recent struggles with the pitching staff I think they can slug their way to the NL Central crown. This is less of picking the Cardinals and more not picking anybody else. I don’t fully believe in the Reds, especially with them dealing away Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez for some bullpen arms. Milwaukee and Houston are both currently below .500 and I don’t think they will run down St. Louis. It’s the Cardinals by default.

NL West: Colorado Rockies. This is the most fun division race to watch. Just five games separates first from last, and the NL is so wide open that whoever gets in could have a legitimate shot at reaching the World Series. I’m going with the youthful Rockies for a playoff change-of-pace and because you can’t tell me they won’t go.

NL Wild Card: A really interesting race. I’ll go with the Los Angeles Dodgers edging out the Houston Astros. The NL Wild Card is going to be a lot of fun to watch though.