Verb's 2008 MLB Awards

The season has come down to its final game tonight and it will actually decide everything potentially in the AL Central. Awesome! The rest of playoffs are decided so look for our playoff predictions coming this week on the podcast. Today I am going to tell you who should and shouldn't be considered for post season awards and tell you who I would vote for if I was so worthy of such an honor. Lets start in the National League.

NL MVP:

Who should get votes:

-Albert Pujols - The man is a machine and he played on a sub-par team and kept in the race for 90 percent of the season. He had more extra base hits then strikeouts and his slugging and ops were off the charts.

-Ryan Howard - 48 home runs and 148 rbi's. His team won a division championship too.

-Carlos Delgado - 38 home runs and 115 rbi's and can hit in the clutch. Was really hot late in the season but his team did not win a division champion or even a wild card.

Who is being talked about and I don't really know why:

-Manny Ramirez - He hit .396 and had 53 rbi's in 53 games for the Dodgers but that all the games he played in the NL this year. I refuse to give this award to someone who only played a third of the season in that respective league.

-CC Sabathia - See Manny Ramirez.

Who was really good but shouldn't be in this conversation:

-Lance Berkman

-Hanley Ramirez

-Johan Santana

-Brad Lidge

Winner: Albert Pujols

NL Cy Young:

Who should get votes:

-Tim Lincecum - 17-5 with 252 strikeouts for a bad team. His ERA was 2.66. That's really really really good!

-Johan Santana - 16-7 with 206 strikeouts for the Mets. His ERA was 2.53 and his team was winning most of the season and his bullpen was awful all of the season. He was dominant down the stretch and kept the Mets in the race for a long time.

-Brandon Webb - 22-7 with 183 strikeouts on a team that was winning the division until late September. 3 bad starts late in the season really hurt his ERA and his chances.

-Brad Lidge - 41 for 41 in save opportunities. I always struggle giving this award to a closer however.


Winner: Tim Lincecum

NL Manager of the Year:

Who should get votes:

-Lou Piniella - the Cubs had the best record in the league.

-Tony LaRussa - this team was supposed to be bad and were in way into September.

-Charlie Manuel - his team could have quit but Charlie kept them going and now he is a division champion again.

Winner: Lou Piniella without question!

I would do the Rookie of the Year awards but I don't really know what makes a guy a rookie in baseball so I'm not going to do that one.

Onto the AL...

AL MVP:

Who should get votes:

-Justin Morneau - .302, 23 home runs, 129 rbi's for a division champ!

-Dustin Pedroia - He did everything for the Sox this year. No stat really stands out but you have all heard that he did everything for this team including hit clean-up for 4 games.

-Josh Hamilton - .304, 32 homers and 130 driven in. The Rangers didn't win the division but that's because Anaheim was really good.

Who was really good but shouldn't be in this conversation:

-Francisco Rodriguez

-Miguel Cabrera

-Carlos Quentin

-Grady Sizemore

Winner: Josh Hamilton!

AL Cy Young:

Who should get votes:

-Francisco Rodriguez - 62 saves beat the former saves record by 5. 2.24 ERA. Unreal!

-Cliff Lee - Out of nowhere to win 22 games for a bad Cleveland team. He had a 2.54 ERA and 170 strikeouts. That's really good!

-Roy Halladay - 20-11 with a 2.78 ERA. 206 strikeouts and deserved a better record.

-Diasuke Matsuzaka - 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA. He was injured for some of the season but still pitched great when healthy.

Winner: Cliff Lee barely of K Rod!

Manager of the Year:

Who should get votes:

-Joe Maddon - Won a division in Tampa

Winner: Joe Maddon and no one else should get a single first place vote!

Rookie of the Year is going to be Evan Longoria from Tampa and that's who I would vote for but again I don't know what the rules are for this so I don't know who else should get votes.

So there ya have it, the standouts from this year in baseball. MVP's, Cy Young's and the best managers around. The Playoffs are going to be great. Hopefully I can out-pick my counter-part during October.