MLB Mid-Season Awards

Ryan: A mathematical approach to the awards, sprinkled with a bit of reasoning.

American League

MVP- Miguel Cabrera, Detroit

Cabrera has finally cleaned himself up, and he is having one of the best seasons of his career. It has always been known that Miguel was one of the most, if not the most, naturally gifted hitter in baseball, but he always has had drinking problems that lead to poor fitness. These problems seem to be a thing of the past though, as Cabrera is batting .346 with 22 HRs and a league leading 77 RBIs. His scorching hot numbers compare only to Josh Hamilton's, but Cabrera leads him in key stats such as OBP, SLG, and runs scored. If it wasn't for Hamilton's record breaking month of June, Cabrera would be leading him in everything, so it will be interesting to see how their stats compare for the rest of this season.

ROY- Brennan Boesch, Detroit

Easiest award to pick by far. Boesch is batting a whopping .342 (MLB rookie leader), with 11 HRs (American League rookie leader) and 49 RBIs (MLB rookie leader). 'Nuff said.

Cy Young- David Price, Tampa Bay

It is truly incredible that David Price lived up to all the hype. The former first overall pick has had mild success before this season, and shown flashes of brilliance, but has never seemed like a superstar. Until now. Price leads the AL in Wins (12) and ERA (2.42), and already has 100 strikeouts. It is between Cliff Lee and David Price for sure, and I think the fact that Price leads the league in two major statistics gives him the edge.

National League

MVP- Albert Pujols, St. Louis

I originally picked Joey Votto for this award, but after looking at some statistics, I cannot pick anyone over Pujols. Votto has very comparable numbers to Pujols in the major stats, such as AVG, HRS, and RBIs, but the little things are what make Pujols the favorite. He has struck out 44 times, compared to Votto's 72, has walked more, has more doubles, and has more total bases. And recent studies have confirmed that Albert Pujols is actually 34% robot, and I would trust a proven hitting machine over and up and comer like Votto to win this award.

ROY- Ike Davis, New York Mets

WE LIKE IKE!! I dont know who should win this award betweeen Heyward, Ike, and Buster Posey from San Fran, but Ike has the best chant, and therefore is the ROY. Seriously though, this award is a crapshoot between those three rookies.

Cy Young- Josh Johnson, Florida

Who would have thought anyone could have picked someone without the name Ubaldo to win this award? Ubaldo does have more wins than anyone in the entire league, but Johnson simply has better numbers than any pitcher in the league. A jaw dropping 1.70 ERA coupled with only 28 walks issued (compared to Ubaldo's 46) and 10 more strikeouts creates an impossible to beat resume. The most important pitching stat is ERA, and Johnson's is far superior to the next best ERA (2.11 by Adam Wainwright). Ubaldo has the edge in wins, but Johnson trumps him in too many categories for the Cy Young not to be his.

Jason-

American League

MVP- Josh Hamilton, Texas

As great a year Cabrera is having, I think Hamilton is doing better. Hamilton leads the league in average at .353 and has 23 homeruns. The only category where he really trails Cabrera is RBIs (70 to Cabreras 83). After last season's disappointment, many thought that Hamilton's 2008 was a fluke but it clearly isn't as he is in the top 5 of every major hitting category.

ROY- Brennan Boesch, Detroit
As Ryan said this is a no brainer. Boesch has been a beast this year and no other A.L. rookie is even close.

Cy Young- Cliff Lee, Texas

Although he has struggled so far with the Rangers, Lee still has amazing numbers so far this season. His 2.59 ERA leads the A.L. and his .94 WHIP (walks, hits per innings pitched) is phenomenal. He is only 8-4 but part of that is because he started the season with the lowly Mariners. With Texas, the wins will come and so will the Cy Young.

National League

MVP- Joey Votto, Cincinnati

This award is really a toss up between Votto and Pujols and I think it will be decided by whoever wins the N.L. Central. If the Reds win I think Votto will get the award but if the Cardinals win it belongs to Pujols. However I do have to choose now and I think Votto will win the award. Votto now has more runs, homeruns, and SLG. percentage. Votto also only trails Pujols by .001 in OBP and his average is only 4 points less. As I said this will come down to the division winner but I think Votto should win this thing.

ROY- Gaby Sanchez, Florida

Sanchez has been having a stellar season. He leads N.L. rookies in AVG, SLG, hits, doubles, and total bases. He also has 42 RBIs and 10 homeruns. It is a very tight race between all the phenoms in the N.L. east and it will come down to the very end.

Cy Young- Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado

It's hard to pick anyone else for this award. I know Johnson leads the N.L. in ERA and WHIP but Ubaldo has been to dominant. Jimenez is 15-1 and his opponents batting average is just over .200. His WHIP is also just over 1 which is still very good. When you consider that Jimenez plays half his games at Coors Field it isn't a surprise that his ERA is higher than other pitchers but it's still a very respectable 2.38. Jimenez can rack up 25 wins this year and if he keeps the ERA down he should have no problem winning the Cy Young