I know that most people consider the All-Star break the mid-season point in the baseball season but it's not so let's get right to it.
(Before I start I should say, other then my mid-season awards, I will not be talking about the NL. There is not a team in the NL right now that can beat the Red Sox, Rays, Yankees or Angels in the World Series. I'll get back to you if a team, mainly the Cubs, makes a nice trade to improve their team.)
Let's run through the awards before we get into anything else.
NL
MVP- I know Chipper is flirting with .400 but he has missed a lot of time and his team isn't very good. Because of that, I will give it to Lance Berkman who also plays on a team that isn't very good but his numbers across the board are better.
Cy Young- Edinson Volquez, no doubt. This guy is 10-3 on a bad team with a 2.09 ERA. He has given up 27 less hits then innings pitched and struck out 110 guys in 99.1 innings. I watched him dominate both the Red Sox and Yankees in back to back starts too.
Manager of the Year- To have this team in position for the playoffs in unreal. The Cards have patched together a starting rotation and have found a way to win games with a decent, at best, offense.
Biggest Disappointment- I was going to say the Mets but when I thought about it one thing popped into my head. How have the Diamondbacks gone from possible best team in baseball to 41-41 and now fighting for a playoff spot. This is bad and if they miss the playoffs, people would have to be fired.
AL
MVP- The stats say there is only 1 logical choice, Josh Hamilton. His story makes it even easier to vote for him because you want him to win. But, hsi team isn't very good even with his insane numbers and if you look back, many people have had better numbers at this time. I don't think he deserves it. But then the question becomes, who does? Can you give it to someone on the Red Sox? I say no because everynight it is a different someone being the key to the team. How about a player from the Rays? To me they don't have an MVP Player, just a bunch of good players stuck together. Angels? I don't see anyone on their team deserving of the honor. The only person in the AL I can give it to and maybe it's because I see him more then most is Mariano Rivera. 22-22 in save chances, a .74 ERA, a .55 WHIP, 42 K's-3 BB's. This man has been dominate and without him nailing down games the Yankees could be out of the race.
Cy Young- There are compelling arguements to make, Cliff Lee is having a great year, Ervin Sanatana and Joe Saunders have been awesome for the Angels and Dice-K has been really good for the Sox, but to me it's easy, Mo again. Read above for all the reasons. (Watch out of John Lackey who missed some time but has been awesome since returning).
Manager of the Year- Give it to Joe Madden and call it a day. That was easy.
Biggest Disappointment- Another easy one, The 2008 Seattle Mariners.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's get into the more important stuff. This coming week of baseball is HUGE. By far the biggest week yet. Look at these series in the AL (again, I am now done talking about the NL until a team makes a trade and looks as if they can win the WS):
Red Sox-Rays (3 games), Rangers-Yankees (3 games), Tigers-Twins (3 games), Indians-White Sox (3 games) and A's-Angels (3 games).
The Yankees need to win at least 2 of 3 from the Rangers so they can pick-up ground on whoever loses the Rays-Red Sox series. The Sox and Rays are in Tampa playing for 1st place. This weekend we also get 4 games between the Sox and Yanks and then early next week the Rays and Yanks will square off. This week and a half stretch will tell us a lot about the AL East.
In the Central the Indians meet the division leading White Sox for 3 games and get their last real chance at getting back into the race. If they can get hot right now they can get back into the race and hang on for the long run. The Tigers also look to stay hot when they meet the Twins. The Tigers are 3rd right now in the division but playing better and this is a big series for them.
And out West we get the top 2 teams meeting up for a nice 3 game set. The A's attempt to catch the Angels and they could use this series as their springboard.
There it is, the biggest week of the season so far. And next week is bigger and the week after that, even bigger. It is the mid-point in the MLB season and things are going to start getting crazy so sit back, relax and enjoy the daily grind.
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