With baseball at the All-Star break, we assembled the staff here at LBS to select our mid-season baseball awards. Up first, the AL Awards. Tomorrow, the NL Awards.
Alan Hull says Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Tigers: While Robinson Cano, Justin Morneau and Josh Hamilton are all in the mix, the MVP Award should probably be called the Triple Crown Category Leader on a Winning Team Award. Cabrera isn’t very good defensively, doesn’t play a difficult position, but with Albert Pujols having a down year, he has sneaked into the conversation for the best hitter in baseball. I could see Cano winding up winning it in the end.
Steve DelVecchio says Robinson Cano, 2B, Yankees: Cano has been the best hitter on the best team in the majors, and on top of that he’s only made one fielding error so he has second base locked down defensively. With a line of 16 HR 67 RBI and a .337, he doesn’t necessarily have the best stats in the AL, but you have to give weight to the Yankees position and also what he’s done on defense.
Larry Brown says Miguel Cabrera: From the beginning of the season all the way to the All-Star break, Miggy has been the most consistent hitter in baseball. He sobered up in the offseason and that seems to have taken his already ridiculous offensive game to an Albert Pujols-level. He’s heading for his best season ever.
Jake Walker says Miguel Cabrera: He’s leading the AL in batting average, RBIs, and he’s second in home runs. He has a legitimate shot at winning the Triple Crown in the AL. How can you not say he’s MVP? In another year Cano might get it, but not with the year Cabrera’s having.
Steve Delvecchio says: David Price, SP, Rays: I’d probably give it to Price after having watched him a few times. He dominates and he has a 2.42 ERA with an AL-leading 12 wins (even though wins aren’t always a telling stat). Considering he’s just coming into his own, I’m sure he has a lot of people across the league shaking. My honorable mentions are Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester of the Red Sox. Of course I have to throw in a plug for my guys here, but I don’t think you can overlook the fact that Lester and Buchholz are a huge reason the Sox haven’t fallen completely out of contention given all their injuries. Both have ERA’s under 3.00 and 10 wins or more and they’ve stabilized a rotation that is missing one of its best (Beckett) and have stepped up when the Red Sox hitting lineup is pretty depleted (even though they somehow lead the AL in runs).
Alan Hull says Jon Lester, SP, Red Sox: Lester gets my vote in a competitive field that includes Jered Weaver and Felix Hernandez. CC Sabathia has been a great second half pitcher in years past and he’ll get into the mix.
Jake Walker says Cliff Lee, SP, Rangers: He may have been roughed up in his first start with the Rangers, but the six runs he allowed in that start only jacked his ERA up to 2.64, which is third in the AL. Lee’s 0.95 WHIP leads the field by a large margin and his 91:6 strikeout-to-walks ratio is unreal.
Larry Brown says Felix Hernandez, SP, Mariners: King Felix finished second in voting last year and is in the mix again this year. I’m big on staff contributions, and you can’t get better and more consistent than Hernandez’s AL leading 137.2 innings pitched. His 2.88 is excellent and he’s second in strikeouts behind Jered Weaver. I give him a pass for the 7-5 record — you can’t pin Seattle’s offensive ineptitude on him.
