The Football Fan Spot

AL Rookie of the year

March prediction: Matt Wieters

July prediction: Andrew Bailey

October pick: Gordon Beckham- Chicago White Sox

Beckham didn’t even play in a game until June 4th, but he batted .270 with 43 extra base hits in 378 at bats this season. He hit 14 homeruns and drove in 63 men, to go with 58 runs scored, despite batting from the #2 whole for most of the season. He played great defense at 3rd and really established himself as one of the game’s best young players. He showed surprising plate discipline for a 23-year-old rookie with 41 walks to 67 strikeouts and also stole 7 bases.

NL Rookie of the year

March prediction: Andrew McCutchen

July prediction: Colby Ramsus

October pick: Tommy Hanson- Atlanta Braves

Tommy Hanson did what highly hyped pitching prospect rarely do, he fulfilled every last bit of that potential. He won 11 games to 4 losses and had an ERA under 3. His WHIP was 1.18 and he held batters to a batting average of .225. He showed great command for a rookie with 116 strikeouts to 46 walks in 127 and 2/3 innings pitched. He looks like a future ace if he isn’t already one at the moment.

AL Comeback player of the year

March prediction: Ken Griffey Jr.

July prediction: Brandon Inge

October pick: Aaron Hill- Toronto Blue Jays

This is not a prediction because this award was already announced today, but just a pick if I had a vote. I think the voters got it right picking Aaron Hill. Not only did Hill come back, he exceeded anything he had every done. After only playing 55 games in 2008, Hill had a career high 36 homeruns, 108 RBIs, 103 runs, and 6 stolen bases. And it wasn’t even close. He had 19 more homeruns this year than ever before, 30 more RBIs, and more 16 runs. Oh, and he’s a 2nd basemen. 2nd basemen just aren’t supposed to put up those numbers, especially after a major injury.

NL Comeback player of the year

March prediction: Chris Carpenter

July prediction: Chris Carpenter

October pick: Chris Carpenter- St. Louis Cardinals

Carpenter also won this award today and I really feel the voters got it right. He hasn’t pitched more than 16 innings in a season since 2006, yet this year he has pitched 192 and 2/3 innings, and ranks 2nd in the NL in wins, WHIP, and ranks first in ERA and winning percentage. That is beyond amazing.

AL Coach of the year

October pick: Ron Gardenhire- Minnesota Twins

No one, year in and year out, does more than less. This year, he took a young patchwork team that lost its best power hitter late in the season, and turned it into a team that is playing for a playoff spot tomorrow. Some have said that he needs to make the playoffs to get this award, but to those people I say this. Should we really judge him on one game? Does one loss make him a less impressive candidate? No. No of course not.

NL Coach of the year

October pick: Jim Tracy- Colorado Rockies

The Rockies simply became a different team when he took over. He took over a 18-28 team in late May and turned it into a 93 win playoff team. Yes, he hasn’t been there all year, but it shouldn’t matter. His presence for 4 months as head coach was enough to make this team a playoff team. Its not his fault he wasn’t head coach to start the season.

AL MVP

March pick: Grady Sizemore (Yikes!)

July pick: Mark Teixiera

October pick: Mark Teixiera- New York Yankees

This may come as a surprise because I don’t like the Yankees and because everyone and their dog is picking Joe Mauer of the Twins. Any argument you can make for Mauer, I can make for Teixiera. Mauer drives in runs. Mauer, because he was hurt for a month, doesn’t even have 100 RBIs. Teixiera has 122. Some might say that Mauer’s injury has made his season that much more impressive, but I say that missing a month of the season really hurts one’s MVP case simply because they weren’t playing for a 1/6 of the season. Teixiera has more homeruns. Mauer does have the better batting average, but in terms of total offense, runs scored and runs batted in, Tex leads Mauer 225 to 190. Some might argue that Mauer should get it because he plays better defense. Well, the Yankees were a mess defensively last year and Tex with his gold glove caliber defense has made this whole infield good again. Some might argue that Mauer should get it because he plays catcher and still put up those offensive statistics. Yes, he did, but I’m not giving him any sympathy for that. Tex meant just as much to the Yankees defense as Mauer did. Some might say that Mauer is the only reason the Twins are in playoff contention. Well, the Yankees missed the playoffs last year. This year they have 103 wins. Tex has been that stabilizing force both with the bat and with the glove. He is the best player on the best team and any argument you can make for Mauer I can top with an argument for Tex.

NL MVP

March pick: Manny Ramirez (Yikes again!)

July pick: Albert Pujols

October pick: Albert Pujols- St. Louis Cardinals

I don’t see how it can be anyone else. Pujols leads the NL in slugging, homeruns, runs, on base percentage, and OPS and he’s top three in walks, runs batted in, and batting average. He’s missed all of two games this season for the division winning Cardinals and plays great defensively as well. He has 64 strikeouts to 45 homeruns, which is almost unheard of. He also has stolen 16 bases. I don’t know what this guy does badly. He must be a machine. An MVP winning machine.

AL Cy Young

March pick: CC Sabathia

July pick: Roy Halladay

October pick: Zach Greinke- Kansas City

Its not his fault he doesn’t have a great win-loss record at 16-8. He did everything he could. He led the AL in ERA at 2.16 and WHIP at 1.07. He’s 2nd in strikeouts and 5th in innings pitched. The last place Royals won 65 games and Greinke accounted for almost 25% of that.

NL Cy Young

March pick: Brandon Webb (double yikes!)

July pick: Tim Lincecum

October pick: Chris Carpenter- St. Louis Cardinals

The NL Cy Young is down to 3 closely matched contestants. Reigning Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum, who has been than last year better in every category other than wins, the Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter, who leads the NL in ERA and win-loss record, and Carpenter’s teammate Adam Wainwright, who leads the NL in wins, but has the worst ERA. I’m going to eliminate Tim Lincecum at this point because he had less wins than Wainwright and a worse ERA than Carpenter. That leaves it between Carpenter and Wainwright, teammates. Carpenter has a better win-loss record on the same team as Wainwright and a lower ERA, but Wainwright hasn’t missed a game. However, I think Carpenter has been the better overall pitcher this season. Despite his injuries, he only has 2 less wins than Wainwright and 4 less losses. His ERA is far better as is his WHIP.

Part 2 Tomorrow: Rookie of the year, Manager of the year, Comeback Player of the year