Let the Luis Severino Era Begin

Luis Severino is ready to bring his electric stuff to the Bronx.

There was a time that most fans of the New York Yankees didn't care about the team's farmhands. They didn't even know their names. But all that changed with publications like Baseball Weekly and Baseball America and the advent of social media.

While some fans still will quickly fork over top prospects for a current or former star, more and more fans want to see home grown ball players don their team's uniform for more than Spring Training.

The Yankees farm system was derided for some time after poor scouting, drafting, and trades for veterans left it bereft of ready for prime time players. Now the farm system has become replenished with top grade prospects. Those prospects were in demand during last week's trade deadline, but General Manager Brian Cashman refused to part with any of the cream of the crop. Aaron Judge, Jorge Mateo, Greg Bird and tonight's Yankees' starter Luis Severino remained in the Yankees system, much to the delight of the Yankees fan base.

While there is no such thing as a sure thing, the Yankees front office, manager Joe Girardi, and pitching coach Larry Rothschild expect a lot from Severino, the Yankees top rated minor leaguer.
It's not the first time a pitcher made his highly anticipated debut in the last decade. Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain both turned in some terrific performances in their initial lengthy recall with the team. Neither of them are in the organization any more, and Cashman is hoping (and probably praying) that will not be the case with Severino.

You probably need to go all the way back to 1964 to find a time when a Yankees staff was counting this heavily on a rookie this late in the season. Long before he was the Yankees coach, Mel Stottlemyre made his debut as a 22-year old stud on August 12, 1964. "Stot" went 9-3 with a 2.06 ERA in 12 starts and one relief appearance. He had five complete games in a time when starting pitchers still went the distance. He also made three starts in the '64 World Series, finishing 1-1 against a St. Louis Cardinals team that captured the championship in seven games. It would be the only postseason appearance for Stottlemyre.

Severino made eight starts for Double-A Trenton this season and averaged over 11 strikeouts per 9 innings before a promotion to Triple-A Scranton. He excelled at the challenge of facing hitters in a hitters' league, the International League. Severino compiled a 7-0 mark with  a 1.91 ERA in 11 starts. He allowed less than a base runner per inning, with just 40 hits allowed in 61.1 innings.

And now he'll put on #40 and face the Boston Red Sox in Yankee Stadium.

FullCountPitch | Where Have You Gone Joe Charboneau?

For every Buster Posey or Neftali Feliz, there is a Joe Charboneau or an Angel Berroa, a Rookie of the Year whose best days quickly left them whether it was due to injuries, bad work habits, or off the field issues.

While Posey and Feliz are both expected to have strong, long careers, FCP now takes you on a journey of the not-so-fortunate ones. And who better to start with than the legendary Joe Charboneau? The 6’2″ left fielder was acquired by the Cleveland Indians in 1978 in a minor league transaction with the Philadelphia Phillies. When he hit .352 with 21 home runs at Double-A ball in 1979, it convinced the Indians, desperate for improvement after back-to-back sixth place finishes (in the then-seven team AL East), to promote him to the Major Leagues to start the 1980 season.

Things didn’t change much for the Tribe in general, they finished sixth again with a worse record then the year before, but Charboneau caught lightning in a bottle. The native of Belvidere, IL hit 23 home runs, drove in 78 runs, hit .289 and posted an .846 OPS. (His numbers might have been even better had he not missed the last six weeks of the season with a pelvis injury.) He easily outdistanced the Red Sox’ Dave Stapleton for the AL Rookie of the Year Award.

Click here to read the rest of the free story at FullCountPitch.com

Rookie of the Year Offical Voting

I mentioned in a prior post that Neftali Feliz and Buster Posey won the AL and NL Rookie of the Year Awards. Here is the official voting.

Fomer Yankees prospect Austin Jackson (98) finished second in the AL while another former prospect Jose Tabata garnered one vote in the NL.

Player	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Neftali Feliz, TEX	20	7	1	122
Austin Jackson, DET	8	19	1	98
Danny Valencia, MIN		1	9	12
Wade Davis, TB			11	11
John Jaso, TB		1		3
Brennan Boesch, DET			3	3
Brian Matusz, BAL			3	3

Player	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Buster Posey, SF	20	9	2	129
Jason Heyward, ATL	9	20	2	107
Jaime Garcia, STL	1	1	16	24
Gaby Sanchez, FLA	2	1	5	18
Neil Walker, PIT		1		3
Starlin Castro, CHC			3	3
Ike Davis, NYM			2	2
Jose Tabata, PIT			1	1
Jonny Venters, ATL			1	1

The Envelope Please

It's award season for MLB, which means it is time for the My Pinstripes awards as well.

MVP

We'll start off with the big one right away. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the American League. This is a two man race - Robinson Cano of the Yankees and Josh Hamilton of the Rangers.

Hamilton led the league in many offensive categories despite missing almost the entire last month of the season. Here's the thing, Texas most likely would have still won the AL West had Hamilton had a mediocre season.

Cano had a huge breakout year with the bat and won his first Gold Glove with remarkable defense. People will point out the RBI totals of A-Rod and Mark Teixeira, the up year for Nick Swisher, etc. But Cano carried the Yankees for much of the season. Without him there's a good chance that Boston, despite all it's injuries, would have caught the Yankees for the wild card.

The My Pinstripes AL MVP goes to Robinson Cano.

The MLB AL MVP will go to Josh Hamilton.

Over in the National League it is again a two man race. Albert Pujols had one of his usual monster years, while Joey Votto was the break out star of the surprising Cincinnati Reds. Prince Albert has dominated the award, but this is Votto's for the taking. It's hard to imagine that he had to be put on the All-Star team through a last minute fan vote.

The My Pinstripes NL MVP goes to Joey Votto.

The MLB NL MVP will go to Joey Votto (otherwise the BBWAA is even crazier than you think).

CY Young

Let's start with the NL this time around. Ubaldo Jiminez owned this award in the first half. He was unstoppable. Then a rain delayed/interrupted start seemed to screw up his season. Adam Wainwright took ownership in August. he was unstoppable. And then he fell apart down the stretch.

So that only means one thing..is there a doctor in the house? Perfect game in the regular season, no-hitter in the post-season (which of course does not affect voting), and a won-loss record that would have been much better if the Phillies hadn't slumped for most of the season.

The My Pinstripes NL CY Young goes to Roy Halladay.

The MLB NL CY Young will go to Roy Halladay.

Over in the AL, it's a triumvirate of CC Sabathia, David Price, and Felix Hernandez. The King has all the totals other than wins, which is not the best indicator of a top pitcher. Sabathia and Price were both dominant at times.

The My Pinstripes AL CY Young goes to CC Sabathia.

The MLB CY Young goes to.....David Price (just a hunch).

Rookie of the Year

As I write this I already who the actual winners are, but they were my picks as well.

Neftali Feliz dominated as the Rangers closer. But where does he go from there? Do the Rangers keep him as the closer or eventually make him a starter?

Buster Posey's impact on the Giants lineup was enormous as was his defensive presence.

The My Pinstripes and MLB Rookie of the Year Winners - Neftali Feliz, Buster Posey

Manager of the Year

Many people will hand this award to Ron Washington for the job he did with the Texas Rangers. But Washington also made a lot of strange decisions during the year and played in a weak division. Ozzie Guillen and Ron Gardenhire also performed well. But...

The My Pinstripes AL Manager of the Year is Terry Francona. A few less bad breaks and some good ones and Boston might have been in the playoffs.

The MLB AL Manager of the Year will go to Ron Washington.

Over in the NL there are a number of good choices- Bruce Bochy, Bobby Cox, Dusty Baker, Bud Black.

The My Pinstripes NL Manger of the Year is Bobby Cox

The MLB NL Manager of the Year will go to Dusty Baker

Sunday Not in the Park With No George - An AL Look

It's Sunday, August 22...the baseball season is into the full stretch drive. Football is around the corner. And that really annoys me. Love football, but not this soon. I hate seeing people throw a football when I'm down the shore (that's on the beach to you non-Jersey types).

Today we'll just take a look at American League

The AL East race is going to the finish for sure. And I still stand by my words that it will between the Yankees and Rays for the division title as well as the wild card. Boston has hung in remarkably well despite a plethora of injuries, ineffectiveness from Josh Beckett, and a human Jon Papelbon.

Pitching is the key as always. I talked about the Yankees pitching concerns yesterday, and the Rays have them as well with both Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann expected back from the DL this week. Jeremy Hellickson was sent back to the minors to work out of the bullpen, but could still be placed back in the rotation if Davis or Niemann continue to struggle with their health.

Player to Watch - Derek Jeter. Lots of players I could have chosen here, but the Captain needs to be consistent down the stretch to set the table for the Yankees big guns.

The AL Central race should go to the wire as well with the Twins emerging as the cream of the crop. They were my pick all along and that hasn't changed. Now they have a 4 game lead over the White Sox.

The Twins pitching, outside of Carl Pavano and Francisco Liriano, has been incredibly inconsistent. Kevin Slowey has been suffering from tendinitis. It caused him to be pulled after 7 no-hit innings two starts ago. Yesterday he lasted only 3 innings. Scott Baker has been better of late and the Twins are recalling Nick Blackburn who has had a miserable year and killed my fantasy team until I kicked him to the curb. But they're still the better all around team.

Player to watch - Jim Thome. The masher has been mashing and that's great news for the Twins, especially since no one knows when and if Justin Morneau will be back.

The AL West is the Texas Rangers division to lose and I don't see that happening. Oakland has crept back to within 6 1/2 games, but this Texas team is too good not to hold on.

Cliff Lee had one of his worst outings yesterday (5.1 IP 8 ER) and has allowed 16 earned runs in his last 19.2 innings pitched. Overall he's 2-4, 4.18 in 9 starts since being acquired from Seattle. Tommy Hunter has crashed back to earth. After an 8-0 start, he's 1-2, 9.40 in his last four starts. He's lasted only three innings in three of those starts.

The Rangers really need Ian Kinsler back in the lineup. He's missed significant time twice this season with ankle and groin injuries and the lineup misses him. But Texas has the guy who is still my front runner for the MVP Award, Josh Hamilton.

The A's have gotten back in the race thanks to young pitchers Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill, and a decent bullpen. A pen that is missing closer Andrew Bailey.

Player to watch - Cliff Lee; he needs to get back on track.

Early Awards

MVP- Josh Hamilton; runner up - Robinson Cano; third - Adrian Beltre

CY Young - There are number of players, including the guy I would like to see win - CC Sabathia- but for now I am going to give a slight edge to David Price. Clay Buchholz, Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, and Felix Hernandez are all in the mix.

Manager of the Year - Cito Gaston. The Blue Jays skipper is retiring after this season, just like his mentor Bobby Cox. In baseball's toughest division, Gaston has the Blue Jays playing over .500 and abusing their division rivals. Ozzie Guillen and Ron Washington are also in the mix.

Rookie of the Year - Neftali Feliz. The rookie has stepped right in to close for a first place team and has been outstanding. Others who have shown top form at times - Austin Jackson, Brennan Boesch, Wade Davis, John Jaso, Mitch Talbot, and Reid Brignac.

Biggest surprise - The Chicago White Sox. I really didn't see this coming despite the Chisox rotation. I figured they would have sold off most of their parts by now.

Biggest disappointment - Seattle Mariners, again. Seriously. A team with that much talent that is that bad.

Has his work cut out for him in '11 - Buck Showalter in remaking the Orioles image, ability, and performance.

Worst free agent signing - Nick Johnson; Everyone knew but you Cash.

Best free agent signing - Adrian Beltre; runner up - Carl Pavano

2010 Individual Award Predictions

Let's see how good or bad I can be this year at picking the top awards in the American and National Leagues.

AL MVP

The pick for the AL is a crapshoot. I don't expect anyone to put up Albert Pujols type numbers. There are plenty to choose from. But the top 3 finishers will be - Kevin Youkilis, B.J. Upton, and Alex Rodriguez.

And the winner is.......B.J. Upton
Upton had an off year in 2009. Bad shoulder, bad attitude, bad karma. Whatever it was, it was down year for Upton, who had a .790 OPS. I expected a big rebound this year. Now if someone could only get him to play deeper in the outfield (not against the Yankees though).

AL CY Young

Zack Greinke's numbers were phenomenal last year. He should be good again this year, though it would be difficult to match a 2.16 ERA in the AL. Felix Hernandez is beginning to reach his potential. Justin Verlander is back on top of his game, and CC Sabathia is always a front-runner.

But this year's CY winner? Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox. It's been difficult to root against this particular Red Sox player since he battled back from cancer. He's got a no-hitter and soon he'll have a CY Young to add to his resume.

AL Manager of the Year

You got to win it to be in it. Or at least turn things around for a woeful team. Mike Scioscia is a perennial favorite. Ron Gardenhire will be up there too for the Twins. Terry Francona and Joe Madden will be among the top vote getters. But the recipient of the 2009 award will be...

Joe Girardi. You saw it here first (perhaps). Girardi will snag the award as the Yankees beat out very strong Red Sox and Rays teams to win the AL East.

AL Rookie of the Year

The Carlos Santana era should begin soon in Cleveland. Wade Davis has made the starting rotation in Tampa Bay. Desmond Jennings could get the call to the Rays if Carl Crawford is dealt or injuries beset the team. Brian Matusz will get a chance to prove himself in Baltimore.

But the top rookie in the AL this year will be someone who made their debut last August. That would be the Texas Rangers' Neftali Feliz. The hard throwing right-hander should stock up on strikeouts and could move to the closer role if Frank Francisco falters. Then again, he may end up in the Rangers rotation too.

Comeback Player of the Year

Grady Sizemore tried to play through the pain of an injured elbow and strained ab, but the results were poor. This year we expect a return to 30-30 form for Sizemore, though his team will fall short of the playoffs.


NL MVP

We're not going to waste your time here. Albert. Pujols. Again. Pujols had another tremendous year in 2009 and is now in a contract year. Look out NL pitchers.

NL CY Young

Johan Santana is back for the Mets. Josh Johnson will continue to shine in Florida. The Card's due of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Clayton Kershaw is emerging in LA. And of course the top gunslinger right now is the Giants Tim Lincecum.

But the NL award goes to a former AL winner and newly minted NLer - Roy Halladay. He's in a hitter's ball park, but he's in the NL and that will put this stud over the top.

NL Manager of the Year

Charlie Manuel will have his Phillies on top again, Jim Tracy will continue his good job in Colorado, and Tony LaRussa's Cards will make the playoffs again.

But, and it's a sentimental pick, Bobby Cox will win it for the Atlanta Braves.

NL Rookie of the Year

Buster Posey should bust a move for the Giants. Stephen Strasburg should be all he's cracked up to be. And Mike Stanton will cut an imposing figure in Florida.

But the winner, probably picked by a lot of people, will be the young star to be in Atlanta. Jason Heyward.

There you have it..Right? Wrong? Check back with me in November or December.

There's Life After the World Series

As you may have noticed (hopefully someone noticed), I haven't done to much blogging since the World Series ended. I need to catch up some things, including sleep. A lot has been going on since the Series ended - baseball no longer goes to the back pages when the season ends. And with the way the Giants and Rangers have been playing, it's better to dwell on the 27th championship and the 2010 Yankees season. (If you're a Knicks or Nets fan, you've probably already started counting the hours, minutes, and seconds until Spring Training).

Let's start with some hardware, the non-27th championship type :)

As expected Joe Mauer cruised to the American League MVP trophy earlier today. Yankees Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Mauer got all but one first place vote, with 4th place finisher Miguel Cabrera inexplicably picking up the lone dissenting vote. This is the same Cabrera who got loaded the night before a huge game with the White Sox as the Tigers crumbled down the stretch. Apparently one sportswriter must have drinking when he put in his/her ballot.

Here's the total vote count for Mauer and the top five finishers.
Mauer 387
Teixeira 225
Jeter 193
Cabrera 171
K. Morales 170

Mauer became just the second catcher in the last 23 years to win the award. Teixeira had been our pre-season prediction.

Alex Rodriguez (10th), Mariano Rivera (14), Robinson Cano (17) and CC Sabathia (21) were the other Yankees to receive votes.

Awards already announced:

The Managers of the Year were the Angels' Mike Scioscia (whom I correctly predicted would take the award) and the Rockies Jim Tracy. I expected the Angels to run away with the AL West, but Scioscia had to really do a great job this year to overcome injuries and the death of Nick Adenhardt. Joe Girardi finished 3rd behind Scioscia and Ron Gardenhire.

Tracey meanwhile took a slumping Rockies squad to the NL wild card. (Our Spring Training pick was a sentimental one- Bobby Cox. He finished 5th in the voting.).

Rookie of the Year honors in the AL went to the A's (and New Jersey's) Andrew Bailey, who grabbed the team's closer role. The Marlins' Chris Coghlan took the NL award. I had predicted prior to the season that Baltimore's Matt Wieters and the Cards' Jason Motte would pick up the awards. Neither received a vote, though Wieters did finish the season in strong fashion.

Bailey's fellow NJ native, Rick Porcello, came in the 3rd in the AL voting.

2009 AL roy voting

Player	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Andrew Bailey	13	6	5	88
Elvis Andrus	8	6	7	65
Rick Porcello	7	8	5	64
Jeff Niemann	x	5	6	21
Gordon Beckham	x	2	4	10
Brett Anderson	x	1	1	4

2009 nl roy voting

Player	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Chris Coghlan	17	6	2	105
J.A. Happ	10	11	11	94
Tommy Hanson	2	6	9	37
Andrew McCutchen	2	5	x	25
Casey McGehee	1	3	4	18
Randy Wells	x	1	x	3
Garrett Jones	x	x	2	2
Everth Cabrera	x	x	1	1
Dexter Fowler	x	x	1	1
Gerardo Parra	x	x	1	1
Colby Rasmus	x	x	1	1

The AL Cy Young went to KC's Zack Greinke. The Royals managed just 65 wins this season, with nearly a quarter of them (16) won by Greinke. Only Steve Carlton's 27 wins on a 59-win team may have been more impressive. Our pre-season pick CC Sabathia, finished fourth in the voting.

The National League award went to Tim Lincecum for the second consecutive season. I personally felt that Chris Carpenter would win the award. I mistakenly chose Johan Santana prior to the start of the season. Boy, that was a mistake.

AL Cy Young Award Voting

Player	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Zack Greinke, KC	25	3		134
Felix Hernandez, SEA	2	23	1	80
Justin Verlander, DET	1		9	14
CC Sabathia, NYY		2	7	13
Roy Halladay, TOR			11	11

NL Cy Young Award Voting

Player	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts.
Tim Lincecum, SF	11	12	9	100
Chris Carpenter, STL	9	14	7	94
Adam Wainwright, STL	12	5	15	90
Javier Vazquez, ATL		1		3
Dan Haren, ARI			1	1

The NL MVP will be announced tomorrow with Albert Pujols to pick up another momento for his trophy case. Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard should finish 2-3.

The 10 Worst Baseball Movies Ever Made

I won't talk about some ill advised sequels (any "Major League" movie after the original) or straight to video. And I can't include what I haven't seen, but was told was horrible (Mr. 3000 for example).

Here ya go:

The Grand Prize Clunker - Rookie of the Year

Rookie of the Year (1993)

Thomas Ian Nicholas, best known for the "American Pie" movies stars as a 12-yr old who is suddenly blessed with a three digit fastball when he breaks his arm. I haven't really seen much of Nicholas' work, but he was absolutely awful as an overly precocious, obnoxious tweener.

Gary Busey is not believable as a has-been great pitcher (okay, the has-been part is completely believable). Eddie Bracken as the team owner essentially plays the same role he did in "National Lampoon's Vacation". Daniel Stern must have really needed the money as he took on the role of the village idiot, in this case, the pitching coach.

The only good performance was Albert Hall as the Chicago Cubs' manager, who is a combination of Lou Piniella and Norm Crosby.

Cheesy and Predictable from start to finish.

The Babe Ruth Story (1948)

Veteran movie actor, and later the star of TV's "Life of Riley", William Bendix stars as the great Bambino himself, Babe Ruth. Bendix comes off as completely unathletic, not that the Babe was built like a great athlete, in one of the corniest movies ever made.

Two scenes stand out for corn - Prior to the 1932 series with the Chicago Cubs, the Yankees had traded shortstop Mark Koenig to the Cubbies, who mistreated the former Bronx Bomber. The movies depicts Ruth (Bendix) standing outside the Cubs dugout, razzing each of the players as he takes the field.

The worst scene is the penultimate near-death scene as the Babe lays gravely ill in a hospital bed. All the children in the area gather in the street below and start singing, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Take me out to the lobby.

Ed (1996)

Matt LeBlanc stars with a baseball playing chimp. 'nuff said.

The Slugger's Wife (1985)

Michael O'Keefe (Caddyshack) is Darryl Palmer, a slugger for the Atlanta Braves. The movies centers around O'Keefe's relationship with Rebecca DeMornay (Risky Business) as well as his pursuit of Roger Maris' single season home run record.

One look at O'Keefe's swing and you realize he couldn't break a pane of glass. The only amusement comes from cameos by Al Hrabosky as himself and Braves owner Ted Turner as a fan.

This movie will make you want to slug the screen writer(s).

The Babe (1992)

Another movie about the Sultan of Swat. This time starring Roseann's John Goodman in the lead role. I love John Goodman, but I so didn't love this movie. Possibly because they make the Babe very unlikeable.

While I realize his life has been glamorized and not everything is true or portrayed accurately, I could have done without the over the top drunken, womanizing, ill tempered portrayal.

Sandlot (1993)

Blasphemy will be shouted by some, including my brother, but this movie stunk. It's a rip-off of just about every movie ever made - think "Stand by Me" + TV's "The Wonder Years" + the original "Bad News Bears" + "A Christmas Story" and many, many more.

Everything in the movie is predictable - the scary man who isn't scary, the narration talking about the past, the kid who can't really play but will make a big play, and the fat catcher.

Bad News Bears (2005)

You do NOT re-make one of the best movies ever made. The original, the difference being "The" before the rest of title, appealed to any kid whether they were in little league or not. It's a classic.

And while I said I wouldn't talk about movies I didn't see, I refused to see this one. One more reason to not like Billy Bob Thornton.

The Scout (1994)

We like Brendan Fraser, but his portrayal of phenom Steve Nebraska is not believable. We can't stand Albert Brooks, but he was good as scout Al Percolo. Go figure.

Little Big League (1994)

Here we go again with a 12-yr old at the major league level. This time as the team owner and manager after he inherits the Minnesota Twins. Yeah, baseball allowing a 12-yr old manager, okay.

Like Gary Busey, Timothy Busfield is the washed up player who mentors the kid, etc. And the team improves and blah blah..snooooooooooore.

Summer Catch (2001)

Freddie Prinze Jr. as a pitcher...yeah real believable...in the Cape Cod League. Jessica Biel does her hottest best to keep the movie going, but this is major league bad. Mild spoiler - Prinze leaves his no-hitter in the 9th to stop Biel from leaving town. What, you couldn't get the last out and then follow her? No one has cell phones? C'mon.

2009 Award Predictions

Let's see how far off we can be this year!

American League

CY Young Award - There are plenty of names in contention for this one. Josh Beckett, Dice-K, and Roy Halladay chief among them. But this year's will be the Yankees very own CC Sabathia.

"When the change was made uptown And the big man joined the band"

The Yankees big man should compete for the pitching triple crown of wins, ERA, and strikeouts and help the Yankees back to the American League.

Rookie of the Year - There are a lot of good rookies out there. We can't wait to see how Elvis Andrus plays or when Matt Wieters makes his debut. Personally, we hope Brett Gardner has a big impact.

But the guy taking this award gave everyone a glimpse in last year's post-season. David Price will be back in the majors sooner rather than later and will be dominating before you know it.

MVP - This pick is really a crap shoot. You could just about throw any name out there and have a pretty good chance of picking the winner.

Our winner is, and we hope we're not jinxing him, Mark Teixeira. With Alex Rodriguez missing at least the first month of the season, the Yankees are going to need Tex to step up. Even though he's a slow starter, we expect him to be up to the task and keep the Yankees offense going.

Recent winners Dustin Pedroia and Justin Morneau will be in the mix, as will be Jason Bay and Josh Hamilton.

Manager of the Year - While we think the Yankees will rise back to the top, we don't expect Joe Girardi to get the credit for it. He'll hear the same line that Joe Torre did- anyone could have won with those guys. We're predicting Mike Scioscia will get the award for running away with the AL West despite a banged up rotation.

Comeback Player of the Year - Kris Benson, Rangers over Erik Bedard of the Mariners.


National League

CY Young Award - There are quite a number of pitchers to choose from- Cole Hamels, Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Jake Peavy, Roy Oswalt. But the best pitcher in baseball will win the NL CY Young- Johan Santana of the Mets. The Mets haven't had a winner since Doc Gooden in '85.

Rookie of the Year - There aren't too many too choose from right now, though that could change if players like the Mets' Jon Niese and/or Fernando Martinez is recalled. How much playing time will Colby Rasmus get in St. Louis?. The Braves' Jordan Schafer has already made an impact on the NL East race. But the winner will be the Cardinals catcher turned closer Jason Motte. The only thing better would be if he could catch his own pitches.

MVP - Another throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. We think Ryan Howard gets the award that we thought he would win last year. David Wright, Manny Ramirez, and Ryan Braun will all be in the mix.

Manager of the Year - We're going with a sentimental choice in Bobby Cox, who will have the Braves in competition in the NL East and wildcard right down to the final weeks of the season.

Comeback Player of the Year - Mark Prior, SD. Just 'cause we can't think of anyone else.