Roy Halladay is in line for a Cy Young Award.
Baseball season has basically reached its midpoint. Although the All-Star game is traditionally dubbed the "Midsummer Classic", the end of June truly marks the midpoint of the baseball season. So who takes home the hardware in Mel Kiper's Hair Baseball Midseason Awards? Let's find out.
AL MVP: Mark Teixeira, 1B, New York Yankees. Clearly, the best acquisition by the Yankees from their very busy 2008-2009 offseason was Mark Teixeira, who was signed to a massive deal in the free agency. Through 6/27, Teixeira had hit 20 home runs and belted in 58 RBIs. He was only batting .276, but his power numbers are huge. Teixeira has taken a huge lift upon his shoulders to help carry the Yankees' sometimes struggling offense. He has done a great part in keeping the Bronx Bombers anywhere near the surging Red Sox, who look like they are running away with the division. But right now, Mark Teixeira is loving the pinstripes and the Yankee faithful are loving the first baseman. If he continues to hit like he is, Teixeira could take home an MVP award.
NL MVP: Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols has been absolutely crushing the ball this season. As I am writing this article, the Cardinals' first baseman has belted home runs number 27 and 28 on the season. This puts him on pace for almost 60 for the year, which is unbelievable. The Cards are in great position to win the NL Central, much thanks to Pujols' bat. He also has 74 RBIs on the year and has a .328 batting average. In comparison, his numbers are much better than Texiera's. Well, Pujols' numbers are much better than everyone else's, in fact. As long as he can stay healthy, he should take home the NL MVP award.
AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay, SP, Toronto Blue Jays. Halladay is once again having an unbelievable season for the Jays and has kept Toronto in the playoff hunt. Through 6/27, Halladay is 10-1 with 88 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.53. His primary competitor, Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals, has a lower ERA (1.90) and more strikeouts (111 K's total) but is 9-3. While Greinke's losses can often be chalked up to poor run support by his Royal teammates, Halladay is still a better bet for the award because of the irrelevance of the Royals.
NL Cy Young: Chad Billingsley, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers. While there isn't one main candidate for the award in the NL, Billingsley is a pretty safe bet to be in the running late in the season. With the success of the Dodgers, the young hurler will likely continue to rack up the victories, giving him an edge over other pitchers on less successful teams. He has 9 wins on the year, which is tied for the lead in the NL. His ERA is pretty solid at 3.10 and he has K'd 99 batters on the season. In June, he is 3-0 with a 3.82 ERA with only 13 earned runs in five starts. However, he was assessed two no decisions in two Dodger losses in June as well. But Billingsley for the most part has held up his end.
The AL Favorite: Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox are most definitely playing championship-caliber baseball right now. The Yankees' struggles plus Boston's own success has created a substantial lead in the AL East for the Red Sox, which through 6/27 is 4 games over the Yanks. The Red Sox are probably the most balanced team in the majors. They have great starting pitching, good relievers, a great closer, and a balanced, consistent, and sometimes explosive hitting lineup. However, the Red Sox will have to contend with the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Rays in the AL East, who are all fairly close together. In the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers are playing the best baseball. The Tigers have gotten great starting pitching and solid hitting all year. However, relievers continue to be an issue for this team. If Detroit wants to hold off the Twins and White Sox, the relievers must hold. Once the playoffs come around, the Tigers can beat every team in the American League in a series except probably the Red Sox. But anything can happen.
The NL Favorite: Los Angeles Dodgers. Everything is going very smoothly for the Dodgers right now. They have been the best team record-wise in all of baseball for the entire season. They kept up their success even when Manny Ramirez was suspended, and now they are close to getting their superstar slugger back in the lineup. The Dogers are running away with the NL West. And they are running away with the National League. No team in particular looks very good right now except for Los Angeles. The Phillies were playing good ball but have been atrocious recently, allowing the horrible Mets and even the Marlins to stay in the NL East race. Interesting fact: The Phillies have the best road record in all the majors, at 25-12. However, their home record is an abysmal 13-22. Can we definitely say now that the negativity and arrogance of the Philadelphia fans has caused this oddity? I say yes.
The Dark Horse Playoff Team: Chicago White Sox: The White Sox are one of the better teams in the majors that always underperforms, and this year is no exception. Chicago has been hanging around .500 for awhile, and remain 6 games behind the division leading Tigers in the AL Central. The White Sox have a very good lineup and pretty good pitching that should allow them to make a run in the second half. Expect Chicago to give Detroit some trouble. But the Tigers should hang on to the division with their superior starting pitching. The Twins could also be trouble in the central in a weird year like this, but expect the Tigers to maintain their lead.
Proposal that the league should consider: As originally brought up by radio host Evan Cohen on ESPN 760's Palm Beach's Gameday, the Florida Marlins should swap places with the Toronto Blue Jays in terms of divisional lineup. Everything about the Marlins being the AL East would make sense. The large New England/New York population in South Florida would make for great home draws with the Yankees and Red Sox in South Florida. The Marlins average 30,000 to 35,000 fans for those games, sometimes even more. They would play the Yankees and Red Sox nine times each at home. That would be 18 home games with over 30,000 fans packing Land Shark Stadium and in the future the new Marlins Stadium. Also, there is potential for a Florida baseball rivalry with the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. On the flip side, Toronto gets to go to the less competitive NL East, where they would actually have a chance of winning. The Blue Jays will dole out the money to get the good players, but they always finish behind the Yankees and the Red Sox because of the massive payrolls of the two clubs. Being in the National League East would allow the Blue Jays to have more success with the pretty substantial payroll of the team. Additionally, the Jays could set up a yearly interleague bout with the Detroit Tigers, who are the closest American League team to Toronto. It would be a win-win situation for the Jays and Marlins. The Jays would be able to compete on a yearly basis for the divisional crown, and the Marlins would be able to draw more fans and start a rivalry with the Rays.
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