View From the Center: A.L. Awards
Welcome to "View From the Center," where our resident pseudo-expert slash Cincinnati Reds fan Jeff Gentil takes a regular rundown of the topics of interest within baseball's divisional landscape. Last week, unsung heroes. This week, awards.
Now that the mythical first half has ended, it's time to see who has stood out above the rest of the league in some major categories. We will return to team breakdowns next week.
MVP: In one person's opinion, Miguel Cabrera in a landslide. The Tigers' first baseman is leading the A.L. in batting average (.346), homers (22), RBI (77), slugging percentage (.651), and OPS (1.074). He's second in on-base percentage (.423) and doubles (27) and third with 64 runs scored and certainly doing his part to keep the Tigers in the thick of the Central race. Apologies to: Josh Hamilton, Justin Morneau.
Cy Young: In a very close call, C.C. Sabathia gets the nod over David Price. Both have 12 wins, Sabathia has one less loss. Price's ERA is better (2.42 to 3.09), but C.C. has two more starts, 15.2 more innings, and a smaller WHIP (1.14 to 1.20). Both are certainly worth candidates and stand out above the rest, but Sabathia by a nose at the break. Apologies to: Price, John Lester, Andy Pettitte.
Rookie: Brennan Boesch leads all rookies in homers (12), RBI (49), and a scorching .342 batting average. For some reason he has been overshadowed by more hyped players despite putting up numbers you would expect from a 10-year veteran. Apologies to: Austin Jackson.
Manager: With the off-season admissions to cocaine use, Ron Washington was already on the hot seat before the season began. Now, Washington is on his way to winning Manager of the Year in the A.L. due to his Rangers leading the West with baseball's fourth-lowest payroll. With the recent addition of Cliff Lee, there should be no reason why the Rangers won't win the division and return to the playoffs. Apologies to: Ozzie Guillen, Jim Leyland, Joe Maddon.
Continued on the next page
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