MLB first half awards

I'm really not a fan of either New York team, but it's hard to not select players from each team as the MVPs of the first half of the baseball season. Yankees (50-31) second baseman Robinson Cano has been having an outstanding first half, hitting .343 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs along with a .396 OBP and a .569 SLG. He's really become a complete player, hitting for speed and power and is a big reason the Yankees are in front in the AL East.

Mets (46-36) third baseman David Wright (.315 BA, 14 HR, 64 RBI, .391 OBP, .541 SLG, 15 SB) has been really stepping up his game this year. He's had the talent, but I don't remember him ever having a season like this. He'd have to be my first half National League MVP. Leading the league in RBIs, plus hitting for average and power as well as having some speed on the bases and being thought of as a good defender at the hot corner.

As for the Cy Young leaders, I'm going to have to go with Josh Johnson (8-3, 1.82 ERA, 115 SO, 0.96 WHIP) of the Marlins (38-43) for the National League and David Price (11-4, 2.42 ERA, 90 SO, 1.20 WHIP) of the Rays (48-33) for the American League. The AL has a tight group including Clay Buchholz (10-4, 2.45 ERA) of the Red Sox (49-33) and Cliff Lee (8-3, 2.34 ERA) of the Mariners (34-47) among others. Price is really becoming a top of the rotation guy, though, and I think is more valuable to his team than the other guys are to theirs. His numbers are very comparable and I think he is ready to become a big game pitcher.

As for the National League, Ubaldo Jimenez (14-1, 2.27 ERA) of the Rockies (44-38) is who everyone is assuming is running away with the award. However, since June got under way, he has been very hittable and is now fourth in the league in ERA. Johnson just hasn't gotten as much hype, but leads the NL in ERA and deserves to be the All Star Game starter. He doesn't have as many wins, but his team hasn't played as well and I'm a big believer that ERA is more indicative of how a pitcher is going than is record.

Rookies of the year for the first half are Tigers (43-37) left fielder Brennan Boesch (.345, 12 HR, 46 RBIs) for the AL and Cardinals (45-37) pitcher Jaime Garcia (8-4, 2.10 ERA) for the NL. Boesch has been having a monster first half and I think it's downright criminal that he isn't on the All Star team. Twins (44-38) broadcaster Bert Blyleven insinuated that Boesch doesn't deserve to be on the All Star team because it's something that's earned over years of solidifying yourself as a player and not over a couple of months in a season. I disagree with that because I think each All Star Game should feature the players who are having the best seasons. That should be the reward, the Hall of Fame can be a reward for a good career. Boesch is having a great rookie season (great for any season really) and deserves to be going to Anaheim.

Garcia is like Boesch in that he doesn't get talked about as much as Jason Heyward of the Braves (48-34) or Ike Davis of the Mets or Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals (36-47). Those guys are all having good years and I particularly was gushing over the hot starts Heyward and Strasburg have gotten off to. However, Strasburg needs to maintain his pace (very possible, by the way) to earn such consideration and Heyward has slumped a bit and been bothered by injuries some, though I still think he is going to be a superstar sooner rather than later. Garcia has a solid record and is second only to Johnson of the Marlins in ERA in the National League. So as far as I'm concerned he's even an early Cy Young candidate. I bet most people don't know that he has a better ERA than Jimenez.

Anyway, these are my first half awards. Of course a lot can change in the second half of a season and I'll give my final awards after the regular season ends.