MVP/CY Young Predictions

The 2008 MLB season comes to a close this week, the race for the MVP and CY Young awards is still up for grabs with no clear cut winner in either league. It will be interesting to see how who comes away with the most votes for each award. Here are my predicitons and opinions for what could happen in October.

With that said, this year’s AL MVP should be the Boston Red Sox’s little man, second basemen Dustin Pedroia. The Red Sox will continue on to the playoffs this year and a lot of that has to do with the emerging play of Mr. Pedroia. The Red Sox have played their best ball this year when Pedroia gets hot at the plate. Pedroia is currently batting .324, has 17 home runs and has scored a league leading 116 runs. He is currently contesting Joe Mauer for the batting title and if won, should easily make him the MVP.

Francisco Rodriguez, Pedroia's biggest competitor will finish his record breaking season as the all time saves leader. K-Rod passed Bobby Thigpen’s save record of 57, a record that had remained intact since 1990. A staggering case can be made that K-Rod truly is the most valuable member of any team this year. For example, he has had a hand in two out of every three Angels wins this year. It is clear that K-Rod has affected more wins than any other player, but it is still difficult to give the MVP to a closer.

The AL Cy Young award should be given to the Cleveland Indians starter Cliff Lee. Lee, not Rodriguez will win the award because the Cy Young should be given to a starter and not a closer. Sure, Eric “HGH” Gagne won it in 2004, but he had to remain perfect throughout the entire year and close down 55 of 55 games while posting a ridiculous 1.20 ERA. Lee has had an amazing year going 22-2 with a 2.41 ERA. He has also done this while pitching for a losing team and bouncing back from a 5-8 season with a 6.29 ERA. His stats are outstanding and his turnaround story is admirable and together will make him this year’s Cy Young winner.

The races are also very competitive in the NL and may be ever closer than the ones going on in the AL. The winner is difficult to pin point because no one is running away from the competition, making none of the choices a lock for the award. However, there are four key favorites which start with the St. Louis slugger, Albert Pujols. The Cardinals have a winning record, Pujols is having a monster year and he also has played brilliant defense. After posting these types of numbers, it is hard to base his MVP candidacy on his team not making the playoffs. With this said, he is the only Cardinals hitter that deserves his current job for next season.

The Astros slugger, Lance “The Puma” Berkman, the Mets Carlos Delgado, and Ryan “Strikeout King” Howard all had very strong years, but their numbers are not on the same level as Pujols.

The NL Cy Young is also a close race between “Tiny” Tim Lincecum, Brandon Webb and CC “Captain Creampuff” Sabathia. Lincecum is a special kid with great talent who deserves to win this year’s award. However, he will not win twenty games, while Webb already has. Furthermore, the San Francisco Giants play more like a little league team on offense and without Lincecum would have won less than sixty games. Lincecum leads the NL in strikeouts and ERA and overall has had the best statistical season. Webb and Sabathia will give him a run at the award but Lincecum should prevail as this year’s winner.

The race for MVP and Cy Young will remain up for grabs throughout the last week of the season. It will be interesting to see if any of the candidates can step it up and distance themselves from the rest of the pack. This year’s race should be one of the most interesting finishes in recent memory, so sit back and enjoy the ride.

Dan