THE most contentious award debate last year centered on Alex Rodriguez vs. David Ortiz for the AL MVP. The deliberations focused on whether a DH should be prized as much as a five-tool, every-day player? What is the meaning of clutch? And why the heck does A-Rod bring out the worst thoughts in so many?
Well, halfway through this season, the AL MVP again promises the most arguments, and this time A-Rod cannot be blamed (though no one should be surprised if he uses a strong second half to catapult into the discussion). The player generating the most divisiveness this year is Jonathan Papelbon. He is viable for MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year, and is going to force every voter to determine the meaning of “valuable” yet again plus decide if a closer is worthy of major awards.
At this juncture, the AL’s best offensive players are all cavemen, burly DHs Ortiz, Jason Giambi, Jim Thome and Travis Hafner.
You can add Manny Ramirez. He is paying more attention to defense these days, but that just makes this his least-worst year as an outfielder.
Joe Mauer is flirting with .400 – as a catcher – and his candidacy will be bolstered further if the Twins’ strong run thrusts them into contention. The best-rounded candidates are White Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye and Blue Jays center fielder Vernon Wells.
But my midseason pick is Papelbon.
If we are going to consider half-game players for the MVP such as Giambi and Ortiz, why not a closer? Three already have won the award: Dennis Eckersley (1992), Willie Hernandez (1984) and Rollie Fingers (1981), and none was as dominant as Papelbon this year. The contentious stuff comes when you assess “value,” and I don’t think anyone has been as valuable to his team as Papelbon to the Red Sox.
Boston is a third-place club without him.
The Red Sox remade themselves into more of a pitching/ defense squad, and they could not do that with Keith Foulke or Mike Timlin in the end game.
Let the arguments begin with these midseason awards:
Joel Sherman’s e-mail address is [email protected]. “Birth of a Dynasty,” his 10-year retrospective examining how the Yankees soared to the 1996 championship, is available in bookstores everywhere.
AL MVP
Papelbon
2.Wells.
3. Thome, White Sox.
4. Mauer.
5. Ramirez, Red Sox.
AL ANTI-MVP
Jhonny Peralta, Indians Cleveland is the majors’ most disappointing team and Peralta the most disappointing player, with a dramatic drop-off offensively and defensively. 2. Miguel Tejada, Orioles. 3. Dmitri Young, Tigers. 4. Garret Anderson, Angels. 5. Jason Varitek, Red Sox.
NL MVP
Albert Pujols, Cardinals Despite missing a month, Pujols is still among the HR and RBI leaders. The question is figuring out which Mets from Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright to give votes.2. Lance Berkman, Astros. 3. Beltran. 4. Nomar Garciaparra, Dodgers. 5. Miguel Cabrera, Marlins.
NL ANTI-MVP
Juan Pierre, Cubs Take your pick of Pierre and Rafael Furcal, leadoff men brought in to energize their new teams who have been dreadful. At least the Dodgers are contenders in spite of Furcal. 2. Furcal. 3. Marcus Giles, Braves. 4. Cliff Floyd, Mets. 5.Luis Gonzalez, Diamondbacks.
AL CY YOUNG
Johan Santana, Twins Another great debate, how could Papelbon be MVP, but not Cy Young? Again, it depends on how you define “value.” Santana has been the AL’s best pitcher. 2. Papelbon. 3. Roy Halladay, Blue Jays. 4. Francisco Liriano, Twins. 5 (tie). B.J. Ryan, Blue Jays, Justin Verlander, Tigers.
AL ANTI-CY YOUNG
Randy Johnson, Yankees In the battle of Johnson & Johnson, Jason Johnson has been worse and is now damaging his second team (Indians, now Red Sox). But even in a year when he might win 20, Randy Johnson’s fall from ace is impairing the Yanks. 2. Jason Johnson. 3. Jeff Weaver, ex-Angel. 4. Todd Jones, Tigers. 5. Javier Vazquez, White Sox.
NL CY YOUNG
Bronson Arroyo, Reds No dominant candidate has emerged yet. Is there any more obvious symbol of AL dominance than that a No. 4 starter in the AL could win the Cy Young in the NL? 2. Jason Schmidt, Giants. 3. Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks. 4. Chris Carpenter, Cardinals. 5. Chris Capuano, Brewers.
NL ANTI-CY YOUNG
Andy Pettitte, Astros A month into the season, Greg Maddux would have won the Cy, now he could be considered for this list. So things change. But they will have to change a lot for Pettitte, who had a .313 BA against and had allowed more homers (18) already than last year (17). 2. Mark Mulder, Cardinals. 3. Russ Ortiz, ex-Diamondback. 4.
Livan Hernandez, Nationals. 5. Brad Lidge, Astros.
AL ROOKIE
Papelbon Another great debate involving Papelbon, a closer, vs. elite starters, Liriano and Verlander. 2. Liriano. 3. Verlander. 4. Joel Zumaya, Tigers. 5. Kenji Johjima, Mariners.
NL ROOKIE
Dan Uggla, Marlins What a great story, a Rule 5 pick who has emerged as a star. 2. Prince Fielder, Brewers. 3.
Josh Johnson, Marlins. 4. Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals. 5. Russ Martin, Dodgers.
AL MANAGER
Jim Leyland, Tigers He has made a perennial loser believe. 2. Terry Francona, Red Sox. 3. Joe Torre, Yankees. 4. Ozzie Guillen, White Sox. 5. John Gibbons, Blue Jays.
NL MANAGER
Willie Randolph, Mets He is helping to exorcise the Brave curse. 2. Jerry Narron, Reds. 3. Clint Hurdle, Rockies. 4. Joe Girardi, Marlins. 5. Ned Yost, Brewers.
BEST FREE-AGENT SIGNING
B.J. Ryan, Blue Jays Joins Papelbon as the majors’ most overpowering closers of 2006. 2. Kenny Rogers, Tigers. 3.
Garciaparra. 4. Johnny Damon, Yankees. 5. Ramon Hernandez, Orioles.
WORST FREE-SIGNING
Jarrod Washburn, Mariners Hard to believe the winner here has the initials J.W., pitched in the AL West and is not Jeff Weaver. Weaver has been worse than Washburn. But Weaver’s pact is just one year. Washburn has been awful and has a four-year, $37.5-million deal. 2.Weaver. 3. Furcal. 4. Esteban Loaiza, A’s. 5. Kyle Farnsworth, Yankees.
BEST FREE-AGENT SIGNING FOR UNDER $1 MILLION
Frank Thomas, A’s Can’t run at all and recently had a DL stint, but has enough power and patience still to make a $500,000 investment a smart one. 2. Jose Valentin/Endy Chavez, Mets. 3. Pablo Ozuna, White Sox. 4. Joe Borowski, Marlins. 5. Jeff DaVanon, Diamondbacks.
WORST FREE-AGENT SIGNING FOR UNDER $1 MILLION
Jason Grimsley, Diamondbacks For $825,000, the D’backs brought in the man who destroyed their team and might yet wreck a bunch of lives if/when his full HGH confession is revealed. 2. Kelly Stinnett, Yankees. 3. Mark Bellhorn, Padres. 4. Todd Pratt, Braves. 5. Chris Hammond, Reds.