It is Week 3 for Awards Wednesday and the way this month is going for a certain Yankee, maybe they should be renamed A-Wards Wednesday:
AL MVP
1. Alex Rodriguez, Yankees. 2. Vladimir Guerrero, Angels. 3. Ian Kinsler, Rangers. Rodriguez is doing an imitation of Babe Ruth by actually out-homering eight whole teams through Monday, nine if you include that he had 14 homers and the rest of the Yanks had 13. Cleveland’s Travis Hafner and the White Sox’s Jim Thome are also part of the discussion, but as DHs lose a bit to all-around players. (Last week’s leader: A-Rod).
AL ANTI-MVP
1. Michael Young, Rangers. 2. Gary Sheffield, Tigers. 3. Josh Barfield, Indians. Texas invested a long-term extension in Young, who has responded with perhaps his most brutal play as a Ranger (Last week’s leader: Shea Hillenbrand, Angels).
NL MVP
1. Jose Reyes, Mets. 2. Hanley Ramirez, Marlins. 3. Barry Bonds, Giants. Again the three elite NL East shortstops/leadoff men – Reyes, Ramirez and Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins – are in this race. But the interesting name is the guy who has the most MVP wins ever. Bonds has gotten off to the kind of great start that must be making Bud Selig miserable (Last week’s leader: Miguel Cabrera, Marlins).
ANTI-NL MVP
1. Adam LaRoche, Pirates. 2. Omar Vizquel, Giants. 3. Rafael Furcal, Dodgers. Pittsburgh built its offseason around acquiring LaRoche, and now apparently it will have to wait for him to find his stroke. (Last week’s leader: Mike Cameron, Padres).
AL CY YOUNG
1. Mark Buehrle, White Sox. 2. Dan Haren, A’s. 3. Chad Gaudin, A’s. Helped by his no-hitter, Buehrle has the lowest OPS against (.473) in the AL. Gaudin and Minnesota’s Ramon Ortiz are so far the big surprises (Last week’s leader: Felix Hernandez, Mariners).
AL ANTI-CY YOUNG
1. Jeff Weaver, Mariners. 2. Jered Weaver, Angels. 3. Kei Igawa, Yankees. It has not been a good beginning for the Weaver brothers. The league was hitting .436 against Jeff with an .800 slugging percentage (Last week’s leader: Weaver).
NL CY YOUNG
1. Tim Hudson, Braves. 2. Matt Cain, Giants. 3. Rich Hill, Cubs. Another pitcher who should get consideration is Milwaukee closer Francisco Cordero, who was 8-for-8 in save tries and had allowed two hits and struck out 17 in 9 1-3 innings (Last week’s leader: Jake Peavy, Padres).
NL ANTI-CY YOUNG
1. Carlos Zambrano, Cubs. 2. Brad Lidge, Astros. 3. David Wells, Padres. It has been a brutal opening few weeks for Zambrano. A change in ownership for the Cubs led to the scuttling of contract talks and now, in his walk year, he has gotten off horrendously. (Last week’s leader: Jorge Julio, Marlins).
AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
1. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox. 2. Hideki Okajima, Red Sox. 3. Akinoria, Iwamura, Devil Rays. It is a clean sweep for Japanese imports, though Iwamura will fade a bit now as he has landed on the DL (Last week’s leader: Iwamura).
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
1. Josh Hamilton, Reds. 2. Jason Hirsh. 3. Joe Smith, Mets. Hollywood is actually interested in Hamilton’s drugs-back-to-the-majors story.
SPECIAL AWARD OF THE WEEK
BEST RULE 5 PICKS
1. Josh Hamilton, Reds. 2. Kevin Cameron, Padres. 3. Joakim Soria, Royals. Hamilton is the star, to date, after being selected by the Cubs in the December Rule 5 draft and traded to the Reds in a pre-arranged deal. But Cameron, Soria and Oakland’s Jay Marshall are helping bullpens, and Josh Phelps is outplaying Doug Mientkiewicz with the Yankees.
TOP FIVE TEAMS
1. Mets. 2. Red Sox. 3. Braves. 4. Dodgers. 5. Brewers. The best teams were all supposed to be from the AL, but the NL is showing some early quality (Last week’s leader: Mets).
WORST FIVE TEAMS
1. Nationals. 2. Royals. 3. Rockies. 4. Cubs. 5. Mariners. If the Yanks are not careful they have a chance to join this list (Last week’s leader: Royals).