2008 Midseason Red Sox Awards

With the arrival at the halfway point of the season, (just after, really — it’s been 90 games) it’s time to break out the midseason Red Sox awards! Only players currently with the Red Sox are eligible. Players can only win or be the runner up once. Once their name comes up, they’re done.

Most Valuable Player: J.D Drew — .298/.405/.559, 16 HR (runner up: Mike Lowell)

Drew has softened the blow of losing David Ortiz for an extended period of time. Without Drew’s hot June, there’s no telling what this club would have done. With Drew’s emergence, this team hasn’t missed a beat because there has been essentially no dropoff in offensive production.

As a matter of fact, you could make the case that the team got better because the Sox were able to put the defensively maligned Manny Ramirez at D.H.

To be sure, when Papi returns, the team will be that much more of an offensive force. But by removing Papi from the equation and inserting Drew’s production, the team has actually improved post-Papi. Imagine that.

That being said, he’s reverted to previous levels so far in July, but of course, it’s early. But watch Drew.

Cy Young Award: Jon Lester — 7-3, 125 IP, 3.38 ERA, 1.33 WHIP (runner up: Daisuke Matsuzaka)

Lester has been a revelation this year and beats out Dice-K for the award even though Dice is 9-1 with a 2.84 ERA. Why? Well, because Lester has walked 44 batters and Dice-K has walked eight more in just over 40 less innings. Lester has the no-hitter and the clomplete game at Yankee Stadium.

He’s the one who elicts the buzz from the crowd this year. The workload of Lester, however, is concerning. He already has 125 innings pitched and hurled 117 pitches against the Twins last time out. Let’s just say I’m not in the least bit surprised that Tito didn’t tab Lester for an All-Star roster spot.

I would expect the Red Sox to use the All-Star Break as an advantage to get Lester some extended rest.

Rookie of the Year: Jacoby Ellsbury — .271/.343/.380, 35 SB (runner up: Justin Masterson)

It’s hard to argue against Jacoby for Rookie of the Year. As the leadoff man, he’s contributed so much to the Red Sox lineup. His power isn’t there, but he shows it in flashes.

Only a recent slump has derailed his All-Star candidacy, but he’s snapping out of it and has 35 steals on the season against seven caught, most of which are errors on Jacoby’s part.

He plays a gifted center and left-field and Billy Beane has been known to say that he believes Jacoby is the best defensive outfielder in the major leagues, period. That he’s the only one that can play all outfield positions at a superior level.

He’s not likely to win Rookie of the Year due to Tampa Bay’s surge to the top and Evan Longoria’s heavy hand in it, but it would be a shock if he didn’t finish at least second.

Least Valuable Player: Julio Lugo — .264/.349/.327, 16 E (runner up: Mike Timlin)

It’s kind of interesting how Lugo’s line looks like he’s a poor man’s Jacoby Ellsbury. He also has 11 steals on the season, but the glaring number here is the 16 errors he’s fashioned at shortstop.

Even though he can be considered a poor man’s Jacoby Ellsbury offensively, I think there’s no disagreement that a poor man’s Jacoby Ellsbury is a poor man, period. He gets on base an average amount of times and has a putrid 19 RBIs on the year.

He’s an automatic GIDP anytime he comes up with any runner on base. And in the clutch? Forget it. He and Coco Crisp are the antimatter of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.

Disappointment of the Year: Hideki Okajima — 37.2 IP, 2.87 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 16 holds (runner up: David Ortiz)

We all know about Oki-Doke’s inherited runners quandary. He hasn’t lived up to expectations, but how can you really live up to a year like last year? Fortunately, he’s starting to turn things around, but he’s easily the sore thumb that sticks out from the first half.

He may be able to turn things around and cause the Red Sox to not feel pressured to bolster their bullpen, but the very reason the talk of town is about bolstering the bullpen is because of Oki’s struggles. An effective Okajima lengthens what is actually a pretty impressive collection of talent in the ‘pen.

Saturn Balls Award: Dustin Pedroia — .313/.355/.459 (runner up: Jonathan Papelbon)

Pedroia slumped during May and had a lot of people whispering about him. He’s still striking out a bit more than usual and hasn’t displayed his plate discipline he was known for, but at least he’s putting the bat on the ball, right?

He’s also an extremely capable second baseman and always finds a way to get dirty by the end of the game. He personifies the phrase “Saturn Balls,” which was coined by Curt Schilling in 2003 about Bronson Arroyo.

El Bencho Award: Coco Crisp — .259/.309/.410 (runner up: Sean Casey)

Kevin Millar meant it as a term of derison:

“I wasn’t told I was on the bench today. I didn’t know that was the situation. I didn’t know they traded for [Mientkiewicz] to be the everyday first baseman. I wasn’t told that. Once we got him, it was like maybe I’ll play some right field against righties and first base against lefties, and here we are. El bencho today.” — August 2004

This is actually a term of endearment. Is there no other reason why the Sox bench calls itself ‘El Bencho’ as well? Anyhow, Coco has provided great defense as always and is showing signs of snapping out of his offensive funk that he’s been in for over two years.

He’s not happy about playing off the bench, but with all the injuries and whatnot that have struck, he’s been able to play fairly regularly and now we can reasonably expect him to last the entire year. Being in a Red Sox uniform in 2009 is a different matter.

Second-Half Revelation Needed Award: Jason Varitek — .215/.297/.354 (runner up: Josh Beckett)

Varitek really needs to show up in the second half. Okay, I guess that’s not really imperative, especially if we get David Ortiz back. We can afford one sinkhole, and if you had to pick a position to have a sinkhole at, it would be catcher.

‘Tek brings far more to the plate than just his bat. But he wins this award because of what he’s done in his last 60-odd at-bats: Nothing. An average under .100. At this point, he’d just be happy getting to the Mendoza Line. He’s at, what, the Craig Grebeck line?

No matter the intangibles ‘Tek brings to the plate (both literally and figuratively) a sub-.100 batting average just can’t cut it. This is a situation that bears watching. If he keeps this up through the end of the year, it could dictate a change behind the plate.

Surprise of the Year: Javier Lopez — 34.2 IP, 2.34 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 8 holds (runner up: David Aardsma)

Lopez has been a nice surprise this year and has helped soften the blow of Okajima’s ineffectiveness. He’s particularly adept at getting the clutch double play due to his propensity to induce groundballs. He’s firmed up his walk total somewhat and is back to hurting lefties more than righties.

He’s a large step up from Mike Myers because he can actually handle himself against righties as well. Lopez has started to come in more frequently in pressure situations and the general rule of thumb is that if you don’t hear about a person, he must be doing well. That’s Lopez.

Dysfunctional Member of the Team: Manny Ramirez — .280/.377/.500, 17 HR (runner up: Kevin Youkilis)

Manny’s not back to the Manny of old, and it’s doubful he ever will, but he’s still a force to be reckoned with at the plate. That being said, he’s garnered headlines this year for all the wrong reasons: going after Kevin Youkilis, throwing elderly Jack McCormick to the ground.

Yeah, Manny being Manny. There’s a difference between Manny being Manny and Manny being a Grade-A, certified you-know-what. He’s using the popular saying as a cop-out, that he’s not responsible for his actions. I like the bat he brings to the plate, I don’t like much else.

This man’s opinion of Manny has done a 180° this year and I wouldn’t shed a tear if he left after the year.

Fan’s Pet: Jed Lowrie — .310/.340/.476, 42 AB (runner up: Clay Buchholz)

Yep, he gets the nod over Justin Masterson. Lowrie’s production sent a storm of calls for him to become the everyday shortstop immediately. That hasn’t happened yet, but if you poll the fans, I’m pretty sure the majority would expect Lowrie to be the starting shortstop next year.

There’s a lot to be excited about for this kid, but let’s all temper our expectations. Reports are that he’s less than adequate in the field although I don’t know how credible that is. He’s a quality hitter but let’s not expect a .476 slugging percentage being sustained over a full season for his first couple of years.

But yeah, the kid’s awesome. I hope he’s on the team next year either replacing Lugo or Alex Cora.

Steady Eddie Award: Tim Wakefield — 5-6, 115.1 IP, 3.75 ERA, 1.22 WHIP (runner up: Kevin Cash)

You don’t hear much about Wakefield, but the dude is dealing these days. He has a 1.22 WHIP which is rather impressive given he is a knuckleballer and has a career 1.35 WHIP. He seems to be over his injury that marred his season at the end. He’s been a constant figure in the rotation this year and has put up numbers that should give him a better record than he has.

Those are my awards. What do you think? What are yours?