Youkilis’ .958 OPS ranks fourth in the AL. But of the hitters ahead of him—Milton Bradley (only 414 at-bats), Quentin and Alex Rodriguez), he is the only player with a chance to take home the majority of the votes. Justifiably so, too. He finished the year with a line of .312/.390/.569, with 29 home runs and 115 RBIs, adding to the legend of the “Greek God of Walks.” While several Boston players get more glory, he gets the job done and is turning into one of the most underrated players in the majors. Not only has he posted strong offensive totals, he is among the best defenders at first base, can also play third base effectively (filling in when Mike Lowell went down) and has been a constant presence in the Red Sox’s lineup was banged up. When compared to Morneau, he has added more value to his offense while giving his club better glove work.
Youkilis gets my vote, though he has perhaps the worst chance of the candidates listed above to actually win. Honorable mention also goes to Bradley, who led the league in OBP and OPS but missed too much time due to injury, Josh Hamilton, who paced the circuit with 130 RBIs, and Rodriguez.
My picks:
1. Kevin Youkilis
2. Joe Mauer
3. Dustin Pedroia
4. Grady Sizemore
Cy Young:
Unlike the MVP race, this is pretty easy here. Cliff Lee has gone from a demotion to the minors to the best pitcher in the league in less than a calendar year. Lee has truly been brilliant, posting a 22-3 W/L mark, the lowest ERA (2.54) in the AL and a ridiculous 170-to-34 K/W ratio. The Cleveland Indians left-hander proved that his early-season success—he went 12-2 with a 2.31 ERA before the All-Star break, earning the start at Yankee Stadium—was not a fluke. Despite his loss to Boston at Fenway Park last Tuesday, he has been nearly perfect in the second half by winning 10 decisions as Cleveland played its way to a respectable finish. To sum up his slam-dunk case: he is first in the league in ERA, winning percentage (.880) and wins, second in complete games (4), innings pitched (223.1) and WHIP(1.11), and ninth in strikeouts.
Although Lee is the only choice here, there is a decent case to be made for Roy Halladay as well. Halladay, one of three pitchers in the league to win 20 games, anchored a Toronto Blue Jays pitching staff that finished with the lowest group ERA on the circuit. As he does every year, it seems, he continued to put up zeroes on the scoreboard in Toronto, posting a 2.78 ERA in a league-leading 246.0 innings pitched.
While CC Sabathia has thrown his share of complete games for the Milwaukee Brewers, Doc Halladay has him beat, as he finished the season with nine complete games on his own. There are a lot of teams that would be happy to have that total dispersed among the entire starting rotation, let alone one pitcher. Pitching in the ri
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