A Quarter In: Complete MLB Awards Analysis

Officially, every team has now played 40 games on the season, which means the first quarter of the 2009 season is over. If awards were given out today, here's how I would vote.

American League MVP: Justin Morneau (Minnesota Twins)

Justin Morneau is one of two players in the American League to be in top-10 in batting average, home runs, RBI, and OPS. Morneau is batting .343, with 13 home runs, 40 RBI, and a 1.082 OPS.

Rk	Player	BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
2	Evan Longoria (TB)	.333	11	49	1.034	2
3	Miguel Cabrera (Det)	.367	9	33	1.024	1
4	Adam Jones (Bal)	.359	10	32	1.068	4
5	Jason Bartlett (TB)	.373	7	30	1.014	14
6	Aaron Hill (Tor)	.350	11	35	.932	2
7	Jason Bay (Bos)	.286	13	45	1.036	4
8	Victor Martinez (Cle)	.371	7	30	1.025	0
9	Torii Hunter (LAA)	.314	10	37	.978	8
10	Nick Markakis (Bal)	.310	7	38	.898	1
11	Adam Lind (Tor)	.295	7	35	.864	0
12	Carl Crawford (TB)	.317	1	21	.800	28
13	Ian Kinsler (Tex)	.284	12	33	.916	10
14	Carlos Pena (TB)	.238	15	38	.965	0
15	Nelson Cruz (Tex)	.288	11	31	.890	7

National League MVP: Raul Ibanez (Philadelphia Phillies)

Raul Ibanez is one of two players in the National League to be in top-10 in batting average, home runs, RBI, and OPS. Ibanez is batting .352 with 17 home runs, 43 RBI, and a 1.151 OPS. He also has four stolen bases.

Rk	Player	BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
2	Albert Pujols (Stl)	.327	14	38	1.110	7
3	Ryan Zimmerman (Was)	.348	11	34	1.011	0
4	Joey Votto (Cin)	.371	7	31	1.117	2
5	Ryan Braun (Mil)	.333	8	31	1.011	3
6	Brad Hawpe (Col)	.326	6	34	.981	0
7	Carlos Beltran (NYM)	.361	6	30	1.020	7
8	David Wright (NYM)	.350	3	30	.966	10
9	Todd Helton (Col)	.342	6	31	.928	0
10	Adam Dunn (Was)	.284	14	39	1.013	0
11	Chase Utley (Phi)	.297	7	31	1.013	3
12	Adrian Gonzalez (SD)	.282	16	30	.982	1
13	Prince Fielder (Mil)	.270	10	42	.942	0
14	Orlando Hudson (LAD)	.342	3	27	.910	4
15	Justin Upton (Ari)	.320	9	26	1.004	4

American League Cy Young: Zack Greinke (Kansas City Royals)

Greinke has been stunning this year with a 7-1 record, 0.82 ERA, and 73 strikeouts in 66.0 innings pitched (including four complete games).

Rk	Player	W-L	ERA	K	IP	CG	Sv
2	Roy Halladay (Tor)	8-1	2.52	63	75.0	1	-
3	Edwin Jackson (Det)	4-2	2.55	48	60.0	0	-
4	Mark Buehrle (Cws)	6-1	2.59	36	59.0	0	-
5	Frank Francisco (Tex)	1-0	0.00	15	15.2	-	10

National League Cy Young: Johan Santana (New York Mets)

Santana has continued his excellent play with a 6-2 record, 1.50 ERA, and 75 strikeouts in 60 innings pitched.

Rk	Player	W-L	ERA	K	IP	CG	Sv
2	Wandy Rodriguez (Hou)	5-2	1.83	53	59.0	0	-
3	Jair Jurrjens (Atl)	4-2	2.07	35	61.0	0	-
4	Heath Bell (SD)	2-0	0.49	23	18.1	-	12
5	Chad Billingsley (Lad)	6-2	2.82	69	67.0	0	-

American League Rookie of the Year: Elvis Andrus (Texas Rangers)

Andrus is batting .291 with three home runs, nine RBI, and a .790 OPS. He also has one great glove.

Rk	Player	W-L	ERA	K	IP	Hld	Sv
		BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
2	Andrew Bailey (Oak)	3-0	2.20	35	28.2	2	1
3	Ryan Perry (Det)	0-1	2.45	17	18.1	4	-
4	Nolan Reimold (Bal)	.256	2	4	.729	0	-

National League Rookie of the Year: Colby Rasmus (St. Louis Cardinals)

This is a weak rookie class. Rasmus is batting .233 with four home runs and 17 RBI.

Rk	Player	W-L	ERA	K	IP	Hld	Sv
		BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
2	Luke Gregerson (SD)	0-3	3.76	28	26.1	5	-
3	Gerardo Parra (Ari)	.279	1	8	.782	0	-
4	Bobby Scales (Chc)	.265	1	5	.861	0	-

American League Manager of the Year: Jim Leyland (Detroit Tigers)

Leyland has led the Tigers to a .571 winning percentage on a team that wasn't expected to do much.

Rk	Manager	Win%	Note
2	Cito Gaston (Tor)	.574	The Jays were expected to do what they do every year, but now they could be contending.
3	Ron Washington (Tex)	.605	Washington has the Rangers off to a scorching start and are contending in a vision that the Angels were expected to run away with.
4	Joe Girardi (NYY)	.568	After signing the three biggest free agents and the A-Rod drama, Girardi has the Yankees relevant again.

National League Manager of the Year: Joe Torre (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Torre has the Dodgers off to a .667 winning percentage despite all the Manny drama.

Rk	Manager	Win%	Note
2	Tony La Russa (Stl)	.591	La Russa continues to be one of the best managers in baseball, turning his pitching staff around.
3	Dusty Baker (Cin)	.535	Baker has made the Reds relevant, which they haven't been for years. Pitching and offense have improved tremendously.
4	Ken Macha (Mil)	.591	Despite constant manager changes, the team has remained resilient as Macha has the Brewers in first.

American League Relief Man of the Year: Frank Francisco (Texas Rangers)

Francisco has 10 saves with a 0.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 15.2 innings pitched.

Rk	Player	W-L	ERA	K	IP	Sv	BlSv
2	Jonathan Papelbon (Bos)	0-1	1.80	23	20.0	11	1
3	Mariano Rivera (NYY)	0-1	2.75	24	19.2	9	1
4	Brian Fuentes (LAA)	0-2	4.32	19	16.2	12	2
5	Bobby Jenks (CWS)	0-2	3.38	14	16.0	10	1

National League Relief Man of the Year: Heath Bell (San Diego Padres)

Bell has 12 saves with a 0.49 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 18.1 innings pitched.

Rk	Player	W-L	ERA	K	IP	Sv	BlSv
2	Trevor Hoffman (Mil)	0-0	0.00	10	12.0	11	0
3	Francisco Rodriguez (NYM)	1-0	0.87	20	20.2	12	0
4	Jonathan Broxton (LAD)	5-0	1.17	35	23.0	11	2
5	Francisco Cordero (Cin)	0-2	1.89	21	19.0	11	0

American League Comeback Player of the Year: Victor Martinez (Cle) and Aaron Hill (Tor)

Both Hill and Martinez have come back exceptionally well from injuries.

Rk	Player	BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
t-1	Aaron Hill (Tor)	.350	11	35	.932	2
t-1	Victor Martinez (Cle)	.371	7	30	1.025	0

American League Comeback Player of the Year:  Nick Johnson (Washington Nationals)

After Johnson spent most of the 2008 season, Johnson has out up exceptional numbers this year (.338 average, four home runs, and 35 RBI).

Rk	Player	W-L	ERA	K	IP
2	Yovani Gallardo (Mil)	4-2	3.83	50	51.2
3	Barry Zito (SF)	1-5	4.02	37	56.0

Silver Sluggers:

Pos	American League	National League
C	Victor Martinez (Cle)	Bengie Molina (SF)
1B	Justin Morneau (Min)	Albert Pujols (Stl)
2B	Aaron Hill (Tor)	Chase Utley (Phi)
SS	Jason Bartlett (TB)	Hanley Ramirez (Fla)
3B	Evan Longoria (TB)	Ryan Zimmerman (Was)
OF	Jason Bay (Bos)	Raul Ibanez (Phi)
OF	Adam Jones (Bal)	Carlos Beltran (NYM)
OF	Torii Hunter (LAA)	Ryan Braun (Mil)
DH|P	Jason Kubel (Min)	Micah Owings (Cin)