2009 American League

New York took the AL East with 103 wins, and the LA/Anaheim Angels the West with 97 wins, while the Red Sox won the wild card with 95 wins.  The only close race was the Central, where Minnesota with 87 wins was a game in front of Detroit.  Texas won 87 games, Seattle 85, and Tampa Bay 84.  At the bottom of the standings, Baltimore lost 98, Cleveland and Kansas City 97 each.

Joe Mauer won the batting average title with a .365 mark, with Ichiro Suzuki at .352 and Derek Jeter at .334.  Mauer also led in on-base and slugging.  Dustin Pedroia led with 115 runs scored and Chone Figgins tallied 114.  Suzuki had 225 hits, Jeter 212.  Brian Roberts had 56 doubles, Billy Butler 51.  Jacoby Ellsbury and Denard Span each tripled 10 times.  Carlos Pena and Mark Teixiera had 39 homers each, Jason Bay and Aaron Hill 36 each.  Teixiera led with 122 RBI, Bay had 119, Adam Lind 114 and Evan Longoria 113.  Ellsbury stole 70 bases, Carl Crawford 60.

Felix Hernandez, C.C. Sabathia, and Justin Verlander won 19 games each.  Zach Grienke led with a 2.16 ERA, Hernandez was second at 2.49, Roy Halladay third at 2.79.  Verlander led with 269 strikeouts, Greinke 242, Jon Lester 225.  Halladay led the loop with 9 complete games and 4 shutouts.  Brian Fuentes had 48 saves, Joe Nathan 47.

Win Shares leaders, position players:  Joe Mauer (Minnesota) 32, Jason Bay (Boston) 30, Derek Jeter (New York), Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle), and Kevin Youkilis (Boston) 28, Ben Zobrist (Tampa Bay) 27, Chone Figgins (Los Angeles) and Mark Teixiera (New York) 26, Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) and Aaron Hill (Toronto) 25, Ian Kinsler (Texas), Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay) and Dustin Pedroia (Boston) 24, Bobby Abreu (Los Angeles, Jason Bartlett (Tampa Bay), Shin-Soo Choo (Cleveland), Kendrys Morales (Los Angeles), and Alex Rodriguez (New York) 23.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers:  Zack Greinke (Kansas City) and Felix Hernandez (Seattle) 26, Roy Halladay (Toronto) and Justin Verlander (Detroit) 21, C.C. Sabathia (New York) 18, Andrew Bailey (Oakland), Edwin Jackson (Detroit), Jon Lester (Boston), and Jered Weaver (Los Angeles) 17, David Aardsma (Seattle), Josh Beckett (Boston), Mark Buerhle and John Danks (Chicago), and Joe Nathan (Minnesota) 16.

WAR (Fangraphs) leaders, position players:  Zobrist 8.7, Mauer 7.9, Longoria 7.6, Jeter 7.1, Figgins 6.9, Gutierrez 6.3, Carl Crawford (Tampa Bay) and Youkilis 5.9, Bartlett 5.5, Suzuki 5.4, Cabrera 5.3, Teixiera 5.2, Choo 5.1, Pedroia 5.0.

WAR leaders, pitchers:  Greinke 9.3, Verlander 8.3, Halladay 7.4, Hernandez 6.8, Lester and Sabathia 6.4, Beckett 5.5, Gavin Floyd (Chicago) 4.5, Cliff Lee (Cleveland) 4.2, John Lackey (Los Angeles) and Weaver 3.8.

Actual award voting, BBWAA:
MVP (top 14):

1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points
Joe Mauer, Twins	27	1									387
Mark Teixeira, Yankees		15	6	4	1	1		1			225
Derek Jeter, Yankees		9	5	3	5	3		1	1	1	193
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers	1	1	5	8	4	3	2		1	3	171
Kendry Morales, Angels			3	9	10	3	2				170
Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox		2	7	3	4	2	2	4		1	150
Jason Bay, Red Sox			1	1		4	5	4	5	1	78
Ben Zobrist, Rays						1	4	3	1	2	34
Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners						2		4	4	3	33
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees			1		3				2	1	31
Chone Figgins, Angels						3	1	2	3		31
Aaron Hill, Blue Jays					1		2	2		3	23
Bobby Abreu, Angels						2	1	1	1	4	23
Mariano Rivera, Yankees						2	1	1			17

Cy Young:

	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals	25	3		134
Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners	2	23	1	80
Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers	1		9	14
CC Sabathia, New York Yankees		2	7	13
Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays			11	11

Rookie:

	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Andrew Bailey, Oakland Athletics	13	6	5	88
Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers	8	6	7	65
Rick Porcello, Detroit Tigers	7	8	5	64
Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay Rays		5	6	21
Gordon Beckham, Chicago White Sox		2	4	10
Brett Anderson, Oakland Athletics		1	1	4

Manager:

	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	15	10	1	106
Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota Twins	6	12	6	72
Joe Girardi, New York Yankees	4	3	5	34
Don Wakamatsu, Seattle Mariners	2	2	3	19
Ron Washington, Texas Rangers	1	1	11	19
Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers			2	2

Top player:  Joe Mauer, the Twins' multi-talented catcher.  Mauer made this mini-run of Minnesota success possible.
#1 Joe Mauer, #2 Derek Jeter, #3 Ben Zobrist, #4 Kevin Youkilis, #5 Ichiro Suzuki, #6 Mark Teixiera.

Top pitcher:  Zach Grienke had an amazing year.
#1 Zach Greinke, #2 Felix Hernandez, #3 Justin Verlander, #4 Roy Halladay, #5 C.C. Sabathia.

Top rookie:  Andrew Bailey, though Elvis Andrus is a close second.

Top manager:  Mike Scioscia, who has been a steady skipper for the Angels.

2008 National League

The Chicago Cubs led the NL with 97 regular-season wins, then were swept in the Division Series by the West-winning LA Dodgers, who with 84 victories had the lowest total of any playoff team.  Philadelphia won 92 games to take the East, and would win the World Series.  Milwaukee gained the wild card with 90 wins.  The Mets won 89, the Astros and Cardinals 86 games each.  On the other end, Washington lost 102, San Diego 99, and Pittsburgh 95.

Chipper Jones won the batting average title at .364, with Albert Pujols at .357.  Matt Holliday was third at .321.  Chipper led in on-base, Pujols in slugging.  Hanley Ramirez led with 125 runs, Carlos Beltran scored 116, David Wright 115.  Jose Reyes had 204 hits, Wright 189.  Nate McLouth and Lance Berkman tied with 46 doubles.  Reyes had 19 triples.  Ryan Howard led the field with 48 homers and 146 RBI.  Adam Dunn was second in homers with 40, Carlos Delgado third with 38.  Wright was second with 124 RBI, Adrian Gonzalez third with 119.  Wily Taveras led with 68 steals.

Brandon Webb led the league with 22 wins.  Tim Lincecum was second with 18.  Johan Santana led with a 2.53 ERA, Lincecum was second with a 2.62 mark, Tim Peavy third at 2.85.  Santana led with 234 innings.  Lincecum led with 265 strikeouts.  C.C. Sabathia completed seven starts.  Jose Valverde compiled 44 saves.

Win Shares leaders, position players:  Lance Berkman (Houston) 38, Albert Pujols (St. Louis) 35, Carlos Beltran (New York) 33, Hanley Ramirez (Florida) 32, Chase Utley (Philadelphia) 30, Jose Reyes and David Wright (New York) 29, Nate McLouth (Pittsburgh) 27, Adrian Gonzalez (San Diego) and Ryan Ludwick (St. Louis) 26, Ryan Braun (Milwaukee), Andre Ethier (Los Angeles), Ryan Howard (Philadelphia), Aramis Ramirez (Chicago) and Dan Uggla (Florida) 25.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers:  Tim Lincecum (San Francisco) 27, Brandon Webb (Arizona) 22, Johan Santana (New York) 21, Dan Haren (Arizona) 20, Ryan Dempster (Chicago), Cole Hamels (Philadelphia) and Roy Oswalt (Houston) 18, Aaron Cook (Colorado) and Edinson Volquez (Cincinnati) 17, Chad Billingsley and Derek Lowe (Los Angeles), Ricky Nolasco (Florida), C.C. Sabathia (Milwaukee), Ben Sheets (Milwaukee) and Carlos Zambrano (Chicago) 16.

WAR leaders, position players:  Pujols 9.1, Utley 8.3, Berkman 7.9, Beltran 7.6, Jones and H. Ramirez 7.5, Wright 7.1, Reyes 6.4, Matt Holliday (Colorado) 6.1, Ludwick, Brian McCann (Atlanta) and Jimmy Rollins (Philadelphia) 5.6, Randy Winn (San Francisco) 5.4, Troy Glaus (St. Louis), Russell Martin (Los Angeles), and Jayson Werth (Philadelphia)  5.2.

WAR leaders, pitchers:  Lincecum 7.5, Haren 6.5, Webb 6.0, Dempster 5.2, Lowe 5.0, Santana 4.8, Cook 4.7, Sabathia 4.6, Sheets 4.5, Billingsley and Hamels 4.4, Ubaldo Jiminez (Colorado) 4.3, Volquez 4.2.

Actual award voting from the BBWAA:
MVP (top 15):

Player	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points
Albert Pujols, St. Louis	18	10	2	1			1				369
Ryan Howard, Philadelphia	12	8	6		1	1	2			1	308
Ryan Braun, Milwaukee		2	3	5	5	2	2	3	2	1	139
Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles		2	4	7	2	3	2		1	2	138
Lance Berkman, Houston		2	4	4	1	3	3	4	1	1	126
CC Sabathia, Milwaukee		4	5	1	2	2	3		1	2	121
David Wright, New York		2	1	4	3	3	2	5	2	1	115
Brad Lidge, Philadelphia	2		2		4	3	2	3	1	2	104
Carlos Delgado, New York			5	1	2	5		2	3		96
Aramis Ramirez, Chicago				2	4	1	1	4	3	1	66
Hanley Ramirez, Florida				2	2	2	1	2	2	5	55
Chipper Jones, Atlanta		1				2	4	1	2	2	44
Geovanny Soto, Chicago				3	1		3		1		41
Johan Santana, New York		1		1		1	1		2	1	30
Chase Utley, Philadelphia				1	1	1	1		3	2	30

Cy Young:

Player	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Tim Lincecum	San Francisco Giants	23	7	1	137
Brandon Webb	Arizona Diamondbacks	4	15	8	73
Johan Santana	New York Mets	4	8	11	55
Brad Lidge	Philadelphia Phillies	—	1	7	10
CC Sabathia	Milwaukee Brewers	1	1	1	9
Ryan Dempster	Chicago Cubs	—	—	4	4

Rookie of the Year:

Player	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Geovany Soto	Chicago Cubs	31	1	—	158
Joey Votto	Cincinnati Reds	1	21	8	76
Jair Jurrjens	Atlanta Braves	—	6	16	34
Edinson Volquez	Cincinnati Reds	—	3	—	9
Jay Bruce	Cincinnati Reds	—	—	7	7
Kosuke Fukudome	Chicago Cubs	—	1	1	4

Manager of the Year:

Player	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Lou Piniella	Chicago Cubs	15	8	4	103
Charlie Manuel	Philadelphia Phillies	8	6	9	67
Fredi Gonzalez	Florida Marlins	5	6	5	48
Joe Torre	Los Angeles Dodgers	3	8	6	45
Tony La Russa	St. Louis Cardinals	1	1	3	11
Jerry Manuel	New York Mets	—	3	1	10
Cecil Cooper	Houston Astros	—	—	3	3
Dale Sveum	Milwaukee Brewers	—	—	1	1

Top Player:  Albert Pujols, pretty obviously.  Glad the BBWAA avoided giving it to Ryan Howard in spite of his HR and RBI lead.  He did come in a close second.
#1 Albert Pujols, #2 Lance Berkman, #3 Carlos Beltran, #4 Chase Utley, #5 Hanley Ramirez, #6 David Wright.

Top pitcher:  Tim Lincecum makes a spectacular splash.
#1 Tim Lincecum, #2 Brandon Webb, #3 Johan Santana, #4 C.C. Sabathia, #5 Ryan Dempster.

Top rookie:  Joey Votto, though Geovany Soto had a solid season.

Top manager:  Lou Piniella, though the magic did not last into the postseason.

2008 American League

The Angels led the league with 100 victories, but the Tampa Bay Rays were the story of the season, first by winning the East in a big upset, with 97 wins, then by winning the AL pennant though they lost in the World Series.  The White Sox took the Central with 89 wins while Boston took the wild card at 95 wins, meaning the Yankees stayed home at playoff time.  The Yanks won 89 times, Toronto won 86, Minnesota was one game behind the White Sox with 88 wins.  On the opposite end, Seattle lost 101 and Baltimore 93.

Joe Mauer won the batting title with a .328 average, Dustin Pedroia was second with a .326 mark, Milton Bradley was third at .321, Ian Kinsler fourth at .319, and Magglio Ordonez fifth with a .317 mark.  Bradley led in on-base, Alex Rodriguez in slugging.  Pedroia led in runs scored with 118, followed by Curtis Granderson with 112.  Pedroia and Ichiro Suzuki had 213 hits.  Pedroia had 54 doubles and Brian Roberts 51.  Granderson had 13 triples.  Miguel Cabrera led the way with 37 homers, Carlos Quentin 36, and A-Rod 35.  Josh Hamilton led with 130 RBI followed by Justin Morneau at 129 and Cabrera 127.  Jacoby Ellsbury led with 50 steals while B.J. Upton had 44.  Grady Sizemore led with 131 runs created.

Cliff Lee led the league with 22 wins, Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina won 20 each.  Lee also led with a 2.54 ERA, Halladay was second at 2.78, Daisuke Matsuzaka was third with a 2.90 mark.  A.J. Burnett led the league with 231 strikeouts, Johan Santana was second with 214, Halladay had 206 and Javier Vazquez 200 even.  Halladay had 9 complete games and led with 246 innings.  Francisco Rodriguez had 62 saves to set a record.

Win Shares leaders, players:  Joe Mauer (Minnesota) 31, Justin Morneau (Minnesota) and Kevin Youkilis (Boston) 29, Grady Sizemore (Cleveland) 28, Josh Hamilton (Texas) 27, Ian Kinsler (Texas) and Dustin Pedroia (Boston) 26, Johnny Damon (New York), Nick Markakis (Baltimore), and Alex Rodriguez (New York) 25, Bobby Abreu (Tampa Bay), Vlad Guerrero (Anaheim), Carlos Quentin (Chicago), and B.J. Upton (Tampa Bay) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers:  Cliff Lee (Cleveland) 25, Roy Halladay (Toronto) 23, Jon Lester (Boston), Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana (Anaheim) 19 each.

WAR leaders, position players:  Sizemore 7.4, Pedroia 6.7, Markakis and Rodriguez 6.3, Mauer 6.1, Youkilis 5.9, Alex Rios (Toronto) 5.6, Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay) 5.5, Kinsler and Upton 5.0, Brian Roberts (Baltimore) 4.9, Quentin 4.8, Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle) 4.6, Mike Aviles (Kansas City) and Milton Bradley (Texas) 4.4.

WAR leaders, pitchers:  Halladay 7.5, Lee 7.2, Santana 5.8, A.J. Burnett (Toronto) 5.5, Mike Mussina (New York) 5.3, John Danks (Chicago) 5.2, Lester and Josh Beckett (Boston) 5.1, Gil Meche (Kansas City) 5.0, Zach Greinke (Kansas City) and Javier Vazquez (Chicago) 4.9, Mark Buehrle (Chicago) 4.6, Andy Pettitte (New York) 4.4, James Shields (Tampa Bay) 4.1.

Actual award voting:
MVP (top 16):

Player	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points
Dustin Pedroia	Boston Red Sox	16	6	4	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	317
Justin Morneau	Minnesota Twins	7	7	6	3	3	1	1	—	—	—	257
Kevin Youkilis	Boston Red Sox	2	4	4	9	2	4	1	2	—	—	201
Joe Mauer	Minnesota Twins	2	8	1	3	4	3	3	2	1	—	188
Carlos Quentin	Chicago White Sox	—	1	4	8	4	4	4	—	1	1	160
Francisco Rodriguez	Los Angeles Angels	1	2	6	1	6	—	3	2	—	2	143
Josh Hamilton	Texas Rangers	—	—	2	2	3	7	3	2	4	3	112
Alex Rodriguez	New York Yankees	—	—	—	—	1	1	4	1	4	7	45
Carlos Pena	Tampa Bay Rays	—	—	1	—	2	—	2	3	2	3	44
Grady Sizemore	Cleveland Indians	—	—	—	—	—	2	1	5	6	1	42
Evan Longoria	Tampa Bay Rays	—	—	—	—	—	2	2	5	2	1	38
Cliff Lee	Cleveland Indians	—	—	—	1	1	1	1	—	1	—	24
Miguel Cabrera	Detroit Tigers	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	1	4	1	17
Vladimir Guerrero	Los Angeles Angels	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	2	1	—	16
Jermaine Dye	Chicago White Sox	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	2	—	2	14
Aubrey Huff	Baltimore Orioles	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	2	3	12

Cy Young:

Player	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Cliff Lee	Cleveland Indians	24	4	—	132
Roy Halladay	Toronto Blue Jays	4	15	6	71
Francisco Rodriguez	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	—	7	11	32
Daisuke Matsuzaka	Boston Red Sox	—	2	4	10
Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	—	—	3	3
Mike Mussina	New York Yankees	—	—	2	2
Ervin Santana	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	—	—	2	2

Rookie of the Year:

Player	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Evan Longoria	Tampa Bay Rays	28	—	—	140
Alexei Ramirez	Chicago White Sox	—	18	5	59
Jacoby Ellsbury	Boston Red Sox	—	7	5	26
Mike Aviles	Kansas City Royals	—	2	3	9
Armando Galarraga	Detroit Tigers	—	—	9	9
Joey Devine	Oakland Athletics	—	1	—	3
Denard Span	Minnesota Twins	—	—	3	3
Nick Blackburn	Minnesota Twins	—	—	1	1
Joba Chamberlain	New York Yankees	—	—	1	1
Brad Ziegler	Oakland Athletics	—	—	1	1

Manager of the Year:

Player	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Joe Maddon	Tampa Bay Rays	27	1	—	138
Ron Gardenhire	Minnesota Twins	1	15	8	58
Mike Scioscia	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	—	12	9	45
Terry Francona	Boston Red Sox	—	—	6	6
Ozzie Guillen	Chicago White Sox	—	—	3	3
Cito Gaston	Toronto Blue Jays	—	—	2	2

Top player:  Joe Mauer.  Batting champion catcher on a contender is hard to ignore.
 1. Joe Mauer, 2. Dustin Pedroia, 3. Grady Sizemore, 4. Kevin Youkilis, 5. Nick Markakis, 6. Alex Rodriguez.

Top pitcher:  Lee on quality or Halladay with points for durability?  Think I'll take Lee in a close one.
 1. Cliff Lee, 2. Roy Halladay, 3. Mike Mussina, 4. Ervin Santana, 5. A.J. Burnett.

Top rookie:  Evan Longoria made the pennant possible.

Top manager:  Joe Maddon made it into the national consciousness.

2007 National League

Only two National League teams won as many as 90 games in 2007, and the Colorado Rockies only won that many because they played a playoff game to win the Wildcard spot over the Padres.  So, the Rockies won the pennant, though they lost the World Series.  Arizona won 90 games in winning the West Philadelphia won 89 to take the East, Chicago 85 in winning the West.   San Diego won 89, New York 88.  Pittsburgh lost 94 games as the worst team in the league:  San Francisco and Florida lost 91, Cincinnati 90.

All the races were close, the biggest gap between first and second in a division being two games.  Ten teams finished within ten games of a division lead.  It was a lot of mediocrity, really, but it did make for some interesting pennant races.

Matt Holliday won the batting title with a .340 average, Chipper Jones was next at .337, while Chase Utley, Edgar Renteria, and Hanley Ramirez were all at .332.  Jimmy Rollins scored 139 runs, Ramirez 125.  Holliday had 216 hits.  He also led with 50 doubles.  Rollins had 20 triples.  Prince Fielder hit 50 homers, Ryan Howard 47.  Holliday had 137 RBI, Howard 136.  Jose Reyes stole 78 bases, Juan Pierre 64.

Jake Peavy had 19 wins, Carlos Zambrano and Brandon Webb 18 each.  Peavy led with a 2.54 ERA, Webb was at 3.01, Brad Penny 3.03.  Webb had 236 innings, Aaron Harang 232.  Peavy had 240 strikeouts, Harang 218.  Jose Valverde saved 47 wins, Francisco Cordero 44.

Win Shares leaders, players: David Wright (New York) 34, Albert Pujols (St. Louis) 32, Miguel Cabrera (Florida) and Matt Holliday (Colorado) 30, Hanley Ramirez (Florida) 29, Prince Fielder (Milwaukee), Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley (both Philadelphia) 28, Carlos Beltran (New York) and Adrian Gonzalez (San Diego) 27, Eric Byrnes (Arizona), Ryan Howard (Philadelphia) and Chipper Jones (Atlanta) 26, Troy Tulowitski (Colorado) 25.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers:  Jake Peavy (San Diego) 23,  Brandon Webb (Arizona) 22, Brad Penny (Los Angeles) 21, Tim Hudson (Atlanta) 19, Roy Oswalt (Houston) 18, Aaron Harang (Cincinnati) 17, Takashi Saito (Los Angeles), John Smoltz (Atlanta), Adam Wainright (St. Louis) and Carlos Zambrano (Chicago) 16, Cole Hamels (Philadelphia) 15.

WAR leaders (Fangraphs), position players:  Wright 8.8, Pujols 8.4, Utley 7.9, Holliday 7.7, Jones 7.5, Alfonso Soriano (Chicago) 7.0, Rollins 6.9, Aaron Rowand (Philadelphia) 6.0, Russell Martin (Los Angeles) 5.9, Jose Reyes (New York) 5.8, Ramirez 5.7, Cabrera and Tulowitski 5.6, Beltran 5.5.  Pitchers:  Webb 6.9, Peavy 6.1, Smoltz 5.5, Hudson 5.3, Harang 5.2, Oswalt 4.6, Peavy 4.3, Jeff Francis (Colorado) 4.1, Matt Cain (San Francisco) 4.0, Hamels 3.8, Ted Lilly (Chicago) 3.6.

Actual award voting:

MVP:
1. Jimmy Rollins, 353 points
2. Matt Holliday 336
3. Prince Fielder 284
4. David Wright 182
5. Ryan Howard 112
6. Chipper Jones 107
7. Jake Peavy 97
8. Chase Utley 89
9. Albert Pujols 50
10. Hanley Ramirez 49
11. Eric Byrnes 43
12. Alfonso Soriano 39
13. Aramis Ramirez 36
 Rollins with a narrow win over Holliday,  Wright did not get a first-place vote.  Utley would likely have won if he had not missed a month.

Cy Young
1. Jake Peavy 160 points
2. Brandon Webb 94
3. Brad Penny 14
4. Aaron Harang 10

Rookie of the Year
1. Ryan Braun 128
2. Troy Tulowitski 126
3. Hunter Pence 15
4. Chris Young 10
5. Kyle Kendrick 7
 Very close race for top rookie.

Manager of the Year
1. Bob Melvin, Arizona, 119 points
2. Charlie Manuel, Philadelphia, 76
3. Clint Hurdle, Colorado, 58
4. Lou Piniella, Chicago, 27

Player of the Year;  David Wright.  Wright had a terrific season and ends up on top of the Win Shares and WAR boards.  He got overlooked in the voting because his team didn't win.
 1. David Wright, 2. Albert Pujols, 3. Chase Utley, 4. Chipper Jones, 5. Jimmy Rollins, 6. Matt Holliday.

Pitcher of the Year:  Jake Peavy.  Tough call, as Peavy was in a better pitchers' park, but I think the facts bend his way.
1. Jake Peavy, 2. Brandon Webb, 3. Tim Hudson, 4. Aaron Harang, 5. Roy Oswalt.

Top Rookie:  Troy Tulowitski.  Braun also terrific, but Tulo had the better year.

Top Manager:  Charlie Manuel, setting up a Philly mini-dynasty.

2007 American League

The Red Sox, after no World Series wins for nearly 90 years, won their second title in four years.  They won 96 regular season games to take the AL East, and the Indians won a like number of games to take the AL Central, then took the Bosox to seven games in the ALCS.  The Angels won the West with 94 victories, as the Yankees took the Wild Card with the same record.  Seattle and Detroit won 88 games each, and Toronto won 83.  On the other end of the spectrum, the Devil Rays lost 96 times while Baltimore and Kansas City lost 93 each.

Magglio Ordonez won the batting title with a .363 average.  Ichiro Suzuki hit .351, Placido Polanco .341, and Jorge Posada .338.  David Ortiz led in on-base, Alex Rodriguez in slugging.  Rodriguez led with 143 runs scored, Bobby Abreu scored 123.  Suzuki had 238 hits, Ordonez 216.  Ordonez had 54 doubles, Ortiz 52.  Curtis Granderson led with 23 triples.  Rodriguez led with 54 home runs, Carlos Pena had 46.  Rodriguez had 156 RBI, Ordonez 139.  Carl Crawford and Brian Roberts each stole 50 bases.

Josh Beckett led the AL pitchers with 20 victories.  Roberto Hernandez, John Lackey, C.C. Sabathia, and Chien-Ming Wang won 19 games each.  Lackey led with a 3.01 ERA, Hernandez was at 3.06, Dan Haren was third at 3.07.  Scott Kazmir led in strikeouts with 239, Johan Santana was second with 235, and Erik Bedard third with 221.  Joe Borkowski led the league with 45 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players:  Alex Rodriguez (New York) 39, Magglio Ordonez (Detroit) 36, Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle) 33, Vladimir Guerrero (Los Angeles) and Victor Martinez and Grady Sizemore (Detroit) 31, Carlos Pena (Tampa Bay) 30, David Ortiz (Boston) 29, Curtis Granderson (Detroit) and Jorge Posada (New York) 26, Orlando Cabrera (Los Angeles) 25, Torii Hunter (Minnesota), Raul Ibanez (Seattle), Derek Jeter (New York), Mike Lowell (Boston), Brian Roberts (Baltimore), and Jim Thome (Chicago) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers:  C.C. Sabathia (Cleveland) 24, Roberto Hernandez (aka Fausto Carmona) (Cleveland) and John Lackey (Los Angeles) 22, Josh Beckett (Boston), Erik Bedard (Seattle), Dan Haren (Oakland) and Javier Vazquez (Chicago) 19, Kelvim Escobar (Los Angeles), Roy Halladay (Toronto), J.J. Putz (Seattle), and Johan Santana (Minnesota) 18, Mark Buehrle (Chicago) and Scott Kazmir (Tampa Bay) 17, James Shields (Tampa Bay), Justin Verlander (Detroit), and Chien-Ming Wang (New York) 16.

WAR leaders (by Fangraphs), position players:  Rodriguez 9.7, Ordonez 8.1, Granderson 7.8, Ortiz 6.3, Sizemore 6.2, Pena and Suzuki 6.0, Posada 5.7, Martinez and Polanco 5.4, Alex Rios (Toronto) 5.0, Robinson Cano (New York) 4.9, Roberts 4.8, Cabrera and Lowell 4.7.  Pitchers:  Sabathia 7.1, Beckett 6.5, Joe Blanton (Oakland), Halladay, and Lackey 5.6, Bedard 5.4, Kazmir 5.3, Escobar 5.2, Vazquez 5.1, Haren 4.9, Santana 4.6, Andy Pettitte (New York) and Shields 4.5.

Official award voting:
MVP
1. Alex Rodriguez, 382 points
2. Magglio Ordonez, 258
3. Vladimir Guerrero, 203
4. David Ortiz, 177
5. Mike Lowell, 126
6. Jorge Posada 112
7. Victor Martinez, 103
8. Ichiro Suzuki, 89
9. Carlos Pena, 64
10. Curtis Granderson, 51

Cy Young
1. C.C. Sabathia, 119 points
2. Josh Beckett, 86
3. John Lackey, 36
4. Roberto Hernandez, 7

Rookie of the Year
1. Dustin Pedroia, 132 points
2. Delmon Young, 56
3. Brian Bannister, 36
4. Disuke Matsuzaka, 12
5. Reggie Willits, 11

Manager of the Year
1. Eric Wedge, 116 points
2. Mike Scioscia, 62
3. Joe Torre, 61
4. Terry Francona, 13

Player of the Year;  Alex Rodriguez once again stands as the best player in the AL.  He managed a long run of excellence.
1. Alex Rodriguez, 2. Magglio Ordonez, 3. Curtis Granderson, 4. Jorge Posada, 5. David Ortiz, 6. Carlos Pena.

Pitcher of the Year; C.C. Sabathia combined terrific durability and excellent performance.
1. C.C. Sabathia, 2. Josh Beckett, 3. John Lackey, 4. Johan Santana, 5. Roy Halladay.

Rookie of the Year:  Dustin Pedroia had an impressive debut.

Manager of the Year:  Terry Francona guided Boston back to the promised land.

2006 National League

Only one NL team won over 90 games, and that was the New York Mets with 97.  The Mets had to deal with late-season pitching injuries, and only made it to the NLCS, losing to NL Central champion St. Louis in seven games.  The Cardinals then went on to gain an upset victory in the World Series, beating the Tigers in just five games.

 The Mets easily won the East, St. Louis was 1.5 games in front of the Central with 83 wins, and San Diego and Los Angeles each had 87 wins in the West, with LA getting the Wild Card spot.  The worst record in the league belonged to the Cubs, who lost 96, followed by the Pirates with 95 losses.  Philadelphia and Atlanta had the most productive offenses, while San Diego and Houston led the pitching patrol.  

Freddy Sanchez of Pittsburgh won the batting title at .344, followed by Florida's Miguel Cabrera at .339.  Philly's Ryan Howard led in HR and RBI, Jose Reyes of NY in triples and steals, Sanchez in doubles, Barry Bonds in on-base, and Albert Pujols in slugging and OPS.  Chase Utley scored 131 runs, Carlos Beltran and Jimmy Rollins 127 each.  Juan Pierre had 204 hits, Utley 203 and Sanchez 200.  Sanchez had 53 doubles and Luis Gonzalez 52.  Reyes had 17 triples and 64 steals.  Howard had 58 homers, Pujols 49, Alfonso Soriano 46.  Howard drove in 149, Pujols 137, Lance Berkman 136.

The leading pitchers in wins had but 16, a mark reached by Aaron Harang, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Brandon Webb, and Carlos Zambrano.  Roy Oswalt was just ahead of Chris Carpenter in ERA, while Harang edged Jake Peavy in strikeouts.  Oswalt had a 2.98 ERA, Carpenter 3.09, Webb 3.10.  Harang had 216 strikeouts, Peavy 215, Smoltz 211.  Trevor Hoffman led the league in saves, while Webb edged Oswalt in ERA+.

Win Shares leaders, players; Albert Pujols (St. Louis) 39, Carlos Beltran (New York) 38, Miguel Cabrera (Florida) and Lance Berkman (Houston) 34, David Wright (New York) 32, Ryan Howard (Philadelphia) 31, Alfonso Soriano (Washington) 30, Jose Reyes (New York) 29, Chase Utley (Philadelphia) and Mike Cameron (San Diego) 28, Rafael Furcal (Los Angeles) and Barry Bonds (San Francisco) 27, Garrett Atkins (Colorado), Jimmy Rollins (Philadelphia) and Nick Johnson (Washington) 26, Andruw Jones (Atlanta), Hanley Ramirez (Florida) and Ryan Zimmerman (Washington) 25.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers;  Brandon Webb (Arizona) 22, Bronson Arroyo (Cincinnati) and Roy Oswalt (Houston) 21, Carlos Zambrano (Chicago) and Chris Carpenter (St. Louis) 19, John Smoltz (Atlanta) and Aaron Harang (Cincinnati) 17, Jason Schmidt (San Francisco) 16, Derek Lowe (Los Angeles) and Chris Capuano (Milwaukee) 15.

WARP1 scores:  Pujols 11.9, Beltran 10.4, Cabrera 10.0, Berkman 9.0, Wright 8.6, Howard 8.6, Soriano 8.6, Reyes 5.6, Utley 7.3, Cameron 6.9, Furcal 7.9, Bonds 6.0, Atkins 6.4, Rollins 7.4, Johnson 8.4, Jones 6.9, Ramirez (rookie) 6.9, Zimmerman (rookie) 6.5.  Pitchers, Webb 9.0, Arroyo 9.1, Oswalt 8.6, Zambrano 8.1, Carpenter 7.6, Smoltz 8.5, Harang 7.6, Schmidt 6.0, Lowe 6.3, Capuano 5.6.

WAR leaders, position players:  Pujols 8.5, Beltran 7.9, Utley 7.3, Cabrera 6.7, A. Jones 6.3, Berkman and Howard 6.2, Reyes 6.1, Atkins 5.8, Rolen 5.6, Bay 5.4, Johnson and Soriano 5.3, Hall and Wright 5.2.  Pitchers:  Webb 7.0, Oswalt and Smoltz 5.7, Harang 5.4, Carpenter 5.2, Jennings and Lowe 4.5, Maddux 4.4, Cook 4.3, Arroyo 4.2, Peavy, Schmidt, and Sheets 4.0, Capuano and Zambrano 3.9. 

Award voting:

MVP

1.) Ryan Howard, 388 points

2.) Albert Pujols, 347

3.) Lance Berkman, 230

4.) Carlos Beltran, 211

5.) Miguel Cabrera, 170

6.) Alfonso Soriano, 106

7.) Jose Reyes and Chase Utley, 98

9.) David Wright, 70

10.) Trevor Hoffman, 46

Cy Young

1.) Brandon Webb, 103 points

2.) Trevor Hoffman, 77

3.) Chris Carpenter, 63

4.) Roy Oswalt, 31

Rookie of the Year

1.) Hanley Ramirez, 105 points

2.) Ryan Zimmerman, 101

3.) Dan Uggla, 55

4.) Josh Johnson, 11

Manager of the Year

1.) Joe Girardi, 111 points

2.) Willie Randolph, 81

3.) Bruce Bochy, 50

4.) Grady Litttle, 30

 Top player:  Albert Pujols.  He led in WS, WAR, and WARP, and played for the winning team.  Hard to pick against him.  Pujols is the best player in the game right now.

#1 Albert Pujols, #2 Carlos Beltran, #3 Miguel Cabrera, #4 Lance Berkman, #5 Ryan Howard, #6 Chase Utley.

Top pitcher:  Brandon Webb in a close race over an unimpressive field.  No one stands out, but Webb was the best overall.

#1 Brandon Webb, #2 Chris Carpenter, #3 Roy Oswalt, #4 John Smoltz, #5 Aaron Harang.

Top rookie:  Ryan Zimmerman edges Hanley Ramirez mainly because Zimmerman is younger and should have a better career.

Top manager:  Willie Randolph held the Mets together, but couldn't make it through the postseason.

2006 American League

Detroit got off to a surprisingly fast start, chased by the defending champ White Sox and the surging Twins.  Minnesota caught them at the end and won the Central with 96 victories to the Tigers' 95, good for a Wild Card.  The Chisox were shut out.  The Yankees persevered in the East with 97 wins, while Toronto won 87 and Boston 86.  Oakland had its usual superb second half to take the West with 93 victories to the Angels' 89.  On the other side of the coin, Tampa Bay lost 101 and Kansas City 100.  Detroit and Oakland won the Division Series matchups, with the Tigers taking to ALCS to move on to the World Series, which they lost in five games. The Yankees were the top offensive club, followed by Cleveland and Chicago.  Detroit and Minnesota were best at keeping opposition runs off the board.  

Joe Mauer emerged to win the batting title by four points over Derek Jeter, .347 to .343, with Robinson Cano third at .342.  David Ortiz won the home run crown with 54, trailed by Jermaine Dye at 44 and Travis Hafner and Jim Thome at 42.  Ortiz also led with 137 RBI.  Justin Morneau was second at 130, Raul Ibanez third with 123.  Grady Sizemore led in runs (134) and doubles (53).  Ichiro Suzuki led in hits with 224, Carl Crawford in steals (58) and triples (19), Travis Hafner in OPS and OPS+.  

Johan Santana won the pitching Triple Crown, tying with Chien-Ming Wang with 19 wins while leading in ERA and strikeouts.  Jon Garland won 18.  Santana had a 2.77 ERA, Roy Halladay 3.19, C.C. Sabathia 3.22.  Santana had 245 strikeouts, Jeremy Bonderman 202.  Francisco Rodriguez led with 47 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players:  Derek Jeter (New York) 33, Joe Mauer (Minnesota) 31, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez (Boston) 29, Justin Morneau (Minnesota) and Raul Ibanez (Seattle) 27, Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome (Chicago), Carlos Guillen (Detroit) and Michael Young (Texas) 26, Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore (Cleveland), Ivan Rodriguez (Detroit), Vladimir Guerrero (LA/Anaheim), Alex Rodriguez (New York) and Vernon Wells (Toronto) 25, Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle) and Jorge Posada (New York) 24.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers: Johan Santana (Minnesota) 25, Roy Halladay (Toronto) 21, Jon Papelbon (Boston) and Barry Zito (Oakland) 18, John Lackey (LA/Anaheim), Joe Nathan (Minnesota), Chien-Ming Wang (New York) and B.J. Ryan (Toronto) 17, Erik Bedard (Baltimore), Curt Schilling (Boston) and Francisco Liriano (Minnesota) 16.

WARP1 scores:  Jeter 9.8, Mauer 8.9, Ortiz 7.9, Ramirez 6.3, Morneau 7.3, Ibanez 5.8, Dye 8.5, Thome 6.4, Guillen 6.3, Young 8.1, Hafner 8.0, Sizemore 8.5, I. Rodriguez 5.8, Guerrero 6.0, A. Rodriguez  5.8, Wells 6.2, Suzuki 7.0, Posada 7.5.  Pitchers, Santana 10.6, Halladay 8.4, Papelbon 8.2, Zito 7.0, Lackey 6.7, Nathan 8.0, Wang 6.9, Ryan 7.6, Bedard 6.9, Schilling 7.4, Liriano 7.2.

WAR leaders, position players:  Sizemore 8.0, Mauer 6.4, Jeter 6.3, Guillen 6.2, Hafner 5.9, Wells 5.8, Ortiz 5.5, Suzuki 5.4, Tejada 5.2, Beltre 4.9, Crawford 4.8, Thome 4.6, Johnson 4.5, DeJesus and Posada 4.4.  Pitchers:  Santana 7.3, Bonderman 6.1, Lackey 6.0, Halladay 5.7, Sabathia and Schilling 5.5, Mussina 5.2, Millwood 5.1, Bedard 5.0, Vazquez 4.8, Wang 4.7, Escobar 4.6, Westbrook 4.5, Contreras 4.2, Liriano 4.1.

 MVP voting (top 10):

1.) Justin Morneau, 320 points

2.) Derek Jeter, 306

3.) David Ortiz, 193

4.) Frank Thomas, 174

5.) Jermaine Dye, 156

6.) Joe Mauer, 116

7.) Johan Santana, 114

8.) Travis Hafner, 64

9.) Vlad Guerrero, 46

10.) Carlos Guillen, 34

Cy Young voting:

1.) Johan Santana, 140 points

2.) Chien-Ming Wang, 51

3.) Roy Halladay, 48

4.) Francisco Rodriguez,5

5.) Joe Nathan and Kenny Rogers, 3

7.) Justin Verlander, 2

Rookie of the Year voting:

1.) Justin Verlander, 133 points

2.) Jonathan Papelbon, 63

3.) Francisco Liriano 30

4.) Kenji Johjima, 10

5.) Jered Weaver, 8

6.) Nick Markakis, 7

7.) Ian Kinsler, 1

Manager of the Year voting:

1.) Jim Leyland, 118 points

2.) Ron Gardenhire, 93

3.) Ken Macha, 26

4.) Joe Torre 15

 Top player:  Derek Jeter.  Jeter has built himself a Hall of Fame career, not just in the newspapers but on the field.  This is a year when you could make a case for a pitcher as the MVP, but as I split these Jeter is the clear winner, leader in both Win Shares and WARP among position players.  Others did well, Jeter did better.

 #1 Derek Jeter, #2 Joe Mauer, #3 Grady Sizemore, #4 David Ortiz, #5 Carlos Guillen, #6 Travis Hafner.

Top pitcher:  Johan Santana.  How could it be anyone else?  A terrific run for Santana.

#1 Johan Santana, #2 Roy Halladay, #3 Mike Mussina, #4 Curt Schilling, #5 Jeremy Bonderman.

Top rookie:  Jon Papelbon succeeded in a pressure-filled situation for a contending team.  The writers' selection of Verlander would be the best long-term choice.

Top manager:  Jim Leyland turned the Tigers around, even if the final result isn't all they could have hoped for.