Individual AL Awards. And this is gospel.

Idiots abound on these internets (I'm looking squarely at you, Mr. Morgan). And it is no more acute than in the world of internet sports writing. Expect that idiocy to be amped up in the coming days and weeks as the creepy-crawlies come out of the woodwork to make their picks for individual MLB awards. Oh, the contrarianism! So as a preëmptive strike, I shall give mine. If you disagree, you are wrong. Crawl into a corner, wish for death and hope you come back as a smarter person. HA!


AMERICAN LEAGUE


Most Valuable Player: Alex Rodriguez, 3b, New York Yankees

The most obvious pick and cannot be argued. Don't try. It only makes you look stupid. He hit .314/.422/.645-54-156-24 this year. And for you people out there that continue to refer to A-Rod as a choker, his September numbers, in the thick of a very tight wild-card race until the last week, were .362/.470/.723-10-31-4. He was ridiculously good and put up historic numbers without any suspicion of being juicy. He was the shit. And I don't even like him.

Runner-ups:

Magglio Ordoñez: .363/.434/.595-28-139-4. Average 40 points higher than next best season.

Carlos Peña: .282/.411/.627-46-121-1. Silly good OBP with that average. Only 29.


Cy Young Award Winner: C.C. Sabathia, LHP, Cleveland Indians

I'm not falling prey to the arbitrary 20 win plateau as an argument. As the Indians pulled away from the Tigers in the last month and a half of the season, Sabathia went 6-1 with a 2.49 ERA, allowing only three home runs in 80 innings and beat Johan Santana twice. Finished 19-7, 3.21 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 209 K and went 2-1 with a 1.17 ERA against this year's playoff teams. The Indians scored three runs or less in ten of his starts.

Runner-ups:

Josh Beckett: 20-7, 3.27 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 194 K. Red Sox went from very good to dominant with him. Very close second, but had 1.5 more runs of support to work with than Sabathia. The Red Sox scored seven runs or more in 12 of his starts.

John Lackey: 19-9, 3.01 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 179 K. Very good year, but numbers inflated by three late-season wins when the games meant nothing to the team. The Angels scored three runs or less in a whopping 13 of his 33 starts, though.


Rookie of the Year: Brian Bannister, RHP, Kansas City Royals

He went 12-9 on a team that went 69-93. Coupled with a 3.78 ERA and 1.21 WHIP, he wins it hands-down over Pedroia/Matsuzaka. It could have been better. On September 2, he was 12-7 with a 3.16 ERA that would have been fourth best in the AL this year.

Runner-ups:

Dustin Pedroia: .317/.380/.442-8-50-7. Great average for a rookie. Very durable. Solidied a position that was a HUGE question mark for Boston coming into the season.

Daisuke Matsuzaka: 15-12, 4.40 ERA, 1.32 WHIP. Yo-yo type year. On pace to win 20 early on and then blew up.


Comeback Player of the Year: Carlos Peña, 1b, Tampa Bay Devil Rays

After 33 at-bats with the Red Sox last year, Peña finally did what he's been telling everyone within shouting distance he could do. After a slow start, he had an OPS over 1.000 in four of the last five months, walked 103 times on the year and hit 13 hrs in September with a .484 OBP. This one wasn't even close.

Runner-ups:

Chone Figgins: .330/.393/.432-3-58-41. Was hitting .347 as late as September 22 before going 0-18. Broke hand in Spring Training, came back to go 12 for his first 90 (.133) and then hit .461 in June, .351 in July and .342 in August.

Javier Vazquez: The 'comeback' moniker is so arbitrary, but if it means the biggest disparity between consecutive years, Vazquez should be mentioned. Finished 15-8 (on a team that finished 72-90) with a 3.74 ERA, a 1.14 WHIP and 213 k in 216 innings. And the White Sox scored one run or less in seven of his starts. He returned to the form that made teams salivate over him four years ago in Montreal.


Manager of the Year: Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

He took a team with absolutely no power and got 94 wins out of them. Finishing 27th in the MLB in home runs but 6th in runs, no other manager got more from less, played four rookies (basically) in the starting lineup and dealt with more strange injuries in key positions than any Angels team in recent memory.

Runner-up:

Joe Torre: Yes, I said it. This team was in shambles as late as the end of May. And that pitching was brutal. Something was settled down and someone figured out how to manage the egos.


The terribly average National League tomorrow. NL ROY is the flashpoint for stupidity.

Thanks for reading.