Predicting The Awards

Boston was shafted last season in awards recognition. The case could be made for David Ortiz and the MVP but a much more serious case was made for Gold Gloves and Boston's Mike Lowell and Alex Gonzalez were totally robbed.

2007 will see some redemption for Boston.

NL Rookie of the Year: Kevin Kouzmanoff

The NL race is a deep contentious race that could go to the final weekend, but Kouzmanoff will win it by a slim margin. He was aquired in a trade with Cleveland for Josh Barfield.

Andy LaRoche and James Loney from the Dodgers, Chris Young and Chris Ianetta from Colorado and Ryan Braun from Milwaukee are others who figure to be in the thick of the race.


AL Rookie of the Year: See Below

Ok, so I wanna keep you in the dark a little longer, after all I have reference this award in two previous posts.

I mentioned that Bill James has projected Dustin Pedroia with ROY calliber stats and normally the fans could begin there Pedroia campaign, but not so fast, he's not even the best rookie in Boston, and possibly not even the second best.

Daisuke Matsuzaka in any year would be the odds on favorite to win the ROY, he will be in contention...for second place. Boston also has Hideki Okajima who with a solid relief campaign could see some ROY mention, but does a strong middle relief campaign pass a solid second base year? Time will tell.

Others in contention for the AL ROY are Alex Gordon who won Kansas City's third base job, he should have a solid season and will contend with Matsuzaka for second place. I'm sold on Gordon's potential, i'm just not sure he's ready to make a highly sucessful jump from AA to the Majors, but he will have a solid jump.

Akinori Imamura will be a sleeper choice from Tampa Bay, while his power in Japan may not translate to the majors, his bat will still open eyes and keep him in the conversation all season.

Matt Garza of the Twins joins Matsuzaka as the only pitchers making ROY noise, he will be important for the Twins with Francisco Liriano out for the season but he probably will finish in the middle of the pack.

This leads us to our ROY, and if you follow baseball closely you know who it is. Some people are already saying he will have a 30/30 season which is very possible, he could hit well over .300, and he plays for a team that will get significant mention in the press because they will be playing there finest season in franchise history.

Delmon Young, may not be the most likable guy, but this Devil Ray will be the 2007 AL ROY, it's his award to lose, not anyone else's to win.


NL MVP: Ryan Howard

He will follow up 2006 with another monster season and will make a run at 61 which will cause all of baseball to anxiously watch hoping to see a legitimate passing of Roger Maris.

AL MVP: David Ortiz

The DH thing wont stop Ortiz this year, healthy with more protection in the lineup will help him pass 60 HR this season and even the DH thing can't stop him in 2007.


NL Cy Young: Chris Carpenter

The New Hampshire native already has Toronto wishing they never let him go, Carpenter will have another solid season for the Cardinals and lead the NL in wins and ERA.

AL CY Young: Too Close To Call

Yes i'm taking the easy road here, there is no clear cut front runner, not even Johan Santana. Among the players who will be in contention are Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, Santana, Jonathan Papelbon, Chien-Ming Wang, Justin Verlander, Roy Halladay and Jared Weaver.

My money is on Beckett.


Added Bonus: Mike Lowell will win the 3B Gold Glove and Pedroia will deserve serious discussion for 2B.