[QUOTE=Petey]
Anibal Sanchez pitched the no-hitter. (I was there!) Sanchez actually has the least wins of the 4 Marlins Rookie Pitchers.
Anibal Sanchez: 7-2, 2.89 ERA
Josh Johnson: 12-6, 2.99
Scott Olsen: 12-7, 4.04
Ricky Nolosca: 11-9, 4.75
[/QUOTE]
Eeek… And those are the four pitchers NOT named “Dontrelle Willis”, and is just a numerical quantification of why this here Mets fan would prefer that the Marlins not sneak into the playoffs, where their potent set of young arms can suddenly make the 182-game regular season irrelevant in a 5- or 7-game series… Especially when matched up against aging ace pitchers on the Other Side Of The Hill. Forget the Dodgers, Cards, Padres or Reds… The Young Fish are the most dangerous roadblock for the Mets in terms of them reaching the World Series this year.
In my book, Joe Girardi should clearly be the Manager of the Year, and it’s a crying shame that he’s somehow on the outs with Jeffrey Loria (not to mention being one of the worst stadium draws in baseball). The Marlins are a great story, who’d a thunk they’d come all the way back from 20 games under .500 before June to tied for second in the division and 1 game out of the Wild Card with a team almost completely staffed with players still not even arbitration eligible (plus Dontrelle Willis) and an All-Star “Rule V” pickup?
Even if they fall short this year (say, because the Mets take 5 of the remaining 7 games against them in September, oh please oh please), they’ll still have surpassed anybody’s expectations by a wild margin, and will be primed to be very dangerous in the coming years if all those young arms stay healthy.
As great a job as I think Willie has done in New York, he shares a good part of the credit for the team’s turnaround with Minaya, who not only picked up key veterans in Delgado and Billy Wagner, but more importantly is batting way over .500 in the castoff pickup department: Jose Valentin, John “the throw-in” Maine, Endy Chavez and even Dave Williams have all been significant contributors.
But to answer the OP, my votes would be (using “most indispensible contributor to the team’s success” as the benchmark for MVP-ness):
NL Manager of the Year: Joe Girardi, Willie Randolph, Bruce Bochy.
AL Manager of the Year: Jim Leyland, Ron Gardenhire, Joe Torre.
NL MVP: Ryan Howard, Carlos Beltran, Albert Pujols. It’s hard to imagine a better year than the one Carlos has turned in for the Mets, but he’s been “only” the chief component of a powerful offense with at least three position players driving in over 100 RBI and is running away with the best record in the league. Howard, on the other hand, is practically single-handedly keeping the Phillies relevant, with a simply monstrous year, in just his sophomore season.
AL MVP: Joe Mauer, Jermaine Dye, David Ortiz. It’s incredible what Mauer has done this year as a catcher, and if the Twins make the playoffs he’s the key position player why. (Liriano would be another one, but since there’s a Cy Young/RoY award available to offer him, it seems only fair to give Mauer the nod on the MVP.)
If the Sox hadn’t “rolled over like their shirts were on fire” following the All-Star break, (as Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe put it), Ortiz would have a much better case, even as a DH. I considered putting Jeter ahead of him but when you get down to it, leading the league in both HR and RBI while missing time on the DL ought to count for at least honorable mention (see Albert Pujols). Also, similar to the dilution factor I applied to Beltran, Jeter has been the heart of the reason but not the majority reason his team’s offense has been as good as it has been.
NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb, Roy Oswalt, Josh Johnson
AL Cy Young: Johan Santana, Justin Verlander, Roy Halladay
NL RoY: Josh Johnson, Prince Fielder, Dan Uggla/Ryan Zimmerman
Basically I think Josh Johnson should be a shoo-in. He’s far and away the most impressive rookie in the National League this year.
** AL RoY**: Francisco Liriano, Justin Verlander, Jonathan Papelbon
Funny how they’re all pitchers, eh?