Each week, I am participating in the 2008 MLB Blog Poll at BaseballHappenings.com. Below are my current votes for the Most Valuable Player, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards. These votes will be tabulated among other votes from other blogs to create a running master list of voting as the year progresses. This week is the N.L. voting. Votes were asked to be turned in by the end of Wednesday.
MVP:
1. 1B Lance Berkman, HOU: There are eight people with OPS’ over 1.000, and only one is in the AL (Milton Bradley). Berkman’s the cream of the crop.
2. 3B Chipper Jones, ATL: Dude is still hitting over .400 and he’s at .420 now. I still don’t think he can possibly make it, but he has an outside chance of making the All-Star Break with an over .400 average.
3. 2B Chase Utley, PHI: It’s hard to imagine someone with 21 homers and a .311/.398/.649 line bringing up the rear, but there you have it.
Cy Young:
1. SP Edison Volquez, CIN: There’s no stopping him. He has a 1.56 ERA and simply isn’t slowing down.
2. SP Brandon Webb, ARI: Pacing the circuit in wins, there’s no shame in being a full point behind Volquez in ERA. He’s still good.
3. SP Tim Lincecum, SF: The Giants are surprisingly hanging around and aren’t the worst team in the majors. Timmy’s a big reason why.
Rookie of the Year:
1. C Geovany Soto, CHC: Soto continues to pace the NL’s best team as the next great catcher.
2. SP Jair Jurrjens, ATL: The Braves have problems, but Jurrjens is helping keep them afloat, turning in an impressive year.
3. 1B Joey Votto, CIN: Cincinnati has a lot of young hitters, and Votto’s taken the 1B job and ran with it.
What do you think? Did I do a good job picking the award winners if the season was to end today?
