Flame's World Mid-Season Awards

Well since we have reached the all-star break I am here to announce my MLB's mid-season awards. There have been some stellar statistical achievements thus far and it will be difficult to choose just 2 MVP's and 2 Cy Young's. My awards are not predicated on team success, but just on individual performance. That is why A-Rod has won MVP's on last place teams and Tim Lincecum won the Cy Young on a sub .500 team. Team success isn't as important when determining individual success. A-Rod cannot control that his team's best pitcher was 13-14 with a 4.85 ERA. So without further ado, I present Flame's World's Mid-Season Awards.

NL MVP - Albert Pujols - .332 AVG, 1.179 OPS, 32 HR, 87 RBI, 73 R - This man is off the charts. He leads the league in over 5 major statistical categories and its not even close. He is on pace to have the highest OPS for his career as well. To put his 1.179 OPS into perspective, Ted Williams had an OPS during his 2 MVP season's of 1.164 and 1.141 respectively. Honestly Pujols could not play another game and he should be the MVP. He is so good, its ridiculous. This guy is getting into the G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time) category. He has already won a championship, 2 MVP's (on his way to a 3rd), Rookie of the Year and an 8 time all-star. No doubt he wins it this year.

AL MVP - Joe Mauer - .373 AVG, 1.069 OPS, 15 HR, 49 RBI, 49 R - Those are some pretty ridiculous stats and oh yeah he missed a month of baseball as well. This kid is the perfect baseball player that plays the hardest position, catcher. It is so rare to see a catcher that can even hit above .350, but also to be a premier game caller and defender is remarkable. To put Mauer's numbers in perspective, lets look at arguably the greatest offensive catcher of all-time, Mike Piazza. In Piazza's best years he had an OPS of 1.01 and 1.07. Right now Mauer is right there with him and a much, much better defender. Mauer also leads the AL in RC27 (runs created per 27 outs. This stat states if a team was made up of 9 Joe Mauer's how many runs would they score), which is 10.16 (1 full run higher than any other player). The AL MVP race is going to be tight however, because his teammate Justin Morneau is right behind him. Other candidates include Torii Hunter, Carl Crawford and Miguel Cabrera.

NL Cy Young - Dan Haren - 9-5, 129 K's, 2.01 ERA, 0.808 WHIP, 8.06 K/BB, .189 BAA - We know the D-Backs are a bad team, but it certainly has nothing to do with this guy. Haren has really been unbelievable so far this year. Greg Maddux is considered to have had the best control of all time and he has finished with a K/BB ratio over 8 only once in his career. That is how good Haren has been. He is still 9-5 with only getting 5.85 runs per 9 innings (Lincecum is getting a full run more). Haren has 5 tough losses (losses while pitching a quality start) as well. And his quality start % is 93%. The major argument here is Tim Lincecum. Lincecum is only beating Haren in 2 statistical categories, strikeouts and wins. Lincecum's K/BB ratio is 4.38 and is allowing nearly 2 more baserunners per 9 innings as well. Lincecum's batting average against is also .215, which is higher than Haren's. Haren not only leads the NL in ERA, but all of baseball. He is the best player in baseball, that no one is talking about. Oh, and by the way Haren has an OPS of .707 and hitting .265 this year. He deserves the Cy Young this year. Other candidates include Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Josh Johnson.

AL Cy Young - Zach Grienke - 10-5, 129 Ks, 2.12 ERA, 1.076 WHIP, 6.14 K/BB, .245 BAA - This was another tough decision. It came down to his league leading ERA and one of the best records, while pitching for a very average team. Greinke has been dominating at times this year. Greinke has won 1o games and he is only getting 4.66 runs per 9 innings. He also leads the league in complete games and has a quality start % of 83%. Greinke's numbers and pitches look very similar to another Cy Young winner, Pedro Martinez. He changes speeds very well and can over power you with a fastball as well. The AL has many other deserving pitchers as well, so this was not easy. Other candidates include, Edwin Jackson, Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay, and Justin Verlander.