THE worst of the first half was a plague of hip surgeries and three members of the 500-homer club being confirmed as users of illegal performance enhancers. Of course, Alex Rodriguez was the only player to cross into both problematic groups.
Here is the amazing thing: More and more players are publicly acknowledging anxiety disorders and going on the disabled list. How the heck did A-Rod stay off of that list?
The Nationals are going after the 1962 Mets and the 2009 Mets are going after a new HMO plan. Oh wait, another homer was just hit at Yankee Stadium.
The Dodgers won with Manny Ramirez and without him. Randy Johnson earned his 300th win and Mariano Rivera his 500th save. Age has not stood in the way of Rick Porcello or Tim Wakefield.
As usual, there was a lot of good and bad tucked into half a season. Here are Hardball’s midseason awards:
AL MVP
Ben Zobrist, Rays. It is incredibly hard to shun a catcher (Minnesota’s Joe Mauer) who might hit .400. But is there anything more valuable than a switch-hitter who has started games at second, short, third, left, center and right and also — by the way — is leading the AL in OPS? Remember when we thought Victor Zambrano for Scott Kazmir was Tampa Bay’s best trade. How about Aubrey Huff for Zobrist?
2. Mauer. 3. Torii Hunter, Angels. 4. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox. 5. Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners.
ANTI-AL MVP
Vernon Wells, Blue Jays. Toronto has made a shocking run with not only its rotation devastated by injury, but with the highest-paid player in franchise history having become a detriment to the lineup. Wells is hitting .170 with runners in scoring position and was dropped from the middle of the lineup. A month ago, David Ortiz seemed a lock for this award.
2. Orlando Cabrera, A’s. 3. Magglio Ordonez, Tigers. 4. Dioner Navarro, Rays. 5. Delmon Young, Twins.
AL CY YOUNG
Felix Hernandez, Mariners. Kansas City’s Zack Greinke probably has the slight edge on overall body of work in the first half. But I am leaning toward Hernandez because he is not just a guy who capitalizes on a terrific home park for pitchers (he’s 5-1, 1.84 on the road), but also because I sense he is trending toward greatness right now. In his last eight starts, he is 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA and a 51-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
It has been such a strong year for starters that Kevin Millwood, Cliff Lee and Justin Verlander could not break into the top five.
2. Greinke. 3. Edwin Jackson, Tigers. 4. Jered Weaver, Angels. 5. Roy Halladay, Blue Jays.
ANTI-AL CY YOUNG
Chien-Ming Wang, Yankees. He has been better of late. But you cannot ignore the historically awful beginning.
2. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox. 3. Fausto Carmona, Indians. 4. Andy Sonnanstine, Rays. 5. Kerry Wood, Indians.
NL MVP
Albert Pujols, Cardinals. In other years, this would be quite a race with Florida’s Hanley Ramirez the front-runner to Philadelphia’s Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez, Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, Colorado’s Brad Hawpe and San Francisco’s squat hitting machine Pablo Sandoval. But unfortunately for every other NL contender, Pujols — barring catastrophe — is going to win for the third time in five years.
He is as close to one-man team as you get, having nearly a .500-point OPS lead on the nearest hitter on the Cardinals while also leading St. Louis in steals and playing Gold Glove defense. We are moving closer and closer to this sentence: Albert Pujols is the greatest right-handed hitter ever.
2. Ramirez. 3. Ibanez. 4. Fielder. 5. Hawpe.
ANTI-NL MVP
Jimmy Rollins, Phillies. There is temptation to pick Milton Bradley not only for his poor play, but again his atrocious behavior in finding himself in fights with the umpires and Cubs manager Lou Piniella. And then there is Bradley’s Cub teammate, Geovany Soto, who not only is having a sophomore nightmare, but recently was outed as failing a marijuana test at the WBC. And Brian Giles, your skill is calling wondering if a reunion will ever take place with your body. And where exactly did Rafael Furcal’s speed and hitting ability go?
But you just cannot ignore Rollins, who has fallen from leadoff hitter on a champion to at times the sixth slot and/or the bench. He was benched four straight games recently, re-inserted into the leadoff spot and promptly went 0-for-5 to go hitless in 24 straight at-bats. That streak reached 28 at-bats before finally ending. This was the 2007 NL MVP.
2. Giles, Padres. 3. Bradley.
4. Soto.
5. Furcal, Dodgers.
NL CY YOUNG
Dan Haren, Diamondbacks. A month ago, this was Johan Santana’s award, and now he is not even in the top five. Let’s remember, however, that he always has done his best work in the second half.
Haren is about the only thing right in Arizona. He is 7-5, but he has lost or received a no decision in six games in which he gave up two runs or fewer and pitched six innings. He leads the NL in ERA (2.19) while having an amazing 113 strikeouts against 15 walks.
2. Tim Lincecum, Giants. 3. Matt Cain, Giants. 4. Yovani Gallardo, Brewers. 5. Josh Johnson, Marlins.
ANTI-NL CY YOUNG
Brad Lidge, Phillies. He went from a perfect season of no blown saves to leading the NL with six blown saves in ’09 to go along with an 0-3 record and a 7.57 ERA, and continuing injury problems with his knee.
2. Oliver Perez, Mets. 3. Jamie Moyer, Phillies. 4. Todd Wellemeyer, Cardinals. 5. Manny Parra, Brewers.
AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Ricky Romero, Blue Jays. He has been vital in helping Toronto to weather a rotation plagued with injuries. In his last six starts, he is 4-1 with a 1.91 ERA, the fourth-best ERA in the AL since June 1 (minimum 20 innings).
2. Elvis Andrus, Rangers. 3. Rick Porcello, Tigers. 4. Andrew Bailey, A’s. 5. Nolan Reimold, Orioles.
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Tommy Hanson, Braves. It says something about the slim offerings in this race that we are picking a guy with just six starts. Hanson has been impressive, going 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA, with dynamic starts against the Yankees and Red Sox. He seems a pretty good bet to pitch well enough to be part of this conversation at the end of the year. And it shouldn’t be surprising if center fielders Colby Rasmus of the Cardinals and Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates make a strong race of this. Both are wonderful talents with great growth potential.
2. Ronald Belisario, Dodgers. 3. Casey McGehee, Brewers.
4. Randy Wells, Cubs. 5. Rasmus.
BEST OFFSEASON ADDITION
Edwin Jackson, Tigers. Hey, if you can add nearly a half-billion dollars then you could admire the Yankees class of Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Nick Swisher. But why don’t we make this about some of the stuff that is subtler. Like the Mets getting Livan Hernandez and Gary Sheffield for a relative pittance. In that category, Jackson is a real bonus. He was obtained for spare outfielder Matt Joyce and has helped Detroit survive the inadequacies of three high-priced flops: Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis. Here are a few more low-priced, high-production pickups:
2. Russell Branyan, Mariners. 3. Jason Marquis, Rockies. 4. Randy Wolf, Dodgers.
5. Bobby Abreu, Angels.
WORST OFFSEASON ADDITION
Orlando Cabrera/Jason Giambi/Nomar Garciaparra/Matt Holliday, A’s. Oakland figured it would be upgrading its offense, yet went into the weekend with a worse batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage than last year.
2. Milton Bradley, Cubs. 3. Willy Taveras, Reds.
4. Tim Redding, Mets. 5. Kerry Wood, Indians.
AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Cito Gaston, Blue Jays. With everything that has gone wrong healthwise with the rotation, Gaston has kept this team competitive in by far the best division in the majors. How did this man go without a job for more than a decade?
2. Jim Leyland, Tigers. 3. Mike Scioscia, Angels. 4. Ron Washington, Rangers. 5. Terry Francona, Red Sox.
NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Joe Torre, Dodgers. Manny Ramirez played hard and well for him, and the Dodgers did not tank when Ramirez was suspended for 50 games.
2. Ken Macha, Brewers. 3. Tony La Russa, Cardinals. 4. Bruce Bochy, Giants. 5. Fredi Gonzalez, Marlins.