Well, it took the Tigers and the Twins 12 innings in the 163rd game to finally complete the 2009 regular season for Major League Baseball. So who should get the Hardware this season for their trophy cases?
MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS
NL: Albert Pujols
I think this award may some day be renamed to the Albert Pujols Award. When they call Albert a machine it is justified. I can already tell you his stats next season…46 HR 132 RBI with a .331 batting average. Mark it down. No other hitter in Baseball had more than 35 HR while hitting above .300 and only one other hitter had less than 100 strike outs.
AL: Joe Mauer
He led the AL in batting (.365), Slugging % (.587), and On-Base % (.444). He just won his third batting title at the age of 26. Aside from his numbers, he was the catalyst for a Twins team that came out of nowhere in the last month of the season to win the AL Central. They did that without former MVP Justin Morneau in the lineup.
CY YOUNGS
NL: Chris Carpenter
Carpenter was 17-4 with a 2.24 ERA. That by itself is pretty spectacular especially after he missed a month early on in the season. What sets him apart from Wainwright and Lincecum is that he finished the year 12-1. That could have been 15-1 had the bullpen not blown 3 saves.
AL: Zack Greinke
Was the best pitcher in the AL, and that is all that matters. He started the season only allowing 2 runs in his first 45 innings and he ended the season only allowing runs in his final 48 innings. He ended the season with lowest ERA in the majors at 2.16 and third in strikeouts with 242
Cases could certainly be made for other players with exception of Pujols of course. Unfortunately MLB moves at a snail’s pace in awarding these accomplishments. So in a few weeks we will see the real winners.
