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Weather: Scattered Clouds, 86° F




Evan Grant's baseball report

04:16 AM CDT on Sunday, April 13, 2008


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You'd think it would be easier to predict award winners two weeks into the season than in March. But the potential danger in this is getting fooled by an early slump or hot streak.

Nevertheless, we never fear looking foolish, perhaps because we've looked that way so often. In March 2007, we chose Lance Berkman to win the NL MVP and Jeremy Bonderman to win the AL Cy Young. Not ... even ... close. So, we'll try again after watching two weeks of games:

AL Most Valuable Player

Grady Sizemore, Cleveland: Part of me wants to choose Detroit's Magglio Ordonez, but what if the Tigers don't overcome their terrible start? Then count Tigers players out. Sizemore's power numbers dropped in 2007, but his on-base percentage went up. He's liable to put both skills together this year and post a career high on-base-plus-slugging percentage, topping the .908 he had in 2006.

AL Cy Young award

Chien-Ming Wang, New York: Over the previous two seasons, Wang had the best winning percentage in baseball (.745), and he started this season 3-0. Though he didn't get a vote last year, he finished second to Johan Santana in 2006. Perhaps the only thing that kept him from being a 20-game winner last year were the three weeks he missed at the start of the season. He's healthy to start this year and should get three or four more starts.

AL Rookie of the Year

David Murphy, Rangers: Why not? Rangers haven't won since 1974, which gives them the longest ROY drought in the majors. The last Ranger to win? Mike Hargrove, like Murphy, a left-handed hitting native Texan. Murphy still qualifies despite entering the year with 127 big league at-bats.

NL Most Valuable Player

Chase Utley, Philadelphia: The NL's version of Michael Young hits for a wee bit more power and is off to a great start. He hits ahead of Ryan Howard. Last year, Jimmy Rollins won the award, largely because the Phillies chased down the Mets. There was some sentiment that David Wright, who finished fourth, should have won the award. If the Mets win this year, it could swing the vote in Wright's favor.

NL Cy Young award

Dan Haren, Arizona: Moving from the AL to the offensively challenged NL should only help Haren. So should dropping from No. 1 in the rotation to No. 2 behind Brandon Webb (who might be his top competition). The other AL transplant, Johan Santana, could figure in this race as well, but for now take the Arizonans against the field.

NL Rookie of the Year

Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago: A 1.031 OPS through the first 10 games suggests the veteran of the Japanese leagues could be a mix of Ichiro Suzuki's average and Hideki Matsui's power. In other words: Awesome. In the more applicable definition of rookie, as in a guy in his early 20s, watch out for Cincinnati's right-hander from the Dominican Republic. No, not Edinson Volquez – Johnny Cueto.

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