Joe Beatty
NL Manager of the YearThere aren’t very many intriguing story lines this year, so I’ll take the relative unknown out of the contending teams and pick the Dodgers’ Jim Tracy. He took the always-underachieving Dodgers to the playoffs last season, and his teams are always a class act.
AL Manager of the YearThis one is a shoo-in. Alan Trammell of the Tigers will sew this one up after leading the moribund franchise back to the postseason. He’s done it right from day one, bringing in Kirk Gibson and others from the glory days to make up his coaching staff. Now he has the talent to get it done.
NL Rookie of the YearThis is a complete shot in the dark, but if he has any success at Coors, Rocky pitcher Jeff Francis will win. He has the perfect frame to be successful, and with the NL not having any Japanese “rookies” to fall back on, JFran will sneak away with it.
AL Rookie of the YearCompletely from the heart, with little brain involvement, I’m going with the forgotten Josh Hamilton of the Devil Rays. He’s still suspended from baseball, but the former can’t-miss prospect is now clean, and the MLB says he could be back this season. It would be such a comeback if he did make it to the majors and he could win this with very modest numbers.
NL Cy YoungHe was always overshadowed in Oakland, but now that he’s the main attraction in Atlanta, Braves hurler Tim Hudson will roll along with his new team.
AL Cy YoungClichd? Sure, but Johan Santana is too far above every other pitcher not to repeat.
NL MVPPujols gets all the press, but Jim Edmonds is the glue that holds the Cardinals together. I’m optimistic that this will be the year he gets recognized for being the kind of player every little leaguer should emulate.
AL MVPLast year, he started off hitting around .250 for the first couple of months, and still ended up hitting .370 for the season. This year he’s already on fire, and now has other bats behind him. Ichiro will hit .400, capture the hearts of steroid weary baseball fans and cruise to his second [email protected]
Tye Smith
NL Manager of the YearI have to take Mike Hargrove of the Seattle Mariners for this one. He dominated his division when he was the skipper for the Cleveland Indians but he faltered in Baltimore without any talent. Now he has a solid base from which to work.
AL Manager of the YearThis one has to go to Joe Torre. He has to deal with some of the biggest egos in all of sports, and as many managers that went before have taught us, managing talent isn’t as easy as you might think. I am compelled to take Torre because if he wins, it means the Yankees beat the Red Sox a lot of times, and that would be a good thing.
NL Rookie of the YearNot only do I not know how to identify a rookie in baseball (does minor-league experience count?), I haven’t even heard of the guy I am about to pick. So without further ado, I give you Gavin Floyd, a pitcher on the Philadelphia Phillies. In seven innings pitched this year, he has an ERA of 1.29. From what I’ve heard, that’s good.
AL Rookie of the Year For this one I’ll take Huston Street, the former Longhorn who now pitches for the Oakland A’s. This team has a history of good pitchers and with noticeable absences created by the departures of Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, this guy should get a lot of opportunities.
NL Cy YoungDontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins is the guy for this one. He’s a long shot, admittedly, but his stuff is awesome and his leg kick is even better. The fish are one of the deepest teams in baseball, and if Willis pitches well, his team should easily give him enough run support to win 20 games.
AL Cy YoungThe new guy in New York, Randy Johnson, will run away with this award. He might be old, but he will still scare the living crap out of any batter he faces. Can you imagine trying to hit a 95 mph fastball hurled at you from a 7-foot tall scarfaced monster? I can, and I don’t like it.
NL MVPThis one will definitely go to Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies. OK, it won’t, but if they really gave this award to the best player in the National League, regardless of record, they would have to choose Helton.
AL MVPDerek Jeter of the New York Yankees deserves this award pretty much every year, and there is no reason to think he won’t deserve it again this year. Jeter is the backbone of a franchise that, without his leadership, would just be a bunch of over-talented spoiled [email protected]
Asad Kudiya
NL Manager of the YearThe Dodgers, to me, do not come as a division winner, but I think the NL West sucks and they are the best of the worst. Winning the division with what I believe to be the least amount of talent among the division winners will earn Jim Tracy the Manager of the Year.
AL Manager of the YearThe Rangers are an up-and-coming team, but I think finishing second place in the division will get Buck Showalter the award. All of the other divisions are pretty much decided and I don’t see another team coming out of nowhere.
NL Rookie of the YearClint Barnes is a lock for this award and he already showed his ability. He is batting .391 right now and has great offensive ability. His numbers should be inflated at Coors Field and he will get better throughout the year.
AL Rookie of the YearI’m not going to lie and say I know enough about these guys to make a very educated guess, but I’ll do it anyway. Scott Kazmir looked good in his first appearance for the Devil Rays and he will get many more opportunities throughout the year.
NL Cy YoungMark Mulder is a very good pitcher and he will be on the team with the best lineup in the league. Last season the team was without a real ace and they will be much better with Mulder on board.
AL Cy YoungRandy Johnson has the bats around him this year to get 20-wins and it doesn’t matter how old he is. He still intimidates hitters and is a 9-foot lefty. The guy can still throw the heater and mix in the slider to make batters look foolish.
NL MVPBonds is not going to be in consideration this year because of his injury and I think that makes Albert Pujols the clear frontrunner. He has enough firepower around him to make pitchers pitch to him and will have enough runners on base to drive in a ton of runs.
AL MVPI think the Yankees are going to win the World Series and have the best record in baseball going into the postseason. Although the team is full of stars, I think Alex Rodriguez will put up the best numbers and get the award for his offense and defense. [email protected]
Matthew Piper
NL Manager of the Year The storylines are all teed up: Felipe Alou’s son returns to play for him, his son pisses on his hands, he has to deal with the daily Barry Bonds “saga” and the Barry Bonds “injury” and his team might be good enough to make the postseason without Barry Bonds, anyway.
AL Manager of the Year Eric Wedge from Cleveland will win because the Indians should have a breakout year-Wedgie’s in line to reap the rewards. I don’t really know anything else about him, to be honest. If a parrot took over for Wedge, Cleveland would win the Manager of the Year award.
NL Rookie of the YearBrad Halsey is a promising lefthander, and…I don’t really have any other justification for this, I just want to hear “I can’t believe the Yankees got rid of that guy” once in my life. Just once. Please.
AL Rookie of the Year Adrian Gonzalez will hit 7th for Texas behind a 1-6 that combined for 171 home runs in 2004. He just needs a few runners left around for him.
NL Cy Young Despite what Peter Gammons says, Carlos Zambrano isn’t the best young pitcher on the Cubs staff, Mark Prior just got hurt. I thought about it a while, and I think I’d pay $400 to take a swing at Gammons, and I’d shell out $2000 to beat Tim Kurkjian with a Louisville Slugger. After one bad year, how do they label a 24-year-old “injury-prone”? Way back in 2003, Prior was the next Tom Seaver.
AL Cy Young Johan Santana went 20-6 with a WHIP of 0.92 last year. That’s silly. Forty-one-year-old Randy Johnson has a chance at if he’s healthy all season, but Santana only figures to improve at 26. The only real question is how many votes he’ll get for MVP.
NL MVP The Marlins will win a bunch of games, and the 27-year-old Juan Pierre serves as Florida’s leader and most consistent producer. He has Orlando Bloom-like power (7 career home runs), but he could bat .340 and swipe as many as 70 bases. I just don’t buy Miguel Cabrera as the “next Albert Pujols.” Hell, he’d have to make huge strides in his third season to match Pujols’ rookie numbers. Why not Pujols, then? The Cards won’t cut it. Go Cubs!
AL MVP The Yankees and Red Sox both have multiple MVP candidates and Vladimir Guerrero will contend for a triple crown as the best player on the AL’s other great team. Enough [email protected]