2010 MLB Awards

MLB
Now that the World Series is over (congrats to SF for beating the Rangers 4-1), we could focus on the NBA & College Basketball, but first, we got some wrapping things up in baseball and that's my award predictions since they will be announced starting next week. Remember, these are my guesses...

AL Manager: I'm taking Terry Francona over Ron Washington for this award. Washington had a second chance after almost being fired by the Rangers and I give him kudos for an outstanding job. Francona is my choice because of what his team went through all season, with the injuries to Youk, Pedroia, Ellsbury, Martinez, among others. This team finished 8 games behind TB and it could have been worse.

NL Manager: No doubt about it, Bruce Bochy. With a team that was 7 games behind the Padres over the summer, the Giants fight back, win the NL West and eventually the World Series. Bochy made the right calls and has proved himself to be a good manager.

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez. King Felix played for an awful Seattle team this year, but his strikeout/game ratio gives him an advantage, but he didn't have a lot of wins like Sabathia, Buchholz, Price or Verlander. He pitched nearly 250 innings and recorded 232 K's over the season, but he's never won a Cy Young award before.

NL Cy Young: No question about it, but it goes to Roy Halladay. In his first year in the National League, he recorded a perfect game in June against Florida and a no-hitter in the postseason against the Reds. He also had 21 wins and only recorded 30 walks. Halladay is just gonna get better in his career.

AL MVP: It's a toss up between Robinson Cano & Josh Hamilton, but I'm going with the latter. After having alcohol and drug problems early in his career, Hamilton went on to hit 32 homers and win the batting average title at .359. Hamilton is getting into his prime of his career and continues to improve. Cano on the other hand had 200 hits and was always one of the better Yankees this season, but he'll get his chance at an MVP title maybe next year.

NL MVP: I like Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez, who had a .336 batting average (leading the NL) and hit 34 home runs, but he did miss some time with an injury. I gotta go with Albert Pujols again because of his numbers. He lead the NL in hits and runs and had 42 homers and 118 RBIs during the 2010 season.

Free-agency period begins Saturday and alot of players have declared free agency. Leading candidates during this Hot Stove season include Cliff Lee, Adrian Beltre, Victor Martinez, just to name a few.