Many voters will cry foul and demand that the MVP has to be Rockies left fielder Matt Holliday or Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. Prince held the Brewers together through every stretch, good and bad, throughout the season, bashing 50 home runs from his cleanup slot. He was clutch when it mattered most: in September, he hit .333 with 11 home runs and a sick 1.211 OPS. But the Brew Crew's playoff hopes went down like Bernie Brewer on the beer slide, with Fielder's MVP chances evaporating like foamy suds in the splash. Meanwhile, Holliday had an even bigger month, hitting .367 with 12 bombs, 30 RBIs, and a 1.244 OPS to ignite Colorado's improbable 14-1 finishing kick to win the wild card (and eventually get to the World Series.) Additionally, Holliday lead the league in batting average and runs batted in. Rollins didn't even hit .300 or knock in 100 runs (though he was close at .296 and 94 RBIs.) But before you cry bloody murder, consider this: first, Holliday benefited from the most pronounced home-field advantage in baseball. At Coors Field, he hit .376 with 25 HR, 82 RBIs, and 1.157 OPS. Away from the hitter's paradise, he managed only .301 with 11 HR, 55 RBIs, and .866 OPS. It's like he was A-Rod at home and Jeter on the road. dp's MVP should get it done consistently everywhere. Second, Rollins had an unbelievable season: he played all 162 games at the premium position of shortstop, hit 30 homers, stole 41 bases and scored a league-leading 139 runs. Additionally, he ripped 88 extra-base hits, more than any shortstop in any season ever other than Alex Rodriguez's 91 in 1996. Third, Rollins literally willed the Phillies into the playoffs, brashly proclaiming back in spring training that Philly would win the NL East. Everyone laughed at him, as the Phillies didn't spend a single day alone in first place this year- until the final days of the season, when they capped the latest, greatest comeback in baseball history to beat out the Mets, whom they trailed by seven games on Sept. 12. The boldness to think big, the audacity to ignore probability, the will to get it done.... That's Jimmy Rollins, the National League MVP.
NL Cy Young- Jake Peavy, Padres:
Despite getting knocked around in the tiebreaker with Colorado, Peavy dominated the NL all year, winning the league's pitching Triple Crown with league-leading totals of 19 wins, 240 strikeouts, and a 2.54 ERA. Peavy was far and away the stingiest starter in the bigs, as his ERA undercut his closest competitor by almost a half of a run per nine innings. Peavy also led the majors in dominant starts (defined as 7 innings with 2 or less runs allowed and 7+ strikeouts) with 12. No other pitcher had more than 10.
NL Rookie of the Year- Ryan Braun, Brewers:
Yeah, it's tough to give it Braun, who didn't get called up to the bigs until May 25, while Troy Tulowitzi got it done all season long for a team in the World Series. It's also true that Tulowitzki plays Gold Glove defense and anchors the Rockies' infield at shortshop, while "E-5" Braun, who committed an amazing 26 errors in 112 games at third base, gets lifted for a defensive replacement in the late innings of close games. But the bottom line is pretty simple: Braun is an extraordinary offensive force, the only player in the league comparable to A-Rod, at least according to his offensive production in 2007. Only A-Rod had a higher slugging percentage than Braun's .634. He bashes the baseball all over the park, hitting for power with 34 homers and 97 RBIs and average at .324. He's also a threat on the basepaths with 15 steals and 91 runs scored. Tulowitzi, meanwhile, is statistically more comparable to another young Brewer, OF Corey Hart. Both Hart and Tulowitzki hit 24 homers; Tulowitzki had more runs, 104 to 86, and RBIs, 99 to 81; Hart hit for higher average, .295 to .291, and slugging percentage, .539 to .479. Troy, congratulations on a great year (and good luck blowing the World Series to the Sox- how many balls did the Sox hit just beyond Tulowitzki's reach in Game 1? Five? Ten?), but dp joins The Sporting News and Baseball America in naming Ryan "The Hebrew Hammer" Braun as the NL Rookie of the Year.
NL Comeback Player of the Year- Barry Bonds, Giants:
Barry could very well be indicted for perjury and tax evasion any day now, but there's no denying he's still a one-of-a-kind talent. In part due to his 132 walks in 126 games, he led the majors again in OPS at .480, 35 points ahead of David Ortiz in second place. You may say, "Wait a minute... Shouldn't Bonds have won the Comeback Player Award last year, when he hit 26 home runs after missing all but 14 games in 2005?" Yes, it is unconventional (and probably unprecedented) to honor a player whose 2007 statistics are nearly identical to his 2006 stats (.270 with 26 homers in '06, .276 with 28 homers in '07), but it's a legal miracle that Bonds even played at all in 2007, what with his personal trainer sitting in jail for refusing to disclose info about Bonds' peformance- enhancing dug (PED) use and the accompanying cloud of controversy constantly swarming around wherever his enlarged head sulked. Yet Bonds maintained both his indignant innocence and his unparalleled concentration long enough to break Hank Aaron's all-time home run record. dp's odds on Bonds returning to play baseball in 2008? About 50/50 (or the same as his chances of a criminal conviction when George Mitchell's report on PEDs in baseball comes out in the next month or two.)
NL Manager of the Year- Bob Melvin, Diamondbacks:
Thanks to Melvin's managerial magic, Arizona compiled the best record, 90-72, in the National League, despite being outscored by 20 runs for the season. Yes, Clint Hurdle deserves credit for getting the Rockies into the playoffs. Yes, Lou Piniella deserves credit for helping the Cubs overtake the Brewers to win the NL Central. Yes, it is a bit silly to even give out a manager's award considering that baseball is the most individualized of the major team sports and the players factor more heavily in deciding the outcome of games than in football or basketball. dp says don't protest, just give the flicking thing to Melvin and close the curtain on the lesser league's 2007 season. There will be no more Mountain Highs in Colorado, as the Rockies have hit rock bottom, down in a 2-0 hole to the AL (Actually Legit)'s best, the BoSox.
