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 Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Not So Deep Thoughts: The 2009 MLB "Way Too Soon Awards"
Posted by Tuff Stuff
I realize the MLB season is only 20 percent complete and the whole marathon not a sprint contention that people love to toss around at this time of the year still applies, but after a quick review of the standings and statistical leaders, I thought it might be time to hand out the "Way Too Soon" Awards for the 2009 season.
While some of these winners could go the way of Mark McGwire and completely fall off the surface of the universe by season's end, many will be there for the duration and their early season heroics should be noticed.
Best Player In The Game (Still): The award goes to Albert Pujols. Unless he suffers a major injury or is somehow connected to steroid use (a strong possibility considering the times we live in), King Albert will likely go down as one of the best players to ever suit up. Batting .328 and leading the National League in HRs and RBIs, Pujols continues to amaze me. Still not sure why more pitchers don't walk him and take their chances with the likes of Ryan Ludwick and Chris Duncan, but let's hope it stays that way forever because Pujols is simply fun to watch.
Best Young Player In the Game: The award goes to Tampa's Evan  Longoria. No Sophomore Slump in sight for Longoria, who, if he keeps up his current pace will have the media cranking out the Triple Crown chatter any day now. Longoria is leading the Majors with 45 RBIs, is secnd in the AL with 11 HRs and is batting a sizzling .362, which is good enough for fifth. I'm fairly certain I won't see another Triple Crown winner in my lifetime but that won't stop the Jason Stark's of the world from talking about how Yaz won the triple crown three decades earlier.
Best Pitcher In The Game: Nothing new to report here, Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball and has been for quite some time. Because Halladay has pitched on a medicore team that resides north of the border he hasn't received the fanfare of Johan Santana or CC Sabathia, but this guy is really good and should get the recognition he deserves now that the Jays are playing good ball. Halladay is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA with one complete game in his last four starts and has a MLB best seven wins already.
Best Young Pitcher In The Game: Hands down, Kansas City's Zack Greinke gets the nod in this one. With four complete games, a microscopic 0.59 ERA and a 6-1 record, Greinke is good, really good, and people are starting to take notice. The Royals are no longer the AL doormat they used to be and Greinke is a major factor in their resurgence.
Best Free Agent Signing: The Nationals have been and will likely continue to be the brunt of many jokes but you've got to tip your hat to their front office for going out and signing Adam Dunn when few others came a calling. The 29-year-old slugger was relatively cheap at $8 million per year and apparently has learned how to hit for average now which makes him even more of a bargain. Dunn is batting .313 (64 points higher than his career average), has blasted 11 HRs, has cut down on his strikeouts and is drawing more walks these days. I wouldn't expect the average to remain over .300 all season but stranger things have happened.
Worst Free Agent Signing: This one was easy and it made me giggle a little just thinking about it. The winner, or in this case, loser is Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees. It just didn't seem like Teixeira was a good fit in the Big Apple right from the get go and the Big Texy appears to be feeling the pressure of the $21 million/year contract he signed at the plate. While I do think he'll eventually get things turned around and post some decent power numbers, I expect him to receive a lot more Bronx cheers than curtain calls. Teixeira does have seven HRs but his .191 average and .418 slugging percentage isn't exactly what Yankee fans were hoping to get when they dished out the big dollars in teh offseason .
I'll check back and dish out some new awards in a couple months. In the meantime, make a comment and post your award winners. Whether you agree or disagree, we want your feedback.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 4:10:59 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
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