The National League Cy Young Race just got a little clearer

I think it is safe to remove Ubaldo Jimenez from the Cy Young front runner list.

He's had a terrific year. I'll go out and say it was the best year a Rockies pitcher ever had. He threw a memorable no hitter, had a mind boggling first half and can still wind up as the first 20 game winner in Rockies history if he can win one more game over the next 2 weeks.

But stats wise, he no longer is keeping pace with Adam Wainwright nor Roy Halladay. And last night, in a game where his team NEEDED him to post a win and keep pace with San Diego, he laid an egg.

Big time aces keep their team in the race.

Brandon Webb's failures against Los Angeles in 2008 probably cost him a Cy Young Award.

So my hat is tipped to Ubaldo... he had a terrific year.
But he is no longer on the Cadillac board.

Hey Adam Wainwright. Now would be a good time to WANT that Cy Young

At one point Adam Wainwright looked like the Cy Young Front Runner...

He was 17-6 with an ERA of 1.99 on August 11 and it looked like a 20 win season and a sub 2.00 ERA were in his future.

Then it looked like he decided to make a conscious effort to hand it over to Roy Halladay.
He had been 1-5 since and his ERA has jumped up .51 points.

Now of course he is still in the mix for the Cy Young and some of his losses were tough luck losses.

But a big win here would go a long way. A nice domination of the Padres would land him win #19 and make his ERA closer to 2.00 than 3.00. And the fans would love him for it...

Not the Cardinals fans... GIANTS fans.

Giant fans have images of a Division Title dancing in their heads and the Padres going on another skid would go a long way to making that true.

So come on! It is fun to be loved. Cardinals fans will love you forever if for no other reason than clinching the 2006 World Series.

You can have San Francisco fans love you too and you don't even need to change uniforms.

So come on, Adam. A Cy Young would look good on your mantle. Go for it tomorrow.

Taking stock as the season winds down

I took stock on the season at the 1/3 mark, and then at the half way point.

I had promised to do so on Labor Day as the season goes into its final lap and here I am.

There's not much suspense for the Yankees, Rays, Rangers and Reds who all seem to have their playoff spots locked up.

But looking at San Diego and their current implosion shows you can never be 100% sure who is going to end up where. (Has anyone else noticed the Rockies aren't dead yet?)

There are injuries that make some of the awards up for grabs as well as some slumps that turned front runners into mere contenders... or in Tim Lincecum's case totally off the board.

So with more or less a month to go, let's take a look at the playoff picture and who should be in line for post season hardware (and compare those to my 1/3 picks and 1/2 way picks.)

If the playoffs started today...

AL East Champion New York Yankees
Would have home field advantage over
AL West Champion Texas Rangers

AL Central Champion Minnesota Twins
Would have home field advantage over
AL Wild Card Tampa Bay Rays

(The Chicago White Sox would be within 3 games in the loss column of a playoff spot.)

NL East Champion Cincinnati Reds
Would have home field advantage over
N. L. Wild Card Philadelphia Phillies

NL East Champion Atlanta Braves
Would have home field advantage over
NL West Champion San Diego Padres

(The Giants are within 1 game of a playoff spot.)

(At the 1/3 Mark, The Rays had home field over Oakland, the Twins had home field over the Yankees. The Cardinals had home field over the Braves while the Padres still had home field over the Reds

At the 1/2 way mark, the Yankees had homefield over the White Sox while the Rangers would host the Rays. Meanwhile the Braves would have homefield over the winner of a Rockies and Dodgers playoff while the Padres would have homefield over the Reds.)

AL MVP:
MIGUEL CABRERA, Tigers
I had Josh Hamilton here, but his ribcage injury might take him out of commission. Cabrera has the OPS, the Average, the power and ranks at the top of W.A.R. It's not his fault the Tigers faded.

In the running:
EVAN LONGORIA, Rays. ROBINSON CANO, Yankees. JOSH HAMILTON, Rangers.

(At the 1/3 mark I had Miguel Cabrera as the MVP.
At the 1/2 way mark, I had Josh Hamilton as the MVP.)

NL MVP:
JOEY VOTTO, Reds
He is pulling away from Pujols in OPS and is near the top in virtually every single offensive category. And oh yeah, his Reds have opened up a big lead with Joey Votto as their main man.

In the running:
ALBERT PUJOLS, Cardinals. CARLOS GONZALEZ, Rockies. ADRIAN GONZALEZ, Padres.

(At the 1/3 mark I had Albert Pujols as the MVP.
At the 1/2 was mark, I had Joey Votto as the MVP.)

AL CY YOUNG:
FELIX HERNANDEZ, Mariners
Yeah, I know his record is only 11-10. He also leads the league in ERA, strikeouts, innings pitched and a lot of other categories that I don't understand. If the Cy Young goes to the best pitcher, then King Felix is the best.

In the running:
CLAY BUCHHOLZ, Red Sox. CC SABATHIA, Yankees. TREVOR CAHILL, A's. DAVID PRICE, Rays.

(At the 1/3 mark I had Jon Lester as the Cy Young.
At the 1/2 way mark I had David Price as the Cy Young.)

NL CY YOUNG:

ROY HALLADAY, Phillies
The fascinating Cy Young chase could come down to the last few weeks. Right now Halladay has been the horse the Phillies need and has the gaudy stats to back up his "Ace" title. He right now is the pitcher to beat.

In the running:

UBALDO JIMENEZ, Rockies. ADAM WAINWRIGHT, Cardinals. CHRIS CARPENTER, Cardinals. TIM HUDSON, Braves. MAT LATOS, Padres.

(At the 1/3 mark AND the 1/2 was mark, I had Ubaldo Jimenez as the Cy Young.)

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
NEFTALI FELIZ, Rangers
A couple of bad games made his ERA swell, but he has supplied the AL West leading Rangers were a steady hand at the back end of the bullpen.

In the running:

BRIAN MATUSZ, Orioles. AUSTIN JACKSON, Tigers. JEREMY HELLICKSON, Rays. JOHN JASO, Blue Jays.

(At the 1/3 mark I had Mitch Talbot as the AL Rookie of the Year.
At the 1/2 way mark, I had Brennan Boesch as the Rookie of the Year.)

NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
BUSTER POSEY, Giants
Posey has been everything and more that the Giants could have asked for. He hits for average, for power, gets on base and has supplied a team starved for offense a spark and a flair for the dramatic. Seems to be solid behind the plate as well.

In the running:
JAIME GARCIA, Nationals. GABY SANCHEZ, Marlins. JASON HEYWARD, Braves.

(At the 1/3 mark I had Jason Heyward as the Rookie of the Year.
At the 1/2 way mark, I had Jamie Garcia as the Rookie of the Year.)

AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR:
OZZIE GUILLEN, White Sox
I was leaning towards Joe Maddon, but the recent surge by Ozzie's White Sox shows just how dangerous they can be. Could Manny's prescience be a positive thing in Chicago. They just want him for a month (maybe two.)

In the running:
RON WASHINGTON, Rangers. RON GARDENHIRE, Twins. JOE MADDON, Rays. JOE GIRARDI, Yankees.

(At the 1/3 mark I had Joe Maddon as the Manager of the Year.
At the 1/2 way mark, I had Ozzie Guillen as the Manager of the Year.)

NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR:
DUSTY BAKER, Reds
The recent collapse by the Padres took Bud Black out of the running for top spot here. The Reds were supposed to be a fringe contender... not cruising to a Division title with home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

In the running:
BOBBY COX, Braves. JIM TRACY, Rockies. BUD BLACK, Padres.

(At the 1/3 mark AND the 1/2 way mark, I had Dusty Baker as the Manager of the Year.)

AL COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR

VLADIMIR GUERRERO, Rangers
How often do you pick up a 100 RBI guy from the scrap heap? There will me more responsibility on his shoulders with Josh Hamilton's injury.

In the running:
VERNON WELLS, Blue Jays. ALEX RIOS, White Sox. EDWIN JACKSON, White Sox. FRANCISCO LIRIANO, Twins.

(At the 1/3 mark I had Vernon Wells as the Comeback Player of the Year.
At the 1/2 way mark, I had Vladimir Guerrero as the Comeback Player of the Year.)

NL COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR
TIM HUDSON, Braves
Forget comeback player... Hudson is making a run at the Cy Young Award. 15 wins and a 2.30 ERA will do that.

In the running:
SCOTT ROLEN, Reds. RICKIE WEEKS, Brewers. AUBREY HUFF, Giants.

BIGGEST BUST IN THE AL:
JAVIER VAZQUEZ, Yankees
He was brought back to the Bronx to be a solid #2 starter as Yankee brass was convinced he no longer had the jitters that he showed in his first Yankee tour. It turns out he still had them. His starting stats have been disastrous for the Yankees who need rotation stability in order to repeat.

In the running:
JOSH BECKETT, Red Sox. JOBA CHAMBERLAIN, Yankees. MILTON BRADLEY, Mariners.

(At the 1/3 mark I had Josh Beckett as the biggest bust in the AL
At the 1/2 way mark I had Milton Bradley as the biggest bust in the AL)

BIGGEST BUST IN THE NL
JASON BAY, Mets
Bay had become a symbol of how the Mets use money poorly while the Yankees (at least in 2009) spent wisely. Everyone and their dog knew Jason Bay would struggle in CitiField, except evidently the Mets front office. His season ended in late July with a concussion, but his stats were ordinary at best with the Mets.)

In the running:
AKI IWAMURA, Pirates. ARAMIS RAMIREZ, Cubs. MARK DeROSA, Giants.

(At the 1/3 point I had Carlos Lee as the biggest bust in the NL
And at the 1/2 way point I had Carlos Zambrano as the biggest bust in the NL)


So here we go... the players in the running can all win some off season hardware with a push in September.

I hope to be back here at the end of the regular season talking about the great Red Sox comeback.

Cheer up Roy... I think you should win the Cy Young Award

Last night's performance by Roy Halladay was far from his best this year.
Then again, he threw a perfect game earlier this year... safe to say he isn't topping THAT any time soon.

He struggled early and put the Phillies behind 2-0 and 3-2... then he settled down. He gave the Phillies 7 innings and allowed them a shot to win. Which he did.

For those who are in love with wins, he has 17, the same as Adam Wainwright and Ubaldo Jimenez.

Halladay's ERA is just .02 more than Wainwright's but he's thrown many more innings.

And unlike Wainwright, Halladay picked up a win today that his team sorely needs.

As of this writing, he's my choice to win the Cy Young Award.

That could change at any moment.

Hey Adam... why don't you want to win the Cy Young Award?

For the second straight start, Adam Wainwright can't make it to the 6th inning and the chance for win #18 goes down the toilet again. Unless the Cardinals go on a mongo comeback, he'll have lost his 5 straight decision.

So when he was 17-6 with a 1.99 ERA, the Cy Young was his to lose.
Barring a Reds bullpen collapse he will be 17-10 with a 2.34 ERA... great numbers to be sure, but not good enough to call the race.

Does he have an incentive clause to NOT win it?

Adam Wainwright continues to show his amazing generosity

Once again, Adam Wainwright could have taken all momentum of the Cy Young award, put it under his wing and make it his to lose.

Instead he lost his 3rd straight chance to win his 18th.
His ERA jumped from 2.18 to 2.30 and he only lasted 5 innings against the Nats and the Cardinals have fallen to 4 games back in the loss column.

Aces are supposed to face sub par teams and STOP losing streaks.

Instead Roy Halladay, Ubaldo Jimenez, Chris Carpenter and Tim Hudson are all still hanging around with Cy Young ambitions and you are keeping their hope alive.

Man... he is nice, isn't he?

Tim Hudson says "PUT ME ON THE CADILLAC BOARD!"

Tim Hudson won today for the Braves... making him 7-2 in games after a Braves loss. Sounds like a losing streak stopper to me.

He won his 15th game today... sounds like a #1 starter to me.

He struck 13 while only walking 1 and letting up 1 run over 7 innings today... sounds like a stud to me.

His 2.24 ERA puts him at #3 in the league...and he ranks high in wins, WHIP and batting average against, all while doing it for a first place club.

Sounds like a Cy Young contender to me!

If Ubaldo Jimenez, Roy Halladay, Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter don't look out, this could be Hudson's Cy Young this year.

He does not need to PUT THE COFFEE DOWN!

Adam Wainwright. Don't you WANT to win the Cy Young?

Seriously... you had the chance to take the prohibitive lead in the Cy Young. A chance for your 18th win. A chance to bring the ole ERA closer to 2.00.

And the Cardinals gave you the lead against the Pirates... if there is a worse team, then they don't play in the majors.

And yeah you went 7 innings, but you couldn't hold onto the lead and let up 4 runs to the lowly Bucs.

I like the Cy Young race being interesting... but I wouldn't mind seeing someone take charge.