FPS: MLB Awards 2007

NL MVP
Matt Holliday | Rockies – The leftfielder was unconscious in September belting 12 home runs, 30 RBIs and batting with a .367 average. Holliday claimed the NL batting crown outright (.340) and his two RBIs in the Rockies one-game playoff made him the NL RBI-leader as well with 137. To go along with his 36 home runs, Holliday led the NL in doubles (50) and finished sixth in OBP (.405). The fact that Holliday plays at Coors Field, with a large outfield and thin air, certainly detracts from his numbers. But you can’t take away the fact that the man can hit. Finally, Holliday’s aura was dramatically increased when he scored the controversial winning run to slide the Rocks into the playoffs.

Runner-up: Jimmy Rollins | Phillies – Rollins blew away the modern NL record for runs scored (139) and extra-base hits (88) by a shortstop. On the final day of the season he became the first NL shortstop in 34 years to start all 162 games and his triple in the sixth inning of the same game made him a member of the 20-20-20-20 Club (home runs, triples, doubles, stolen bases).

AL MVP
Magglio Ordonez | Tigers – Some of you might be in shock that FPS is crowning Magglio the AL MVP. But Ordonez had a season worthy of the title, including winning the batting title by 12 points, becoming just the second Tiger to win the batting title since 1961. As you break down the numbers Ordonez had a huge year: first in the majors in batting (.363), second in the league in RBIs (139) and hits (216), tied for second in the league in OBP (.434), fifth in the AL in runs scored (117) and seventh in the AL in home runs (28). When you consider that Gary Sheffield, Placido Polanco and Ivan Rodriguez all missed substantial time for Detroit, Ordonez really carried his team. The same can't be said for the runner-up.

Runner-up: Alex Rodriguez | Yankees – Only two players in the history of the American League have had this many homers (54), RBIs (156) and runs scored (143) in a season -- and they are both baseball legends, Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx. So how can you possibly justify passing A-Rod up on the MVP award? Simply put, when the Yankees made their late season charge almost everyone's bat was hot, with one exception: Rodriguez. A-Rod was 1-for-18 in a five game stretch when New York won all five games. Plus his average was good not great, OBP was second best on his team and he struck out 120 times. A-Rod will win the real MVP award, but here he's the first loser.

NL CY YOUNG
Jake Peavy | Padres – This is the most slam-dunk case for any of the awards. Peavy won the National League's pitching Triple Crown, which means he led the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA. Here's the thing with Peavy, he pitched better than his 2.36 ERA and 19-6 record shows. While Peavy was in the game he had zero or one run scored for him in nine different starts. Could he have won 25 games? Maybe, but he will win some new hardware.

Runner-up: Not worth mentioning

AL CY YOUNG
C.C. Sabathia | Indians – Sabathia was clutch for the Indians all year. He finished fifth in the AL in ERA (3.21) and strikeouts (209), tied-for-second in wins (19) and pitched the most innings in the league with 241. Plus the Indians-ace had the best strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.65) by any left-handed pitcher in AL history. Here’s the kicker, when you compare Sabathia to the other AL Cy Young contenders Josh Beckett of Boston and John Lackey of the LA Angels, Sabathia is light outs the top pitcher. In both starts of seven innings-plus and starts allowing no more than two earned runs in six-plus innings, Sabathia is tops.

Runner-up: Josh Beckett | Red Sox – It’s hard to deny the Red Sox ace who was the majors only 20-game winner and was an instrumental in Boston’s division title. Despite Beckett’s 20 wins, he was just sixth in the AL in ERA and seventh in strikeouts. Plus Beckett trailed Sabathia by 40 innings pitched. The numbers are there, but all the stats put Beckett in oh-so-close second place.

WORST-BEST AWARD*
Ryan Howard | Phillies – The reigning NL MVP was supposed to have another monster season. And in a way Howard did. Howard batted .268 considerably worse than his .313 average in 2006. But he cracked 47 home runs and 136 RBIs, good enough for second in the NL in both categories. So why does Howard win the FPS Worst-Best award? Because of his strikeout numbers. The Phillies slugger broke the MLB record with his 196th strikeout of the season and added three more before the end of the year. In his 529 at-bats, Howard sat down 199 times due to Ks, a remarkable 37 percent of the time.

Runner-up: Matt Cain | Giants – The Giants righty was the leading contender for the Worst-Best award all year, but got bumped to the runner-up spot. While Cain improved his ERA, lowering it from 4.15 to 3.65, he never lived up to the pre-season hype. Cain’s strikeout total dropped by 16 and his 7-16 record was dramatically worse. San Francisco did not help Cain’s cause by scoring zero runs in four of his starts and averaging an anemic 2.8 runs/game if you discount their May 13th 15-run outburst.

Blogger’s Note: *An FPS award given to the player who's good but did something amazingly bad. Photos – TOP: Detroit Tigers' Magglio Ordonez hits a two-run home run against the Minnesota Twins on Sept. 25. The homer was one of Ordonez’s 28 during a monster year for Detroit. Photo courtesy of AP Photo - Duane Burleson. BOTTOM: Ryan Howard argues with homeplate umpire Dale Scott after striking out during Game One of the NLDS on Oct. 3. Howard struck out seven times in the playoffs to go with his 199 Ks in the regular season. Photo courtesy of Getty Images – Drew Hallowell.