It turns out, after all the shout and tumult, the major award races aren’t as difficult or controversial as you were led to believe weeks ago. It’s amazing how much clearer issues become when you actually wait for the season to play out and postseason berths to be decided. Imagine that.
There is one race in which the outcome is too close to forecast: the NL Rookie of the Year race between Buster Posey and Jason Heyward (though Manager of the Year votes can be quirky). Here are my picks for the major awards and why I chose them. They are not predictions, but feel free next month to compare them to the actual winners.
NL MVP
1. Joey Votto, Cincinnati
2. Albert Pujols, St. Louis
3. Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado
4. Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego
5. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado
6. Jayson Werth, Philadelphia
7. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia
8. Brian Wilson, San Francisco
9. Aubrey Huff, San Francisco
10. Jason Heyward, Atlanta
Votto wins easily because he was the best player on any of the NL playoff teams. His consistency was important for Cincinnati and he led the league in OPS. And what may be surprising is that Votto also stole 16 bases. Here is the complete list of first basemen who have stolen 16 bases and slugged .600: George Sisler, Lou Gehrig, Dick Allen, Andres Galarraga, Albert Pujols and Votto. That's it.
Full story: Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay and other MLB awards winners – Tom Verducci – SI.com