This Just In: Dustin Pedroia wins AL MVP

Yesterday, the baseball writers got it right.

Albert Pujols won his second NL MVP, a well-earned award in my book seeing that he carried what could have been a potentially terrible team into contention for most of the baseball season.

Today, I'm scratching my head over their decision to name Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia the AL's MVP. He's not even the best player on his team, so how can he be the most valuable player of a league?

His VORP was 63.3, only one-tenth of a point higher than Philadelphia Phillies second sacker Chase Utley. And if you were paying attention, it was Pujols (not Utley) who won the NL MVP yesterday.

Heck, Dusty's VORP doesn't even rank in the top-20 single season among all-time second basemen.

If you care (and don't feel like reading through this article) Chuck Knoblauch owns the best single-season VORP for a second baseman ... of course this was done when he wasn't booting ground balls and turning them into souvenirs by throwing them into the Yankee Stadium stands.

Like I said, Pedroia isn't even the most valuable player on his team.

Kevin Youkilis anyone?

Pedroia: .326/.376/.493 with 17 home runs 83 runs batted in and 20 stolen bases

Youkilis: .300/.390/.569 with 29 home runs 115 runs batted in and 3 stolen bases

I guess it was Pedroia's plus-17 stolen bases put him over the top.

More to come later...

Albert the Great

Albert Pujols has received his just due and won his second MVP award, his first since 2005. While this should probably be his fourth or fifth MVP, the voters finally wised up and voted for the most deserving player.

For those of you arguing for Ryan Howard as MVP, just take a look at the numbers. The only areas Howard holds a significant advantage are home runs and RBIs. Howard finished with 48 and 146, respectively, compared to Albert's 37 and 116.

But when you look at more important stats, Pujols has Howard beat in every category.

Pujols' .357 batting average was 38 points higher than Howard's on-base percentage and 106 points better than Howard's abysmal .251 average.

Howard's 199 strikeouts were also 145 more than Pujols', while Pujols walked 104 times compared to 81 by Howard.

While voters who didn't vote Pujols first don't both me, it's idiots like Tom Haudricour, who had an MVP vote, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who make sportswriters look like idiots.

Via the Brewers Blog:

"With the Cardinals finishing fourth, I voted Pujols seventh on my ballot. I don't consider MVP to be "the most outstanding player" award and therefore don't just go by who had the best stats. i like to credit players for lifting their teams to the post-season or at least keeping them in the race until the very end."

Then, Haudricour went on to give his list of the top 10 players he voted for.

1. Ryan Howard
2. CC Sabathia
3. Manny Ramirez
4. Carlos Delgado
5. Aramis Ramirez
6. Prince Fielder
7. Albert Pujols
8. Ryan Ludwick
9. Ryan Braun
10. David Wright

That's right. He voted Carlos Delgado No. 4, despite the fact that the Mets didn't make the playoffs and choked down the stretch, y et again. Did I mention that was his exact argument as to why he put Pujols No. 7.

I don't think there is a person in their right mind who would actually say Delgado had a better season than Pujols.

But it gets even better.

"St. Louis did stay in the wild card race until mid-September, but mainly because the Brewers and Mets were gagging at the time."

So you put two players, Delgado and Prince Fielder, whose teams you say were "gagging" at the end of the season in front of a player who dominated opposing pitchers from the beginning of the season to the end.

Idiots like this can't take away from a great season by arguably the best player in baseball. Pujols has been the most consistent player in the MLB since he entered the league and he should have five or six MVP's by the time he decides to hang it up.

This Just In: Albert Pujols named NL MVP

Statistically, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols earned his second NL MVP crown.

Pujols' 2008 line: .357/.462/.653 with 37 home runs 116 runs batted in 7 stolen bases and an astonishing 104 walks.

Yet, I can't help but take a trip to the way back machine. Via ESPN:

"I see it this way: Someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP."

Think Albert's singing a different tune today?

Expect a full recap of this momentous occasion by a blogger more familiar with Cardinal Nation later this afternoon.

Piniella, Maddon named Managers of the Year

The Chicago Cubs saved all their wins for the month of November.

Or so it seems.

Two days after catcher Geovany Soto took home the National League's Rookie of the Year award, his skipper, Lou Piniella, was named the senior circuit's Manager of the Year.

Piniella led the Cubs to 97 wins and their first back-to-back playoff appearances since 1906-1908, but was unable to coax a playoff win for the second straight postseason.

Contrary to popular belief, the 97-win campaign wasn't just the result of recent off-season spending that made "making it rain" look like a light donation. Instead, Piniella's mind was in overdrive as he put together a strong lineup, managed a sometimes shaky bullpen and motivated a team that won the ultra-competitive NL Central Division.

Platooning Jim Edmonds and Reed Johnson, rebuilding Carlos Marmol's confidence after his midseason struggles, handling the fragile Kerry Wood and handling the more-fragile psyche of Alfonso Soriano were only some of the tasks Piniella excelled at this season.

As for Maddon, who earned all but one first-place vote, his task was much more difficult.

He turned around a franchise synonymous with losing into the beasts of the American League East, knocking the Boston Red Sox into the Wild Card and New York Yankees out of the playoffs.

Maddon molded the Tampa Bay Rays' young talent into his image of what a real baseball team should look like and each player bought in.

It wasn't just AL Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria, budding superstar center fielder B.J. Upton and aces Scott Kazmir and James Shields. It was more than just them.

It was veteran closer Troy Percival and outfielder Cliff Floyd. It was guys like Jason Bartlett, Wily Aybar and Dioner Navarro. It was a team effort, from top to bottom.

And Maddon led the charge as the Rays marched to the World Series to the beat of one drum.

It looks like the Baseball's Writers Association got it right, this time.

Photo Credit: MLB.com/Getty Images

Soto wins NL Rookie of the Year, wonders what it's like to catch Jake Peavy

Photo Credit: AP

Finally, Chicago Cubs fans can say they cheered for a winner.

Catcher Geovany Soto was a near-unanimous choice for the National League Rookie of the Year award, becoming the fifth Cub player to do so.

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto picked up the other first-place vote.

F-U Dusty!

Anyway...

Soto's win comes 10 years after teammate Kerry Wood won the NL's ROY award in 1998. Here's hoping Geo doesn't get his arm blown out like Kid K's did.

The rookie backstop did it all this year.

• He led all rookies with 86 RBIs
• Hit 23 home runs (second among NL rookies)
• Became the first rookie catcher to start the All-Star game
• Caught Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter

Maybe next year he'll catch Jake Peavy if GM Jim Hendry commits to throwing every prospect in the Cubs' organization westward to San Diego.

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Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria won the American League's ROY award, mashing 27 homers and driving in 85 runs en route to leading the Rays to an AL East title.

Chicago White Sox second baseman Alexei Ramirez, who hit .297 with 21 homers and 77 RBIs in his rookie campaign, finished second behind Longoria.

Ramirez's claim to fame this season were the four grand slams he hit for the South Siders this season.

Aramis Ramirez reels in postseason award

Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez didn't let a 2-for-22 postseason slide stop him from making a presence during Game 4 of the World Series Sunday night.

Technically, it was before.

Ramirez received The Hank Aaron Award, which is given to "the most outstanding performers" in each league.

I guess this means Albert Pujols can't win every award, right?

As good as Rami was in 2008, he wasn't even the best offensive third baseman in the league.

That distinction should go to New York Mets third sacker David Wright who hit .302 with 33 homers and 124 runs batted in.

But how do you not give the award to Pujols? It's almost inconceivable.

It would be easy to blame the fans that voted for Youk and Rami, but it'd be better to blame Cardinal Nation - baseball's self-proclaimed best fans - for not stuffing the ballot box for Phat Albert.

In the end, it doesn't matter because Ramirez isn't winning anything important tonight or in the near future.

As for Pujols he already has what Ramirez wants in his back pocket (an NL MVP ) and on his hand (a World Series ring).

And after batting .357 with a .425 OBP, .624 SLG% with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs, Pujols will likely take home his second NL MVP award at the conclusion of this baseball season.

As long as MLB doesn't allow fans to vote for that now, too.