MLB Awards Predictions

I think we'll find out if the answer is yes if Ryan Howard wins his second NL MVP award.
Howard is far and away leading baseball in long balls, going deep 45 times as he has eight more than Adam Dunn who is second. He also has 136 RBI which is 10 more than anyone else in baseball.
Howard's only problem is that he is hitting .249 and has struck out 190 times. He will more than likely surpass the 200 strikeout mark and the .249 average is a high water mark for the season.
I think Howard's recent hot streak is going to get him a lot of votes, but this year, the award has to go to Albert Pujols.
Despite being pitched around constantly, he is still hitting .357 with 33 home runs and 101 RBI. He has a .461 on base percentage compared to .335 for Howard and Pujols is doing all of this on an elbow that is going to require surgery.
I think Ryan Braun, Carlos Delgado and Lance Berkman will help round out the top five.
Prediction: 1. Pujols, 2. Howard, 3. Braun, 4. Delgado, 5. Berkman.

The National League Cy Young Award might seem like a race, but it's not. Tim Lincecum should win and will win. The only thing stopping him are east coast voters who don't watch him and just look at the fact that Webb will have 20+ wins along with name recognition.
Sure, Webb has 20 wins compared to just 17 for Lincecum. But, Webb pitchers for a better team and has not had as many wins taken from him by his bullpen.
Lincecum also has just three losses, compared to seven for Webb and Lincecum also leads all of baseball with 237 strikeouts. He also leads the NL and is second in all of baseball with a 2.43 ERA. Webb's ERA is good for tenth in the NL and he has 70 less strikeouts from San Francisco's "Freak."
Prediction: 1. Lincecum, 2. Webb, 3. Santana, 4. Sabathia, 5. Billingsley.

The National League Rookie of the Year award is the only one that is a slam dunk. Cubs catcher Geovanny Soto will win this going away. He will hit over .280 and could finish with 25 homers and 90 RBI on top of playing the most demanding position on the field, physically.
Joey Votto and Jair Jurrjens are true rookies who will receive some consideration while some votes will filter in for the Japanese imports in Hiroki Kuroda and Kosuke Fukudome.
Prediction: 1. Soto, 2. Votto, 3. Jurrjens, 4. Kuroda, 5. Fukudome.

The American League MVP race is going to be very close. Josh Hamilton was unbelievable for the first few months, but he has been back to normal since the All-Star break and the Rangers have fizzled.
Justin Morneau is having another great season and has recently taken the AL lead in RBI with 126 and without him, the Twins would be nowhere near the top of the Central. Dustin Pedroia might win the batting crown and the fact that he plays in Boston makes him a contender.
Meanwhile, Miguel Cabrera has quietly had a huge year and voters won't forget how good Carlos Quentin was before getting hurt.
Pedroia will make things very close, but I do think Hamilton's huge surge and performance in the Home Run Derby will be enough to influence the voters.
Prediction: 1. Hamilton, 2. Morneau, 3. Pedroia, 4. Cabrera, 5. Quentin.

The AL Cy Young is decided. Cliff Lee is going to win AT LEAST 22 games, perhaps winning 23 or 24. He also has just two losses and leads MLB in ERA at 2.36.
His closest competition will come from Roy Halladay who is second in the AL in ERA and could win 20 games. Halladay's eight complete games are enough to make him the second place finisher for sure.
Daisuke Matzusaka and Jon Lester will benefit from great years and being in Boston as they will get some votes as Mike Mussina.
Prediction: 1. Lee, 2. Halladay, 3. Matzusaka, 4. Mussina, 5. Lester.

The AL ROY award was decided in early April when the Rays called up Evan Longoria. Even after missing about four weeks with a broken wrist, it won't matter.
The people finishing behind Longoria will be Armando Gallaraga, Jacoby Ellsbury, Alexei Ramirez and Chris Davis.
Prediction: 1. Longoria, 2. Ramirez, 3. Ellsbury, 4. Gallaraga, 5. Davis.