We are almost at the true mid season for MLB, so here are the leaders at the half way point for the major awards. Stats through July 1.

AL MVP- Robinson Cano .352/16/54/.989  I am loathe to give any award to a Yankee, but Cano has been a monster. His home/road splits are almost even (H-.342/9/41/.994 R-.363/7/23/.990), so you can’t say that he is padding his numbers with the short porch in right. Yankees are in first place, and that’s with Arod and Mark Leigh not doing their usual thing. Cano has also become a very good defender.

In the conversation- Miguel Cabrera, Justin Morneau, Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre (don’t laugh, .349/12/53/.944).

Chance Cano wins it at the end, 20%*. This is a real tight race, and anyone of those guys could win. So much baseball left, and MVP voters are heavily swayed by the 2nd half. *every time I talk about this, the phrase “baring injury” should be considered. If any of these guys get injured it will derail their chances.

NL MVP- Albert Pujols .309/19/58/.989 Not nearly the race in the NL as in the AL. Heck, this is a down year for Pujols so far. Still, its his award to lose. Mostly likely he will bump that average up and he will win it going away.

In the conversation- Ubaldo Jiminez, Joey Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, Scott Rolen, David Wright.

Chance Pujols wins it at the end, 53%. I think he is going to have a monster 2nd half, and the Cardinals will hold off the Reds. If that doesn’t happen it could open the door for the other guys. Don’t discount Gonzalez, if the Padres keep this up, voters will be looking to give the awards. If Colorado gets into the playoffs, Jiminez will garner support, but pitchers get the shaft from MVP voters.

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Time for mid season grades for the Medias Rojas (sorry, all that World Cup watching). Ideally I would do this after the 81st game, but I am going to be away, so on this off day, seemed like a good time. 79 games into the 2010 season. The Sox are, pretty much exactly where I had expected them to be; only how they got there is quite different from how anyone could have seen it unfold. As of today, they are 1 game out in the East, 1 game up in the Wild Card. They are right in the thick of things with out much positive production from Beckett and Ellsbury. One has to be impressed with how they have overcome key injuries, but there is still another half of the season, and the biggest injury to overcome will be that of Dustin Pedroia.

That being said, grades are given based on both output and expectations (stats through June). Sorry, that’s just how I think it needs to be done. Stars are expected to produce, while role players get opportunities to produce.

I will do this alphabetically

Scott Atchison. 1-1, 4.62ERA, 15Aps. Grade: B-. Right off the bat is a serious grade on a curve, but Atch deserves credit. A reliever with a +4ERA really shouldn’t get such a grade, but when you factor in that he stepped up big time twice (starting for Dice K, coming in for Buch) when the injury bug bit. The Sox have only won 6 games his he pitched in, so he has played the role of mop-up man predominantly. Lately though he has been one of the more effective relievers in a volatile relief corps. I don’t see him keeping it up, but I really hope he does. One of the several good stories on the Sox this season.

Daniel Bard. 1-2, 2.04ERA, 39Aps, 3SV. Grade: A-. He is tied for the league lead in appearances, on pace for 80 this season. You can already hear the calls for him to take over as closer. Bard has been excellent, sure he can lose control and lets off the occasional tater, but his numbers don’t lie. Easily the best, most reliable reliever on the team this season. .86WHIP, 3.5K/BB, 9.53K/9, 18HLDs, these are the numbers of an elite reliever. Less than 1 base runner per inning, and over 1 K per inning. Very well could be the closer before the season is over.

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