This is the week I am going (want?) to start giving more credence to the standings of a player's team when considering the MVP barring just sick efforts by a player on a non-contender.  With the standings too close to call.  To see last week's American league results, visit  Rotojunkie.  The top three was quite a surprise. 

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Rotojunkie has taken over the dynamic feature started by Baseball Happenings that draws on the collective knowledge of the blogging community to provide intelligence on which players are currently considered the leading contenders for the big three baseball awards - MVP, Cy Young and ROY - for the American and National leagues.  This week's NL voting should be available on Friday at lunch time. 

NL Cy Young:
1. Ben Sheets Milwaukee Brewers
2. Tim Lincecum San Francisco Giants
3. Edinson Volquez Cincinnati Reds

NL MVP:
1.  Chase Utley Philadelphia Phillies
2.  Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
3.  Dan Uggla, Florida Marlins

NL ROY:
1.  Geovanny Soto Chicago Cubs
2.  Kosuke Fukudome Chicago Cubs
3.  Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta Braves

These essentially qualify as my mid-season winners.  I don't like giving Top 3 votes to non-play-off teams in CY Young and MVP voting, but Lincecum and Volquez are so much better statistically than Cole Hamels of Philadelphia, Carlos Zambrano of Chicago and Brandon Webb of Arizona that I had to put them in the top 3.  For my own cognitive dissonance, I hope this does not remain so.

MVP also is tough because there are players on sub-.500 teams leading the NL.   Chipper Jones in Atlanta and Lance Berkman in Houston are having better overall seasons than Chase Utley, but I can't look past Chippers' time off or Berkman's less challenging defensive position.

At the last minute, I dropped Reds' 1B Joey Votto and replaced him with Atlanta Braves' SP Jair Jurrjens.  With a top 10 NL ERA and eight wins so far, Jurrjens is more valuable on the open market than a 1B with an .800 OPS would be.

Rotojunkie has taken over the dynamic feature started by Baseball Happenings that draws on the collective knowledge of the blogging community to provide intelligence on which players are currently considered the leading contenders for the big three baseball awards - MVP, Cy Young and ROY - for the American and National leagues.  This week's NL voting should be available later today/early tomorrow. 

NL Cy Young:
1. Edinson Volquez Cincinnati Reds
2. Tim Lincecum San Francisco Giants
3. Ben Sheets Milwaukee Brewers

This is the first time I have left Diamondback's starter Brandon Webb entirely out of the voting.  He has not pitched well for a couple weeks while Volquez and Lincecum continue to do so.  The Wins are a big difference, but, at this point in the season, the ratios have enough innings behind them that an excellent winning record can overcome a couple Wins difference.

NL MVP:
1.  Chase Utley Philadelphia Phillies
2.  Lance Berkman Houston Astros
3.  Dan Uggla Florida Marlins

This one was more challenging than either of the other two votes because Utley has been slumping and doesn't have the 1.000+ OPS of several other hitters.  Heck, he doesn't even have the highest OPS on the Phillies. (Pat Burrell does.)  I stayed with Utley based on his season's work and his team's perch atop the NL East.

Sure, the Houston Astros wouldn't be ahead of the Reds without Lance Berkman, but finishing 6th in the NL Central rather than 5th is a difference without significance.

NL ROY:
1.  Geovanny Soto Chicago Cubs
2.  Joey Votto Cincinnati Reds
3.  Kosuke Fukudome Chicago Cubs

The NL ROY voting remains unchanged.  I gave consideration to Atlanta Braves pitcher Jair Jurrjens, but decided Fukudome's OBP is a more integral part of his team's 1st place standings than Jurrjens efforts are for his team's 4th place standings.  Unlike Berkman and the Astros, the Braves would still be ahead of the Nationals even if Jurrjens never pitched for them.