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. Here are the results from last week's AL voting .
Here is the way I voted. My biases for voting in the Cy Young and MVP awards lean towards those hitters and pitchers playing on contending teams. ROY determination is not tied are strongly to his team's record, but good rookies on expected paly-off contenders will get additional consideration.
NL Cy Young:
1. Brandon Webb Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Edinson Volquez Cincinnati Reds
3. Tim Lincecum San Francisco Giants
I sat down ready to switch my 1st place vote from Webb to Volquez. This meant ignoring Webb's 11 Wins for a 1st place team, but a closer look kept me from doing it. Webb has pitched 15 more innings and more than half the walks. Brandon Webb is the better pitcher.
NL MVP:
1. Chase Utley Philadelphia Phillies
2. Lance Berkman Houston Astros
3. Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals
This was an easy choice. Chase Utley plays for a 1st place team and the more challenging defensive position. I don't think it is even close right now.
NL ROY:
1. Geovanny Soto Chicago Cubs
2. Joey Votto Cincinnati Reds
3. Kosuke Fukudome Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs, like the Tamp Bay Rays last week, get their 1st place in the standings props from the voters in Rookie-OF-The-Year. Fukudome's OBP contribution keeps in ahead of starting pitchers like Jair Jurrjens of Atlanta, John Lannnan in Washington and Hiroki Kuroda in Los Angeles.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Reds' 1B Joey Votto out-produce all NL rookies by season's end. Will it be enough to take the award from Geovanny Soto though?