American League Mid-Season Awards | The Batting Cages

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| 02:02 AM ET 07.05 |

I will be doing an awards blog for both the National League and the American League

AL Cy Young Award - Cliff Lee, CLE

Best pitcher in each league for the season

Cliff Lee has been the American League's best all around pitcher by far so far this season. He has just one loss and is second in the AL in wins wih 11. His ERA isn't as great as it used to be but it is still standing strong at 2.26, third in the whole league and second in the American League. He has 93 strikeouts, a strong number half-way through the season and has a tendency to do well in big games and especially, pitch consistently all year long.

Honorable Mention: Justin Duchscherer, OAK

AL Most Valuable Player Award - Carlos Quentin, CWS

Player who is most valuable to his team throughout the season

Carlos Quentin went from a part time player to a star player, he could make a strong case for comeback player of the year as well. Now, look at Quentin's stats. He is Top 5 in both home runs and runs batted in in the American League with numbers of 19 and 61 respectivley. You might say that players like A-Rod, Marcus Thames or Josh Hamilton have better stats than this but Quentin has been most valuable to his team for certain. He has helped lead the Sox to first place in the division after a disapointing year last year.

Honorable Mention: Justin Morneau, MIN

AL Rookie of the Year Award - Evan Longoria, TB

Best Player in his first full year of Major League Baseball

I was torn on this - there are three good rookies in the AL all very deserving of this award - Longoria, David Murphy and Jacoby Ellsbury. I had to pick one though and Longoria was the pick, he is leading all rookies in home runs with 15 and he is third out of all rookies in runs batted in, only two behind the leader. Longoria is also leading all AL rookies (with enough at-bats to qualify) in average, On-Base Percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. Along with leading his team to the best record in the league, Longoria is the right choice.

Honorable Mention: Jacboy Ellsbury, BOS

AL Manager of the Year Award - Bob Geren, OAK

Best manager of his team during the season

This was another one I had to think about for a while - him or the Twins manager. But, I have to go with Geren. In an off-season where the A's traded both their best pitcher and best hitter, no one really expected him to have his team 3.5 games back in the wild card race or 5 games back in the division. You don't really hear too much about the Athletics having any star players but Geren has gotten this team to work hard and win games.

Honorable Meantion: Ron Gardenhire, MIN

AL DHL Delivery Man of the Year Award - Mariano Rivera, NYY

Most Outstanding Relief Pitcher of the Year

I'm not sure if outstanding fits Rivera's season so far . . . amazing would be more like it. Rivera has went 22 for 22 in his save opportunities, only allowing four earned runs in 37.1 innings as well. No other pitcher can even compare with Rivera this year, his K/9 is amazing. 10.13 strikeouts per nine innings, wow. Rivera is about to have the best season by any closer since 2001, when Mariano himself saved 50 games for the Yankees. Who knows, maybe this yea rcould be even better.

Honorable Mention: Francisco Rodriguez, LAA

AL Hank Aaron Award - Josh Hamilton, TEX

Some say that an award doesn't deserve to go to a player on a team that is barely staying over .500. I'll **** that strategy and point to Hamilton's great offensive stats. Recently troubled with the law, Hamilton has made a huge comeback and has 19 home runs, second in the AL, and 82 runs batted in, first in the whole league. With a strong second half, he could be a threat to break the RBI record. So what if the team isn't great, Hamilton has lead Texas to become the best offense in the league, there is valuable for ya.

Honorable Mention: Marcus Thames, DET

AL Comeback Player of the Year Award - Josh Hamilton, DET

Player who has come back strong after a disapointing season/off-field

I already told you that Hamilton had the great stats, it is his life story that is pretty interesting though. Hamilton was an addicted drug user and eventually his wife got sick and annoyed and signed divorce papers with him. He moved in with his grandma but still wasn't at peace. "I used to have dreams all the time," he says. "They were so real, I'd wake up and take a real deep breath in, like I was hitting the crack pipe." Hamilton no longer has problems with that and has a wicked season of stats to show for it. Click here for an article about it.

Honorable Mention: Cliff Lee, CLE

AL Silver Slugger Awards

Award given to the player at each position who has shown the best offense based on a series of offensive stats

C Silver Slugger Award - A.J. Pierzynski, CWS

Honorable Mention: Joe Mauer, MIN

1B Silver Slugger Award - Justin Morneau, MIN

Honorable Mention: Kevin Youkilis, BOS

2B Silver Slugger Award - Ian Kinsler, TEX

Honorable Mention: Placido Polanco, DET

3B Silver Slugger Award - Alex Rodriguez, NYY

Honorable Mention: Mike Lowell, BOS

SS Silver Slugger Award - Michael Young, TEX