It's Good To Be A Boston Fan

Just a quick update:

• With their third straight victory last night, the Bruins moved into sole possession of the Northeast Division, 2 points ahead of the Habs. With the division lead, they overtake the number three seed in the Eastern Conference. They remain 8 points behind conference leading Pittsburgh, but the season is still young as they have 47 games remaining. Mark Recchi's final minute goal completed the three-game win streak, as the B's have now won four of five games, including wins over the Capitals and the Lightning.
• The Celtics improved to 4-1 since Rondo's injury with a 95-83 victory at Indiana last night, led by Pierce's 21 points. They overcame a 7-point first quarter deficit, with much help from Rondo fill-ins Marquis Daniels and Nate Robinson. The C's improved to 24-5, and hold a 2 game lead over the South Beach Heat in the Eastern Conference. They head to Detroit tonight for the final game of a 3-game road trip, and wrap up December at home against the Hornets on Friday. With two games remaining in the month, the Celtics have been stellar, going 11-1 in the month with impressive victories against Portland, Chicago, Denver, and Atlanta. The road to the Finals only gets better, as the C's play 9 of their first 11 games in the new year at home. Rondo could return Friday, Perkins could return in about a month, and Delonte could return mid-January as his cast is set to come off his non-shooting wrist in the next couple weeks.
• Not a whole lot has been left unsaid about the Patriots at this point. They not only clinched the East with an easy victory over Buffalo, but they locked in the #1 seed and home-field throughout the playoffs in the AFC. At 13-2, they have the best record in the NFL, and Tom Brady is the hands-down MVP leader. The Pats also had six players elected to the Pro Bowl: Tom Brady, Logan Mankins, Devin McCourty, Brandon Meriweather, Vince Wilfork, and Jerod Mayo. They face Miami in their season finale showdown at home, and as all Patriots fans know, Dolphins-Pats matchups are always fun late-season in Foxboro. The Pats should finish 14-2 and have two weeks to prepare for their Divisional playoff matchup with either the Jets, Ravens, Colts, or Jaguars. Regardless of who they face, things are looking good for the Pats on their road to Super Bowl XLV.
• Finally, the Red Sox are wrapping up their A+ offseason through final roster moves. They have either traded for or signed a plethora of players, including key acquisitions Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Bobby Jenks, Dan Wheeler, and a few other bullpen pieces (Andrew Miller/Matt Albers/Taylor Buchholz). Meanwhile, the Yankees had so much trouble re-signing Jeter and Rivera that they missed out on almost all possible big free agent acquisitions. It is safe to say that their signings of Russell Martin, Neal Cotts, Mark Prior, and Sergio Mitre scares absolutely no one. The Sox are poised for a World Series run this year, and look to win the division for the first time since 2007.
  

The Patriots' Road To Super Bowl XLV

Back in late August, it seemed about 100 times more far-fetched that the Patriots would be Super Bowl favorites. But heading into week 17, they have steamrolled through the NFL's toughest schedule, going 13-2 and beating contenders like San Diego, Indy, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Green Bay, and the "almighty" Jets, to name a few. If it wasn't for the Randy Moss factor against the Jets the first time around, and the surprising play of Colt McCoy/Peyton Hillis, we could be looking at 16-0 again this year. But with an easy home-matchup against Miami this week, we'll have to settle for 14-2.
None of the teams that have locked up playoff spots in the AFC have daunting matchups this week, and barring an upset or "tossed game", all six will probably win, leading to the final standings that are seen above. Indy will sneak into the last divisional spot with a win over Tennessee, and Jacksonville will again be on the outside looking in at what was probably the best division-winning opportunity they have had in a while. The Jets can thank the Bengals for knocking San Diego out of the picture last week, because otherwise they would've been facing a thirsty Buffalo team with the opportunity to knock them out of the playoffs with the combination of a Chargers win at Denver. Nevertheless, here is what the playoffs hold in store for the Patriots on their road to Super Bowl 45 in Dallas:

AFC Wild Card Playoffs:

#6 New York Jets @ #3 Kansas City Chiefs

• KC's season was nothing short of magical. A division dominated by the Chargers over the past few years, Kansas City simply won with consistency. They won the games they had to, and even with 3 divisional losses, managed to outlast San Diego's short-lived rally with their defeat in Cincy last week. This team was supposed to be at least a year from being a division contender, but thanks to Todd Haley's coordinating duo of Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel, they locked it up good and early. Unfortunately, they won't be able to get by the Jets in round one. New York's defense isn't as stellar as they were made out to be going into the season, but they still are in the top five in yards against, both in the air and on the ground. Revis Island hasn't been much of an island, and the Jets are actually last in the NFL with only 8 interceptions on defense, but Kansas City relies heavily on their two-headed monster RB attack, and the Jets are great against the run. Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones have been an excellent tandem, and Charles is currently second in the NFL in rushing yards, but KC doesn't have the pass-catching depth to overcome NY's defense, and the Jets should be able to put up the points necessary to win the game.
• Prediction: New York Jets 24, Kansas City Chiefs 19

#5 Baltimore Ravens @ #4 Indianapolis Colts

• They faced off in the wild card round last year, with the Colts winning 20-3. The game actually went just as predicted, as Indy got nothing going on the ground, but Manning threw 2 TD's which was enough to beat the Ravens poor passing game and the Rice/McGahee ground game. They actually faced off in the divisional round in 2006 as well, with Indy winning that matchup 15-6. Those were completely different teams, but in total Indy has bested Baltimore in the playoffs 35-9 in the last two contests. This year should be a different story. The Colts have been injury plagued, with key pieces Austin Collie, Joseph Addai, Mike Hart, Dallas Clark, and a few others missing most or all of the season. Manning has been great, but not dominant without his usual weapons, and facing a very good Ravens defense will be a much more difficult task. Baltimore's offense is a completely different story this year. They retooled their offense with Anquan Boldin and TJ Houshmandzadeh at WR, and Ray Rice has been nothing but spectacular. Indy's defense can't stop anyone at this point, and without Clark and Collie on offense, it will be tough to outscore a Ravens team that averages 115 yards per game on the ground and a healthy 22.9 points per game. The Colts' playoff win streak against Baltimore ends here, and Indy will lose their first home playoff game since 2007.
• Prediction: Baltimore Ravens 31, Indianapolis Colts 27

AFC Divisional Playoffs:

#6 New York Jets @ #1 New England Patriots

• The world watched as the Pats dissembled the Jets in week 13 by a score of 45-3. Brady threw 4 touchdowns, the Patriots dominated every aspect of the game, and the Jets reign atop the division ended abruptly. Don't expect the same result in this game. The Jets should have their confidence built back up after beating KC, and will be better prepared for New England this time around. But the Pats will have two weeks of rest under their belt, and at this point are seemingly unstoppable on offense. The only question mark the Patriots have is on defense, but they have outscored opponents 156-40 over the last four games. Only the Packers have scored more than once on the young D over the last four games, and Belichick is lethal with more than one week of preparation. Without diving into stats and prior matchups, it is safe to say the Patriots will win this one handily.
• Prediction: New England Patriots 31, New York Jets 10

#5 Baltimore Ravens @ #2 Pittsburgh Steelers

• These division rivals faced off twice this year, with the away team winning both matchups by a 3 point margin. The Ravens took the first matchup against a Roethlisberger-less Pitt team in week 4, 17-14, on a last minute TD reception by Housh. The Steelers won the second matchup 13-10 on a Big Ben TD pass with 3 minutes remaining, which basically clinched the division (unless they lose and the Ravens win week 17). The Steelers-Ravens matchup has been the most competitive in the NFL over the last few years, as they have faced off 7 times since the end of the 2007 season. In fact, the largest margin of victory was by 4 points in a 13-9 Steelers win on the road in 2008. They also faced off in the playoffs in 2008, with Pittsburgh winning 23-14 on the way to their Super Bowl victory over Arizona. In the two teams last 7 games, Pittsburgh has outscored Baltimore only 126-110, winning 5 of 7 with two of the contests going into OT. This game is almost impossible to predict, but the Ravens have yet to beat Pittsburgh in the playoffs, and haven't made it to an AFC title game since 2008 when they lost to the Steelers. I'll take the Steelers at home to face off with the Patriots for the AFC crown.
• Prediction: Pittsburgh Steelers 24, Baltimore Ravens 21

AFC Championship:

#2 Pittsburgh Steelers @ #1 New England Patriots

• In week 10, the Patriots looked like a team still looking for an identity after losing to Cleveland, while the Steelers were rolling. Then Tom Brady dismembered Pittsburgh, throwing 3 TD's and for 350 yards, beating the Steelers 39-26. The Steelers only made it a game in the fourth quarter as they scored 23 points, but even that wasn't enough as the Patriots completely had their way. Pitt could get nothing going on the ground, and only in the air were they able to stay close, but they do not have the talent to go score-for-score with the Pats. Even though Pittsburgh is the #2 seed in the AFC, this matchup would be one of the more favorable ones for the Patriots in the championship game. Brady and the Pats have the Steelers number, and it is hard to see the Steelers making much of a game out of this. The Patriots should easily beat the Steelers at home to head to the Super Bowl.
• Prediction: New England Patriots 38, Pittsburgh Steelers 28

Super Bowl XLV:

The NFC's Super Bowl representative will come down to one of four teams: the Eagles, Saints, Falcons, or Bears. Each has shown both brilliance and vulnerability throughout the season, but the most consistent team has been the Falcons. Philly has been stellar with Mike Vick at the helm, but opponents have kept games close, and the Bears showed the league how to contain Philly's offense. Matt Ryan is much like Tom Brady, as he is cool in the pocket and has the aura of a winner. If they lock up home-field throughout, it is hard to see them losing either of their playoff games, regardless of who they face. If they can avoid Philly, they should easily win the conference. But the conference will likely come down to either of the birds, and from there it is anyone's guess, but for now I'll predict that Atlanta reaches its first Super Bowl since being blown away by John Elway's Broncos in 1999. A Patriots-Falcons Super Bowl would be a great matchup, with the Patriots winning their 4th Super Bowl in ten years, but hats will go off to the young and competitive Falcons for making it all the way there.

Super Bowl Prediction:

Patriots 38, Falcons 24

Merry Christmas (A Look to the Future)

Merry Christmas to all. Check out the picture I just spent wayyyyy too much time on. As you can see, I did the NFC first (and learned from my mistakes). This is what I guarentee the final NFL standings will look like this year, when all is said and done. And yes, this takes tie-breakers into account. I will update next week with a look to the playoffs, but with Xmas less than 48 hours away, time is limited, so this will have to do! But happy holidays and enjoy the weekend.

Thanks For A Loyal 3 Months!

Since I began recording page views 3 months ago today, I am happy to see support coming from a multitude of places. Thanks to those few and loyal viewers. Here is a shoutout to all ya'll....

Hopkins vs. Palioca Update

With a huge Week 11 sack total, Palioca's team has begun storming back from what once seemed an insurmountable deficit. Led by Julius Peppers' 3 sacks against a horrific Miami offense, Palioca's team racked up 9 sacks on the week, trouncing Hopkins sum of two and a half. Aside from single QB take-downs by Terrell Suggs and Jared Allen, as well as a half-sack from Demarcus Ware, Hopkins team was shutout across the board. Meanwhile, Palioca's five remaining players each had a prized sack, including multiple sacks by Mario Williams, James Harrison, and the previously mentioned Julius Peppers. The total score on the year has Hopkins winning by a consistently tightening margin, 44-25. Above is a snapshot of each team's player totals. With six weeks remaining in the season, Hopkins can only hope to increase his lead. With a full strength squad in 2011, Palioca's team looks to be the superior squad in the near future.

Revamping the Red Sox

It's funny how down Red Sox fans can get on their team after winning two World Series in four years after an 86-year drought. But in New England, we have come to expect nothing but championship-caliber rosters, competition, and success in all of our professional sports. We were jaded after the Pats won three Super Bowls from 2001-2005. Ray Allen and KG brought Celtic pride back to Boston with banner 17 in their first season as part of the "Big 3". Even the Bruins young core that includes Kreiji, Bergeron, Seguin, Lucic, Horton, and Rask, are showing toughness and have been competitive over the past few seasons. But to sports fans in New England, the past is nothing but a distant memory.
The Red Sox have seen a downward trend since their division-winning, World Series championship team in 2007. We all remember the '08 team that lost a heartbreaker in game 7 of the ALCS in Tampa. 2009 was even worse, as they were bounced by the Angels in the ALDS without putting up much of a fight. This season they finally reached rock bottom, as they not only missed the playoffs and finished third in the AL East, but they finished shy of 90 wins for the first time since 2006. It wasn't so much the fact that the Sox were losing too many games, but rather in the way there were doing so. The 2010 team was supposed to be about "pitching and defense", a motto that Theo Epstein preached from day one. Instead, they led the league in total bases and had a top-three finish in most major offensive categories. As for the pitching and defense? The 4.19 staff ERA was good for 9th in the AL, they were second in blown saves (22), and even while leading the league in strikeouts still found a way to have the third from worst fielding percentage in the AL. The Yankees had 42 less errors as a team! The play of one-year stopgap Adrian Beltre was the lone bright spot on the diamond, along with starting pitchers Buchholz and the always-reliable Lester. It is hard to place the blame on Theo, as coming into the season the rotation of Lester/Beckett/Lackey/Dice-K/Buchholz looked like one of the best rotations in baseball. Who knew that Beckett would be so bad, and that Lackey so inconsistent?
The first step of determining just what will fix this team is to look at the certainties for 2011. Scutaro will be at shortstop, Pedroia at second, Drew in right, and Ortiz DHing. Youkilis will be at one of the corners, and rumor has it that Theo sees him as a permanent third baseman, even with his Gold Glove caliber play at first. Even without knowing his true reasoning, it is certainly easier to find a first baseman worthy of playing in the competitive AL East than a third baseman. At catcher, Saltalamacchia will either platoon with a re-signed Varitek, or will be the backup to Victor Martinez in the unlikely event he returns.
As for the rotation, it is virtually set to be almost the same. Beckett and Lackey's deals are immovable, and the Sox surely will hope they can get more consistency and wins out of the both of them in 2011. Lester and Buchholz are untouchables. Wakefield has seen his last days in a Sox uniform, unless they sign him to make spot starts and spend the majority of the season on the DL with "unspecified injuries". It would be nice to see Matsuzaka dealt, but as an opposing GM I wouldn't touch him unless I was a NL club desperate for arms. The rotation will be rounded out by either Dice-K, Doubront, or a low risk/high reward free agent arm that Theo brings in, and we all know how well that has worked in the past (ie Smoltz, Penny, etc.). The bullpen needs a few solid arms, which it desperately lacked in 2010. We will hear the yearly speculation of Papelbon being dealt this offseason, but it won't happen because of his price tag after arbitration. Bard is the only definite return-reliever, with the possibility of newly acquired Taylor Buchholz and/or Andrew Miller joining him. Okajima won't be back unless it's on a low cost one year deal. Bowden struggled as a reliever and may not be the prospect he was made out to be, and Atchison will probably end up as the fifth or sixth arm in the pen. The bullpen is ultimately the biggest project of the offseason, as the majority of familiar faces are either long-gone or about to be jettisoned. But as a Red Sox fan, I am quite happy to not have to endure the struggles of Delcarmen, Ramirez, or Schoeneweis again.
Based on those players still under contract and the speculation by Boston sports writers, below is the 2011 Red Sox lineup as of November:

• Catcher - Jarrod Saltalamacchia
• 1st Base - TBD
  
• 2nd Base - Dustin Pedroia
• 3rd Base - Kevin Youkilis
• Shortstop - Marco Scutaro
• Right Field - JD Drew
  
• Center Field - Mike Cameron
  
• Left Field - Jacoby Ellsbury
  
• DH - David Ortiz

• SP1 - Jon Lester
• SP2 - Clay Buchholz
• SP3 - Josh Beckett
• SP4 - John Lackey
• SP5 - Daisuke Matsuzaka
  
• RP - Felix Doubront
  
• RP - Taylor Buchholz
  
• RP - Daniel Bard
  
• CL - Jonathan Papelbon

Obviously, nothing is set in stone. But after establishing the pieces the Red Sox have to deal, the speculation begins. The first decisions come with the free agent class. The Red Sox will look to sign a big bat to play either in the outfield or at first base. They are looking for a long-term signing for an outfielder, and a one-year first baseman to pave the way to Adrian Gonzalez's inevitable arrival to Boston.

1. Jayson Werth - He will hit around .300 annually, and is a 30 HR / 100 RBI caliber player with a good glove and fielding ability. He is going to command a $100+ million contract, and at 31 it wouldn't be wise to go over four years with a deal. Theo probably agrees, and would probably give Werth a maximum deal of 5 years/$115 million. But Werth should be Plan C for this team, as he is a right fielder and is prone to injuries. He certainly would improve the team, but would be more of a "want" than a "need" for this team.
2. Carl Crawford - Many feel Crawford has long been destined to be a Red Sox. He has excellent speed, can play RF or CF, and is only 29 years old. Signing him would give the Sox ample lineup options, including moving Pedroia to leadoff and playing Crawford in the two hole. He is worthy of a five or six year deal, and will probably get the latter. Theo will have to fully commit to Crawford to lure him to Boston, with a contract in the ballpark of 6 years for $120 million or more. But Crawford should be Plan A. He fits many of the Red Sox needs, and brings the "star power" this team has lacked since Manny's departure.

Unless Theo works out a deal for a young outfielder to the likes of Justin Upton, signing a FA is the only way to improve the outfield situation. But dealing for an outfielder would certainly deplete the Sox stockpile of youngsters, and possibly inhibit them from making an early run at Adrian Gonzalez.
While on the subject of first base, Gonzalez needs to be in Boston sooner than later. The Padres have conceded that he will not be with the team in 2012, as he enters free agency, and will opt to deal him either this offseason or at the deadline. The Red Sox need to do what it takes to get him now, and lock him up. He rounds out what would be an excellent infield, allowing Youk to move to third. Even though the young arms of Casey Kelly, Anthony Ranaudo, Junichi Tazawa, and Doubront are considered top prospects, the Red Sox have a solid rotation for the next 4-5 years already. Dealing their young guns won't deplete the major league roster, and is necessary to win now. Gonzo should be in Boston prior to the start of the season if the Red Sox want to start the season off hot.
As I stated before, the bullpen is the major offseason project. They need to sign a proven reliever to give their bullpen any sort of credibility. Here's who they should target:

1. Rafael Soriano - He broke out as a closer in Tampa this year. He certainly will be coveted by any team with an opening at closer, and even the Red Sox could consider moving Papelbon and inserting Soriano into the role. But it is highly unlikely they would dish out the large type of deal that would land Soriano, especially when they have a closer-in-waiting with Bard. You can pretty much scratch Soriano off the list of Red Sox possibilities.
2. Scott Downs - The consensus is that Downs will end up either with the Yankees or Sox. The Sox need to sign him for their own needs as well as to prevent facing him. He is the nasty left-handed arm the Sox have missed for some time, and probably has a solid three or four good years left. Downs is a must have for the Sox.
3. Grant Balfour - Coming from Tampa, the Sox have seen plenty of the hard throwing righty. He would make a good addition to the pen, but only on a one year deal as he is aging and has seen both his numbers and velocity drop over the past few seasons.
4. Jon Rauch - He has closed and been a setup man, but he is probably more valuable as the latter. He wasn't the answer for the Twins when Nathan went down, and would provide solid depth as a late inning bridge to the closer. A desperate team could give him a large one year deal as a closer, but its more likely he will get a multi-year deal as a reliever. His value is slightly higher than that of his former teammate, Jesse Crain, because he has been able to remain healthy. But a healthy Crain throws harder and would fetch a better deal than Rauch.
5. A few other names to throw out are Frank Fransisco, Matt Guerrier, Jason Frasor, Miguel Batista, Chad Durbin, Kevin Gregg, Trevor Hoffman, and Dan Wheeler, just to name a few. The Sox will likely target one of the big name relievers, and fill in the holes with one or two middle of the road type arms. Relievers are often hit or miss, and in Theo's case, usually a miss. But the more the merrier when it comes to pitching, so any RP brought to Boston is a plus.

Ultimately, below is what the Red Sox roster needs to look like in order to improve on last year's win total. This lineup is based purely on bias hope from a fan's standpoint, but we all can dream right?

2011 Boston Red Sox

• Catcher - Saltalamacchia
• 1st - Gonzalez
• 2nd - Pedroia
• 3rd - Youkilis
• SS - Scutaro
• RF - Drew
• CF - Cameron
• LF - Crawford
• DH - Ortiz

• SP1 - Lester
• SP2 - Buchholz
• SP3 - Beckett
• SP4 - Lackey
• SP5 - Dice-K
• RP - Frasor
  
• RP - Downs
  
• RP - Bard
• RP - T. Buchholz
  
• CL - Papelbon

We'll see just how this offseason pans out, but things can only get better....

2010 MLB Awards

Although I am a little behind on the MLB Season Awards, I figured I would offer my input on the awards that still remain. The AL and NL Rookies of the Year were announced today, with the much-deserving Buster Posey taking it home in San Fran, and Neftali Feliz from the Rangers in the American League. Ironic how they both were on World Series winners. Jason Heyward and Austin Jackson lost by a somewhat-narrow margin, but the contributions of Posey and Feliz to their respective franchises success this year made the decision more one-sided. Here are the remaining awards, with predictions:

1. National League Cy Young (November 16th) - The race for the 2010 NL Cy Young was deemed a preseason runaway, with Roy Halladay as the easy favorite on his new Philly ball club. Now that the season has concluded, the award comes down to 4 pitchers:

- Roy Halladay - 33 GS / 250.2 Inn. / 21-10 / 2.44 ERA / 219 K
- Adam Wainwright - 33 GS / 230.1 Inn. / 20-11 / 2.42 ERA / 213 K
- Tim Lincecum - 33 GS / 212.1 Inn. / 16-10 / 3.43 ERA / 231 K
- Ubaldo Jiminez - 33 GS / 233.1 Inn. / 19-8 / 2.88 ERA / 214 K

Lincecum is the first that can be eliminated. Aside from his postseason heroics and being the number one starter on the World Series champs, his numbers aren't as impressive as the other candidates. His ERA is almost a full run higher than last year's, when he won second consecutive Cy Young. He had the least wins, highest ERA, and least innings of the final four, and since Randy Johnson in 2000-2002, no pitcher has won three Cy Young's in a row. The dynamics of the league are more volatile, as shown in the closeness of the voting.
Wainwright is the next to go. It has been a tough road for the beginning of Wainwright's career, as he has finished among the top-10 in Cy Young voting three times without having won once. Thus is the case again this year, as he will probably finish second or a close third behind Jiminez. The deciding factors are less impressive numbers (although very close), as well his the Cardinals sub-par season in which they failed to make the playoffs out of the weak NL Central.
So if the award comes down to Jiminez and Halladay, Halladay gets it by a nudge. In his first season away from Toronto, he led the NL in wins, innings, complete games, and shutouts. Jiminez was extremely impressive, as he has improved his numbers each of the past 4 years, but Halladay's numbers are simply better, as was his team. If the award went to the pitcher who was the dark-horse underdog, Jiminez would take the cake. But the Cy Young goes to the league's best pitcher, which was hands down Roy Halladay this year.

2. AL & NL Manager of the Year (November 17th) - The AL award goes to Ron Washington, who led the Rangers to not only their first playoff series victory, but their first World Series appearance as well. The Rangers took the AL West crown from the Angels for the first time since Oakland won it in 2006, and Texas hadn't won the West since 1999.
In the National League, the race should be a little tighter. Bobby Cox led the Braves to the playoffs in his final season, and could win it as a type of "career achievement" type acknowledgment. But realistically, the award will go to Bud Black of San Diego. The Padres were 75-87 in 2009, and finished 20 games out of the division. With virtually the same squad, the Pads went 90-72, narrowly missing a wild card spot by a game. Their winning-ways carried through the whole season, and a late season surge by the Giants was all that kept them from the playoffs. In any case, Bud Black most deserves (and should win) the award.

3. American League Cy Young (November 18th) - One thing is certain, Zach Greinke will not be a repeat winner for the Cy Young this year. But as usual, the AL version will be highly controversial regardless of who wins. My final candidates are as follows:

- Felix Hernandez - 34 GS / 249.2 Inn. / 13-12 / 2.27 ERA / 232 K
- David Price - 31 GS / 208.2 Inn. / 19-6 / 2.72 ERA / 188 K
- CC Sabathia - 34 GS / 237.2 Inn. / 21-7 / 3.18 ERA / 197 K
- Jon Lester - 32 GS / 208 Inn. / 19-9 / 3.25 ERA / 225 K

First thing you're probably wondering is where's Clay Buchholz? A quick answer is that as impressive as he was, he only started 28 games and pitched 173 innings. Although he was second in ERA and won 17 games, his strikeout number of 120 is very weakening in his case, and if he had pitched a full season would've certainly been in consideration.
Sabathia is the first pitcher I would eliminate. Johan Santana is the only multi-award winner in the last decade out of the AL. Sabathia's win total is much attributed to the high-powered Yankee offense, and his ERA is almost a run higher than that of Price and Felix. He ranks in the top of each statistical category, but finished first only in wins and only boasted 2 complete games.
It is hard to make an argument against the remaining three, so I'll justify why Hernandez WILL win the award. His record of 13-12 is very deceptive, as he pitched for possibly the worst team in baseball. He had the worst run support of ALL qualifying pitchers in the AL at 3.75 runs per game, all while leading the league in ERA and quality starts (30). He led the league in innings, while allowing less hits than the likes of Cliff Lee or Sabathia. It will be argued that he doesn't deserve it mainly because he pitched for a team that finished dead last in the AL at 61-101, but thankfully the award is for the BEST PITCHER, not the most valuable. Hernandez should win it, as he definitely deserves it. He is consistently dominant, and has the nastiest stuff of any pitcher in baseball. The award has escaped him one too many times, and that comes to an end this year.

4. National League MVP (November 22nd) - The NL MVP race should come down to four candidates: Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez, Carlos Gonzalez, and Joey Votto. Because each of the listed players had offensive numbers that are so close, they can't really be used to justify one over the other. Also, pitchers can be discounted simply because no pitcher has won an MVP since Dennis Eckersley in 1992. My belief about the award is that the team's overall performance should be a large factor. Three time winner Pujols, who has won the last two, guided his team to a division title last year, but still won the award on a mediocre 86-76 team in 2008 that didn't make the playoffs. Carlos Gonzalez had the most overall impressive numbers, but voters usually discount hitters at Coors Field (which isn't necessarily true). Adrian Gonzalez is easily the best player on the Padres, and certainly the team's MVP. But in 2010, Joey Votto deserves to win the award. The Reds only won 78 games in 2009, but he carried them to a division title with 91 wins in 2010. He led his team in every major offensive category, and helped a team that didn't have a clear-cut number one starting pitcher to its first playoff appearance since 1995. He improved from his 2009 numbers across the board, and at 27 years old and earning just under $600,000, he is easily the most valuable player to his team of any player in the National League. I cannot with any certainty say that he will win the award, but he definitely is the most deserving and will win the NL MVP if voters get it right.

5. American League MVP (November 23rd) - There isn't an argument for the AL's version of the MVP. Josh Hamilton is the hands down winner. He batted .359, which was .31 points higher than Miguel Cabrera, who finished second. He finished 5th in home runs with 32, and 12th in RBI's with 100. He had an extraordinary OPS of 1.044, and did all of this coming off of a season where he missed 73 games with injuries. He led Texas to their first playoff series victory, and kept them atop of their division for the entire season. Josh Hamilton will win this years AL MVP, no question.