Josh Hamilton makes hitting homeruns look WAY too easy

So this will be a fun little post. David and I decided to enlighten everyone with mid-season awards and a separate post revisiting out predictions and revising them after half the season is gone.

Best Catcher:
AL- Joe Mauer NL- Brian McCann

Joe Mauer's nod here isn't even close. No other AL catcher is even close to touching him in terms of statistics. McCann's is a little closer with the presence of both Geovany Soto and Russell Martin, but he is leading the Braves, especially with Chipper out so often.

Best 1B:
AL- Kevin Youkilis NL- Lance Berkman

This one is hard for me, because it is scary to imagine Pujols's numbers without the DL stint and if people pitched to him more often. He leads the league in intentional walks by nine. Berkman, however, has been a stud this year. If he keeps this production up, he could be a 20/20 player. Youkilis has shown his normal defensive wizardry but has also been a beast offensively, leading the AL among 1B with a .933 OPS.

Best 2B:
AL- Ian Kinsler NL- Chase Utley

Kinsler is a no-brainer. This needs no discussion. Chase Utley barely edges out Dan Uggla due to better overall stats. Uggla has shown a ridiculous power stroke, but Utley is a true five tool player.

Best 3B:
AL- Alex Rodriguez NL- David Wright

I wish someone was closer to A-Rod because it seemed like he was having a down year, but he is actually leading the AL 3B in almost every statistical category. Evan Longoria gets a mention as a surprise rookie stud. David Wright is the best all around 3B in the national league. Anyone that says Chipper Jones is a gay.

Best SS:
AL- Jhonny Peralta NL- Hanley Ramirez

Hanley is having his usual godly season, but it is shocking to see that Peralta is destroying all other AL shortstops in every category except for stolen bases.

Best OF:
AL- Josh Hamilton, Grady Sizemore, Jermaine Dye NL- Ryan Ludwick, Ryan Braun, Nate McLouth

A lot of youth is stepping up this season. These six guys(aside from Dye) are showing that we could be entering a very exciting era for baseball. Hamilton is obviously the best out of this entire set, but these six lead their fields by a good margin for me.

Best SP:
AL- Justin Duchscherer NL- Edinson Volquez

Duchscherer is quietly having an excellent year. With a higher strikeout total, he would be a certain Cy Young winner. Volquez has the strikeouts and more and is the clear first half Cy winner.

Best RP:
AL- Mariano Rivera NL- Brad Lidge

These two make it on the grounds that neither has had a blown save, which is ridiculous. KRod is obviously an honorable mention

Most disappointing hitter overall:

Andruw Jones has been TERRIBLE this year. After signing a humongous contract, he has given the Dodgers about three dollars worth of performance and has not hit a homerun since May 15. The Dodgers presumable paid him to hit his usual 30+, not.....2.

Most surprising hitter:

I would label Ryan Ludwick as the most surprising hitter. His ZIPS projection had him hitting .262/.330/.476 with 20 homeruns and 64 rbis FOR THE SEASON. His stats at the half? .289/.365/.597 with 21 homeruns and 65 rbis. WOW!

Most disappointing pitcher:

This HAS to go to Barry Zito. He's making 14 million dollars this year. Apparently 14 million dollars gets you a 5.62 ERA and almost two runners per inning. For that much money, you should get more than five and a third innings per game.

Most surprising pitcher:

Cliff Lee was sent down to AAA last year. This year he's starting the All Star Game and had a sub 2 ERA at the end of May.

Most disappointing team:

With a 138+ million dollar payroll, best for second in the mlb, do the Detroit Tigers have the second best record? No, they are barely hanging on to a 500 record and Dontrelle Willis, part of the package they shredded their farm system apart for, is pitching in A ball.

Most surprising team:

Tampa Bay Rays. I shouldn't have to write about this. I think a lot of people, including myself, knew they would be competitive SOON, but not this season.

Funniest moment

Manny Ramirez giving the fan a high five AND throwing out a runner for a double play was easily the best moment of the year.