The Hardball Times has begun publishing Win Shares for the 2005 leaderboard. I thought I would take a look at who Win Shares sees as deserving of the end of season awards. Now, these statistics are not the sole arbitrator of who deserves an award, but they offer the major advantage of objectivity. The last update was the 18th, so these are a week old.

 

AL MVP

1. Brian Roberts, Balt

2. Jon Garland, CWS

3. Gary Sheffield, NYY

4. Kenny Rogers, Tex

5. Miguel Tejada, Balt

6. Johnny Damon, Bos

7. Ichiro Suzuki, Sea

8. Vladimir Guerrero, LAA

9. Trot Nixon, Bos

10. Roy Halladay, Tor

 

NL MVP

1. Derrek Lee, ChC

2. Bobby Abreu, Phi

3. Roger Clemens, Hou

4. Craig Counsell, Ari

5. Adam Dunn, Cin

6. Albert Pujols, StL

7. Carlos Beltran, NYM

8. Nick Johnson, Was

9. Jeff Kent, LAD

10. Dontrelle Willis, Fla

 

AL Cy Young

1. Jon Garland, CWS

2. Kenny Rogers, Tex

3. Roy Halladay, Tor

 

NL Cy Young

1. Roger Clemens, Hou

2. Dontrelle Willis, Fla

3. Brett Myers, Phi

 

AL Rookie of the Year

1. Tadahito Iguchi, CWS

2. Gustavo Chacin, Tor

3. Chris Young, Tex

 

NL Rookie of the Year

1. Clint Barmes, Col

2. Jason Ellison, SF

3. Victor Diaz, NYM

Who would you say is the bigger surprise of the season pitching wise? Jon Garland or Kenny Rogers?

Probably Kenny Rogers, because he is doing it with frankly bad peripherals. Both Rogers and Garland are headed for a crash. If Garland can win a Cy Young while striking out less than 4.5 per nine, I will be very, very surprised.

They base so much of it on wins, so who knows? I still think the majority of the White Sox starting rotation is going to come back to Earth. Their defense isn't spectacular enough to keep it up.

I made a mistake while compiling the Cy Young leaders. I counted total win shares, rather than pitching win shares. Because of that, Roger Clemens got a boost from his hitting that probably shouldn't account for the Cy Young award. Here is the corrected list, sorted by pitching win shares only.

 

NL Cy Young

1. Brett Myers, Phi

2. Roger Clemens, Hou

3. Dontrelle Willis, Fla

 

Show of hands now. How many expected Brett Myers to be the NL's best pitcher at Memorial Day? Yeah, me neither. What a pleasant surprise. If Jim Thome returns to form, the Phillies can still make a run.

 

The AL pitchers do not change. Here's another fun list, Gold Gloves. Please take these with several grains of salt, as fielding statistics are an imperfect science, and these tend to flucuate.

 

National League

C- Chris Snyder, Ari

1B- Doug Mientkiewicz, NYM

2B- Craig Counsell, Ari

3B- David Wright, NYM

SS- Rafael Furcal, Atl

OF- Brady Clark, Mil

OF- Willy Tavares, Hou

OF- Carlos Beltran, NYM

 

American League

C- Ivan Rodriguez, Det

1B- Paul Konerko, CWS

2B- Tadahito Iguchi, CWS

3B- Hank Blalock, Tex

SS- Orlando Cabrera, LAA

OF- Aaron Rowand, CWS

OF- Vernon Wells, Tor

OF- Mark Kotsay, Oak

UPDATES!

 

Win Shares are now updated through May 30th.

 

AL MVP

1. Brian Roberts, Balt

2. Alex Rodriguez, NYY

3. Gary Sheffield, NYY

4. Mark Buehrle, CWS

5. Roy Halladay, Tor

6. Kenny Rogers, Tex

7. Miguel Tejada, Balt

8. Richie Sexson, Sea

9. Jon Garland, CWS

10. Johnny Damon, Bos

 

Alex Rodriguez leaps onto the list and lands at #2, while Jon Garland takes a big step back. Brian Roberts remains #1.

 

AL Cy Young

1. Mark Buehrle, CWS

2. Roy Halladay, Tor

3. Kenny Rogers, Tex

 

Garland falls off the ballot completely.

 

AL Rookie of the Year

1. Tadahito Iguchi, CWS

2. Chris Young, Tex

3. Jeremy Reed, CWS

 

Young's stock has improved the last two weeks while Gustavio Chacin has declined.

 

NL MVP

1. Albert Pujols, StL

2. Derrek Lee, ChC

3. Bobby God, Phi

4. Brian Giles, SD

5. Craig Counsell, Ari

6. Roger Clemens, Hou

7. Jim Edmonds, StL

8. Nick Johnson, Was

9. Adam Dunn, Cin

10. Carlos Beltran, NYM

 

What?! Pujols having a better season than Lee? But what about our All-Star argument?

 

NL Cy Young

1. Roger Clemens, Hou

2. Dontrelle Willis, Fla

3. Brett Myers, Phi

 

Clemens is clearly in the lead, while Willis and Myers are just a hair apart.

 

NL Rookie of the Year

1. Clint Barmes, Col

2. Jason Ellison, SF

3. Victor Diaz, NYM

 

No change.

 

AL Gold Gloves

C- Ivan Rodriguez, Det

1B- Paul Konerko, CWS

2B- Orlando Hudson, Tor

3B- Hank Blalock, Tex

SS- Orlando Cabrera, LAA

OF- Aaron Rowand, CWS

OF- Vernon Wells, Tor

OF- Scott Podsednik, CWS

 

NL Gold Gloves

C- Chris Snyder, Ari

1B- Derrek Lee, ChC

2B- Craig Counsell, Ari

3B- Sean Burroughs, SD

SS- Rafael Furcal, Atl

OF- Brady Clark, Mil

OF- Carlos Beltran, NYM

OF- Willy Tavares, Hou

Through June 3rd, here are your Win Shares All-Stars...

 

American League

1B- Sexson

2B- Roberts

3B- Rodriguez

SS- Tejada

C- Mauer

OF- Sheffield

OF- Damon

OF- Rowand

DH- Ortiz

SP- Rogers

 

National League

1B- Lee

2B- Counsell

3B- Wright

SS- Eckstein

C- Estrada

OF- God

OF- Giles

OF- Edmonds

SP- Clemens

Haven't done an update in awhile. Here are your award leaders through June 22nd.

 

AL MVP

1. Mark Buehrle, CWS

2. Brian Roberts, Bal

3. Gary Sheffield, NYY

4. Alex Rodriguez, NYY

5. Miguel Tejada, Bal

6. Roy Halladay, Tor

7. Jon Garland, CWS

8. Johnny Damon, Bos

9. Brandon Inge, Det

10. Kenny Rogers, Tex

 

The presence of Rodriguez and Sheffield should tell you all you need to know about the Yankees. They are as good as they are thanks to the performances of a handful of players carrying the club. Brandon Inge is now the player I was most wrong about.

 

AL Cy Young

1. Mark Buehrle, CWS

2. Roy Halladay, Tor

3. Jon Garland, CWS

 

AL Rookie of the Year

1. Tadahito Iguchi, CWS

2. Chris Young, Tex

3. Aaron Hill, Tor

 

NL MVP

1. Derrek Lee, ChC

2. Albert Pujols, StL

3. Bobby God, Phi

4. Nick Johnson, Was

5. Roger Clemens, Hou

6. Jeff Kent, LAD

7. Brian Giles, SD

8. Dontrelle Willis, Fla

9. Luis Gonzalez, Ari

10. Brad Wilkerson, Was

 

NL Cy Young

1. Roger Clemens, Hou

2. Dontrelle Willis, Fla

3. Roy Oswalt, Hou

 

NL Rookie of the Year

1. Clint Barmes, Col

2. Ryan Church, Was

3. Jason Ellison, SF

 

AL Gold Gloves

C- Ivan Rodriguez, Det

1B- Paul Konerko, CWS

2B- Orlando Hudson, Tor

SS- Juan Uribe, CWS

3B- Melvin Mora, Bal

OF- Randy Winn, Sea

OF- Jeremy Reed, Sea

OF- Mark Kotsay, Oak

 

NL Gold Gloves

C- Brian Schneider, Was

1B- Todd Helton, Col

2B- Mark Grudzielanek, StL

SS- Rafael Furcal, Atl

3B- Sean Burroughs, SD

OF- Brady Clark, Mil

OF- Willy Tavares, Hou

OF- Carlos Beltran, NYM

Can I ask how Buehrle eclisped Roberts? Just a little odd to see him beat out Roberts whom no one else was knocking out.

Baltimore has been losing more while Chicago has been pretty consistent lately, so I assume that's how.

Can I ask how Buehrle eclisped Roberts? Just a little odd to see him beat out Roberts whom no one else was knocking out.

Brian Roberts missed time with injury this month. Mark Buehrle in June pitched 37.7 innings, struck out 31, walked two, and compiled an 0.96 ERA. He's now 10-1 on the season.

I didn't think missing some time would make that much of a difference for a pitcher to jump over him.