All-Stars Pick First Half's MVPs

Dennis Dillon - SportingNews.com

Unless you've been sleeping like Rip Van Winkle, you know Albert Pujols has been baseball's premier player in 2009. Lord Albert has been hotter than a summer in Texas, and he is making a push to become the first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

But who have been the other stars of the season's first half? We're talking about the best position players, premier pitchers, top managers and most impressive rookies.

To find out, Sporting News went directly to the experts -- the players themselves. Sporting News polled 14 All-Stars (seven from each league) and solicited their first-half picks for MVP, the Cy Young Award, manager of the year and rookie of the year in each league.

The results (some players abstained on some awards):

NATIONAL LEAGUE

MVP
Albert Pujols, 1B, Cardinals: 7 votes

They said it:
Phillies 2B Chase Utley: "The fear he puts in pitchers speaks for itself. He's just head and shoulders above everybody else right now."
Marlins SP Josh Johnson: "Every time I turn on the TV, he's hitting a home run or driving somebody in."
Braves C Brian McCann: "Not only because of his offensive numbers, but he plays good defense as well."

Cy Young Award
Tim Lincecum, SP, Giants: 3 1/2
Dan Haren, SP, Diamondbacks: 2
Matt Cain, SP, Giants: 1
Josh Johnson, SP, Marlins: 1/2

They said it:
Pirates 2B Freddy Sanchez on Lincecum: "He has some electric stuff. He knows how to pitch and get outs. He goes after guys."
Johnson on Haren: "I got to see him pitch a few days ago, and it was the best pitching performance I've seen probably in a couple of years."
McCann on Cain: "For the past three years, he's been flying under the radar with great numbers. Now, he's finally got some run support this year."

Manager of the Year
Bruce Bochy, Giants: 2 1/3
Bobby Cox, Braves: 1
Charlie Manuel, Phillies: 1
Ken Macha, Brewers: 1/3
Joe Torre, Dodgers: 1/3

They said it:
Lincecum on Bochy: "We've been struggling for a couple of seasons. He's helped us come out of this, and we did really well in the first half."
Johnson on Bochy: "He's got that team playing really well right now."

Rookie of the Year
Tommy Hanson, SP, Braves: 1
Andrew McCutchen, OF, Pirates: 1
Casey McGehee, IF, Braves: 1
Colby Rasmus, OF, Cardinals: 1
Pablo Sandoval, 3B, Giants: 1
Jordan Zimmermann, SP, Nationals: 1

They said it:
McCann on Hanson: "He's had seven starts and he's 4-0. He beat both the Yankees and Red Sox."
Sanchez on McCutchen: "He's come up and pretty much lit it up so far."

AMERICAN LEAGUE

MVP
Joe Mauer, C, Twins: 3
Jason Bay, OF, Red Sox: 2
Justin Morneau, 1B, Twins: 1

They said it:
White Sox SP Mark Buehrle on Mauer: "He's hitting almost .400, has a career high in home runs already, and he missed almost a month."
Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis on Bay: "He's got 72 RBIs. That's pretty impressive at the All-Star break. He's had run production, he's a good teammate, and I think he's had only one day off all year."

Cy Young Award
Zack Greinke, SP, Royals: 4 1/2
Roy Halladay, SP, Blue Jays: 2 1/2

They said it:
Buehrle on Greinke: "I'll give it to Greinke just because of what he did in the first month or so. He was dominating, throwing complete games right and left."
Rangers 3B Michael Young on Halladay: "The best pitcher in the league for my money. He just has the whole package. He competes, has great stuff and does anything he can to help his team win ballgames."

Manager of the Year
Terry Francona, Red Sox: 2
Jim Leyland, Tigers: 2
Don Wakamatsu, Mariners: 1
Ron Washington, Rangers: 1

They said it:
Youkilis on Francona: "The A.L. East is the toughest division in baseball."
Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira on Wakamatsu: "He has done a great job of turning that team around. The Mariners have a great shot at winning their division."

Rookie of the Year
Rick Porcello, SP, Tigers: 3
Elvis Andrus, SS, Rangers: 1
Brett Gardner, OF, Yankees: 1

They said it:
Mauer on Porcello: "Porcello looks like he throws the ball pretty well, and he's got good stuff. It looks like he's going to be around for a while."

Dennis Dillon is a senior writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at ddillon@sportingnews.com.

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