2012 Mid-season AL Awards

We are at the All-Star break so I feel like taking a look back at the top performers for the first half and distribute the prestigious mid-season awards for Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and of course MVP. Now keep in mind these are for the first half. My choices here do not necessarily reflect who I think will win it all at the end. Time to start things off in the AL. The National League will be posted tomorrow or Thursday. Whenever I have the time.

Rookie of the Year

This will be the easiest choice of the six. It has to be Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels. With a ridiculous slash line of ..341/.397/.562 Trout is leading the AL in batting average and stolen bases (26). He made arguably the catch of the year when he leaped like he had pogo sticks for legs to rob J.J. Hardy of a home run. Oh, and he is the sparkplug that the Angels needed to challenge the Texas Rangers in the AL West. Did I mention he is 20 years old? This kid is for real and he not only gets the nod as my first half ROY, but he is the one I can say with confidence will take home the hardware when all is said and done.

Honorable Mention: Will Middlebrooks 3B Boston Red Sox; Yoenis Cespedes OF Oakland Athletics; Yu Darvish SP Texas Rangers

Cy Young Award

This is a toss-up. It is really between three people: Chris Sale of the White Sox, Justin Verlander from the Tigers and Jered Weaver of the Angels. In the grand scheme of things I think Weaver will take it home but that isn't what this article is about. This is about the first half Cy Young winner. That my friends, as a shocker special, goes to Sale. In his first year as a starter Sale is 10-2 with an ERA of 2.19 and a WHIP of 0.95. Without him the White Sox are not leading their division. He may yet burn out due to the workload a starter endures during the season but nobody has been better than him in the first half.

Honorable Mention: Verlander, Weaver and David Price SP Tampa Bay Rays

MVP

Before June started this was an easy decision. Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers terrorized opposing pitchers hitting 21 homers and driving in 57. He has slowed down since hitting a mere .223/.318/.436 in June with only 11 extra base hits. That terrible month aside he is still leading the league in most offensive categories. The rest of the pack has just caught up. My vote still goes to Hamilton but it is a lot closer now than I thought it might be earlier this year.

Honorable Mention: Robinson Cano 2B, New York Yankees; Trout LAA; Adrian Beltre 3B Texas Rangers