I always hate doing these awards stories because there are no true definitions or criteria for selecting them.

Ask any baseball writer and you’ll get different definitions. Ask a group of baseball writers and you may get an argument, then a fistfight and then a melee until, well, the hot dogs are served.

Take the Most Valuable Player. Some people think he must come from a winning team. Others will tell you it’s the player with the best numbers regardless of how his team does. Still others will say it’s measuring the stats, plus the importance to the team and its success. It’s more confusing than trying to figure out C.B. Bucknor’s strike zone.

And there’s the Cy Young. Does it go to the pitcher with the best record? Obviously not. But how much should wins play into the decision?

What about earned run average, which to me seems to lose its value as a statistical pitching measure?

There’s the Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) measure, which was invented by Mariners consultant Tom Tango and is a complex formula taking into consideration home runs allowed, walks, hit by pitches, strikeouts and innings pitched, plus consideration for which league a pitcher belongs to. Basically, FIP is supposed to tell you how well a pitcher pitched, regardless of how well his fielders played behind him. Basically it takes out the Yuniesky Betancourt botched-ball factor.

Rookie of the year seems pretty standard. But then again, if a rookie plays all season and puts up decent numbers, does it mean more than a guy called up at midseason, but who completely dominates? What should be worth more, playing an entire season or playing at a standout level for half of it?

And manager of the year, well, you can’t just go by teams that win their divisions. But just because a guy is managing a good team, does that make him less of a manager than a guy who takes over a catastrophe of a team and makes them respectable? How does meeting perceived preseason expectations factor in? In a way, you could look at Jim Riggleman for being a manager of the year the past two seasons, for taking over the two worst teams I’ve seen and somehow managing not to lose every game.

So take my selections with a baseball-sized grain of salt. There are no true definitions.

Besides what do I know? I just cover baseball for a living.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

MVP: Joe Mauer, Twins

Perhaps I’m a little biased to catchers. Perhaps I’m a little biased to catchers who wear No. 7. But biases aside, Mauer was a pretty simple selection for my MVP.

Basically, he’s the best hitter in the American League. He leads the league in hitting (.366), on-base percentage (.442) and slugging (.591). Need more numbers? He’s hit 29 doubles, 28 home runs, drove in 95 runs, and struck out just 62 times in more than 500 at-bats. Oh, and he put up those numbers despite missing the start of the season and playing in 135 games.

Did I mention he plays catcher? That’s a premium position. The Twins go into today with a chance to win the AL Central, despite Justin Morneau missing the past two weeks. How did they do it? Joe Mauer, MVP.

Honorable mention: Mark Teixeira, Miguel Cabrera

Cy Young: Zack Greinke, Royals

Remember how I wrote earlier that ERA is losing it’s significance? I didn’t say it was worthless as a stat, and Greinke’s 2.16 ERA is the lowest since Pedro Martinez’s 1.74 for Boston in 2000. It’s half of the league average in the American League.

Words can’t express how difficult it is to put up a sub-2.25 ERA in the AL. And since I brought up FIP, Greinke also has the lowest in the league at 2.31.

Yes, his record is 16-8, but in nine starts, he’s allowed two runs or fewer and never got a win in any of them. Did I mention that his starting shortstops were Mike Aviles, Tony Pena and Betancourt?

According to just about every defensive metric, K.C. was the worst fielding team in baseball. Suddenly, 16 wins seem like 60. How good is Greinke? Well, I’ve watched almost every one of Felix Hernandez’s starts in person or on television, and I’m still giving the award to Greinke. In a league without Greinke, Hernandez wins this award in a walk.

Honorable mention: Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Mariano Rivera.

Rookie of the year: Elvis Andrus, Rangers

Choosing this award a year ago was easy. Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria was the winner by just about any criteria.

This year, no one stands out. A’s reliever Andrew Bailey is deserving, as is White Sox third baseman Gordon Beckham, while starting pitchers Jeff Niemann of Tampa Bay and Rick Porcello of Detroit were vital members of their rotation.

But we’re giving it to Andrus, who brought a level of defense as the shortstop for a much improved Rangers team. At the plate, he hit .266 with an on-base percentage of .332. He also had 16 doubles, eight triples, 72 runs scored and 33 stolen bases. According to the Ultimate Zone Rating defensive metric, Andrus was the best defensive shortstop in the AL. And did I mention he’s 20 years old?

Honorable mention: Beckham, Bailey, Porcello, Niemann

Manager of the year: Mike Scioscia, Angels

He’s not getting the award for winning the AL West. If that was the case, he’d have won the award more times than the Rally Monkey is referenced in an Angels game.

He’s winning it for what the team overcame. At one point, Jered Weaver was the only pitcher of his projected rotation pitching for the team. There were injuries to John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Kelvim Escobar and the death of Nick Adenhart.

The last situation is something no manager can ever prepare for, or even know how to handle. Yet, Scioscia kept his team from unraveling after the tragedy even as injuries to Torii Hunter, Vlad Guerrero and Scot Shields further slowed the team. Scioscia’s always been a good manager, but now he gets his due.

Honorable mention: Don Wakamatsu, Ron Washington, Ron Gardenhire

NATIONAL LEAGUE

MVP: Albert Pujols, Cardinals

Not exactly the toughest decision to make – it was easier than saying no to a Carrot Top movie or no to a Sounders scarf. The guy was hitting .331 with 47 homers and 135 RBI going into Saturday.

Pujols made a legitimate run at becoming the first triple crown winner since Cardinals predecessor Joe “Ducky” Medwick led the league in hitting, homers and RBI in 1937.

He won’t win the batting title (second) and probably won’t lead the league in RBI (third), but he’ll lead the NL in home runs, runs scored, extra base hits, on-base and slugging percentages and intentional walks. He also struck out 63 times in 690 plate appearances. And I won’t even get into what he did for Matt Holliday and his numbers.

Honorable mention: Troy Tulowitzki, Hanley Ramirez, Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard

Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, Giants

The Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright (19-8) and Chris Carpenter (17-4) have better records than Lincecum’s 15-7. But the award isn’t based solely on won-loss records. Lincecum’s ERA is 2.48, which isn’t as low as Carpenter’s 2.28 but better than Wainwright’s 2.63.

Remember FIP? Lincecum’s is the best in the NL at 2.34, while Carpenter’s is 2.77 and Wainwright’s is 3.12. Lincecum struck out 261 hitters this season, while Carpenter had 144 and Wainwright 212. He also had more complete games and shutouts. Also the former University of Washington star didn’t have Pujols and Holliday to provide runs, he had Pablo Sandoval and that’s about it.

Honorable mention: Carpenter, Wainwright, Dan Haren

Rookie of the year: J.A. Happ, Phillies

Until the acquisition of Cliff Lee, Happ was Philadelphia’s best pitcher.

While Cole Hamels scuffled and fought injury, Brett Meyers languished on the disabled list, Chan Ho Park fizzled and Jamie Moyer pitched like a 46-year-old, Happ was keeping the Phillies afloat in the NL East. He posted a 12-4 record with a 2.85 ERA in 34 appearances, and in 22 starts he’s 10-4 with a 2.91 ERA. In 164 innings pitched, he posted 115 strikeouts and 55 walks.

Honorable mention: Tommy Hanson, Chris Coghlan

Manager of the year: Jim Tracy, Rockies

Not a tough decision. Since he took over for Clint Hurdle, who was deservedly fired, the Rockies posted a 74-40 record behind Tracy, moving out of fourth place in the NL West and moving into the wild-card race and now possibly winning a division title.

Along the way, Tracy helped Tulowitzki find some consistency and return to his 2007 form, he allowed young players such as Dexter Fowler and Ian Stewart to blossom, while getting veterans such as Todd Helton, Garrett Atkins and Jason Marquis to buy into his philosophy.

Honorable mention: Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, Fredi Gonzalez

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483

ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com

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