End of May Baseball AwardsAL Cy Young: Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals. He's 8-1 with a sub-1.00 ERA, which is unheard of this late in the season. He's got a strikeout to walk ratio of almost 7-1. He's even thrown five complete games, which would probably lead the league for the year even if he hurt his arm tomorrow. The lowest ERA in the league other than Greinke is three times as high as his, which really reflects his value.
AL MVP: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays. League leader in RBI, hitting .324 with 9 homers, and playing third base. What's not to like? Last year's Rookie of the Year takes his game to the next level.
NL Cy Young: Johan Santana, New York Mets. League leader in ERA, tied for lead in wins, 5-1 K/W ratio.
NL MVP: Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia Phillies. Appears to be a legitimate triple-crown contender, with the league lead in RBI, tied for the lead in HR and a sizzling .347 batting average. I would be surprised to see if he keeps up this pace at age 37, but stranger things have happened.
Keep your eye on: Justin Upton, rightfielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks. This kid is 21 years old and hitting .346. In his last 6 games he's gone 14 for 24, with five multihit games and three games with three hits. As good a player in the game as there is right now, and when you consider that he was hitting around .180 at the end of April, possibly the hottest hitter in the game.
The Team to Beat: Los Angeles Dodgers. They have the best record in baseball despite missing their slugger, Manny Ramirez. They're already 8-1/2 games in front in the West.