I was a bit worried that the usually-myopic writers that vote for these awards would overlook Zack Greinke and give the AL Cy Young to someone slightly less deserving like Felix Hernandez or CC Sabathia based solely on total wins, but I was relieved to see Greinke top 25 of the 28 ballots.
 
Of course there were the usual head-scratchers such as the Michigan voter conveniently casting his vote for Justin Verlander and two guys who didn't have Hernandez in their top-three, but I digress.
 
Now we see if the "trend" continues tomorrow with the NL vote.
 
Tim Lincecum is the winner in my book, and here are the contenders sorted in order of WAR (wins above replacement):
 
1.       Tim Lincecum - 8.2
2.       Javier Vazquez - 6.6
3.       Dan Haren - 6.1
4.       Adam Wainwright - 5.7
5.       Ubaldo Jimenez - 5.7
6.       Chris Carpenter - 5.6 (due to IP count being less than others on this list)
 
So basically, Lincecum was worth 1.6 more wins to his team than any other pitcher in the NL. He ranked third in IP, first in strikeouts, and second in ERA. Want to punish him for the 15 wins why? Guess it's his fault he had a 2.67 ERA and held batters to a .195 AVG after the break and won only five games.
 
My ballot:
 
1.       Lincecum
2.       Wainwright
3.       Vazquez
 
NL MVP
 
1.       Albert Pujols
2.       Chase Utley
3.       Hanley Ramirez
 
The only drama here will be whether Pujols is named first on 27 or 28 of the ballots. I could see flip-flopping Utley and Ramirez, but the fact Utley is probably the best defender at his position in the game and Ramirez has to work hard to be average, Utley gets the nod.
 
AL MVP
 
1.       Joe Mauer
2.       Ben Zobrist
3.       Zack Greinke
 
I just can't ignore .334/.444/.587 from the catching position. I just can't…and neither will the voters. As for the other two slots, I wonder if all 28 voters will have even heard of Ben Zobrist, much less realized that he batted .297/.405/.543 while playing a very good 2B and RF. "Zobrist? Guy didn't even hit .300 and the team couldn't find a position for him." Ugh. As for third place, if you want to slot Greinke there, I don't have a problem with that, but hats off to Jeter for actually living up to his reputation defensively this year.