MLB Midseason Awards

With the ESPYs taking stage on national TV, the G. Voit Report takes a look at the best and worst of baseball's first half.

AL MVP

Justin Morneau, Twins (.316, 23 HR, 78 RBI)

Carl Crawford and his 47 stolen bases may be the trendy pick among media outlets, but Morneau has quietly become one of the most consistent run producers in the league. Rock steady defense completes the package for the line drive-hitting first baseman, a combination that gives him the nod over the speedy Crawford.

Key Stat: Boasts a fielding percentage of .999 on the season while playing half his games on the volatile Metrodome turf.

NL MVP

Albert Pujols, Cardinals (.332, 34 HR, 90 RBI)

Pujols has been in a league of his own this season, slugging an astonishing .720 while maintaining a .332 average. What makes the triple crown candidate's season all the more impressive is that he is "protected" by Ryan Ludwick and Mark DeRosa in the lineup.

Key Stat: 74:38 walk to strikeout ratio is head and shoulders above the rest of the league.

AL Cy Young

Zack Greinke, Royals (10-5, 2.08 ERA, 136 K)

Greinke has emerged from a muddled past to dazzle American league hitters in every imaginable category. His five April starts thrust him into the spotlight after he posted a 5-0 record and a 0.5 ERA, striking out 44 batters in 36 innings of work.

Key Stat: Turned in a ML high five complete games over the first half of the season, saving the team from a bullpen that has posted a 4.89 ERA and converted only 17 of 32 save opportunities.

NL Cy Young

Tim Lincecum, Giants (10-2, 2.27 ERA, 169 K)

The NL's All-Star game starter continues to dominate with his unorthodox delivery, and this year he appears poised to repeat as Cy Young winner. The 5' 11'' hurler leads the league in strikeouts while yielding a stingy 2.27 ERA for the upstart Giants, who are among the Wild Card favorites in the NL.

Key Stat: Has been equally baffling to righties and lefties alike, allowing batting averages of .217 and .211 respectively.

AL Breakout Player of the Half

Aaron Hill, Blue Jays (.286, 20 HR, 60 RBI)

Hill earned his first career All-Star invitation for his work as the hot-hitting Blue Jays' no. 2 hitter. His average is hovering near his career mark, but he has reached a new level of power this season, slugging more homers in the first three months of 2009 (19) than his previous career high (17).

Key Stat: The ultra-durable Hill leads the majors with 406 at-bats.

NL Breakout Player of the Half

Pablo Sandoval, Giants (.326, 15 HR, 56 RBI)

The rotund 22-year old slugger has provided the Giants with some much needed pop in the lineup, and has given manager Bruce Bochy flexibility in the field. Playing catcher, first base, and third base, Sandoval has proven to be the player that preseason pundits were raving about. Would be front runner for Rookie of the Year award but was 15 at bats over the ML limit of 130 last season, making him ineligible for the award.

Key Stat: Three triples and four stolen bases seem like pedestrian stats, but they are a considerable accomplishment for the Prince Fielder-esque Sandoval, who weighs in at 5'11'' 246 pounds.

Has Joe Dumars lost his touch?

The year was 2004 and everything was coming up roses in Detroit. 

The Pistons had famously dismantled the superstar-laden Lakers in a dramatic NBA Finals, thrusting the team concept back into the league's spotlight. After clinching the series at home, head coach Larry Brown gushed about his team's unselfish play, saying "This sport is about players playing the right way and showing kids that you can be a team and be successful and it's great for our league."

Brown, Chauncey Billups, and Ben Wallace drew praise from fans across the league, but writers across the country hailed front office man Joe Dumars as the true hero for assembling the unlikely cast of giant-killers. The 2002-03 executive of the year seemed to have discovered a new formula for winning by valuing chemistry over stand-alone talent. Instead of Kobe, Shaq, and rotating three decoys into the mix, Billups and crew epitomized the phrase "you're only as strong as your weakest link". The man everyone was talking about had found a new way to win, and he would ride that same roster to six straight conference championship appearances.

Five years have now passed since that group took home the title, and frankly, Dumars seems to have the Pistons on the wrong course. The team that once was a well-oiled machine is now a jumbled mix that lacks the chemistry of its predecessors. 

The reason? Dumars ignored his own golden rule: Team over talent.  

The 2004 Pistons were a group of unselfish, versatile players who knew their role and contributed nearly equally to the team's scoring column (Case in point: Each member of the starting five averaged double digit scoring for the '04 Finals). When Ben Wallace left for the Bulls and '04 linchpin Rasheed Wallace saw his scoring totals fade with his youth, Dumars seemed to forget that what made the 2004 group special was the way in which the starting five fit together. With that chemistry out the window, the team's lack of talent was exposed and Dumars reacted by throwing players ill fit for the team-first Pistons. The championship runs would fall short from there on out, culminating in an embarrassing first round sweep at the hands of Lebron and the Cavaliers this past season. 

The Report examines Dumars' post-championship miscues.

The Rap Sheet

4) Failure to rejuvinate an aging frontcourt

Many of the Pistons' struggles can be attributed simply to poor timing. As talented a big man as he is, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess will both turn 35 this September and are well past their prime. Experience is essential come playoff time, but these aging veterans should not be relied upon to the tune of 30+ minutes a game. The Cavs are by no means a young team, but having fresh legs on their front line helped them blow past the aging Pistons in their landslide first round series. Plus, the fact that Wallace will reportedly look to sign elsewhere this offseason means that the Pistons will have let another star get away with nothing to show for it. Dumars would have been wise to ease the transition by acquiring a pair of replacements for 'Sheed and McDyess to play with the duo for a year before their departure. Paul Millsap and Troy Murphy are two names that come to mind. He could have packaged the duo with draft picks for durable, team-first players when Wallace's stock was still moderately high. His skills are coveted by many executives in the league and his expiring contract would have made him all the more attractive as trade bait.

3) The draft

Now that the core has dissipated, Dumars' drafting ability is becoming more and more under question. Dumars assembled the "Fab 5" of Richard Hamilton, Billups, the Wallaces, and Tayshaun Prince, but Prince is one and only starter whom Dumars drafted of the bunch. Yes, 2007 pick Rodney Stuckey has fared moderately well in his two seasons in the league, averaging around 13 points and 5 assists for the 8th place Pistons last season, but aside from the Eastern Washington product, the list of Dumars' first round selections sounds more like the scrap heap than the next generation of Pistons stars: Arron Afflalo, Jason Maxiell, Carlos Delfino, Rodney White, and the immortal Darko Milicic. Drafting miscues are excused by fans when the team is winning, but now that the Pistons have fallen from grace, look for Dumars' decisions to come under greater fire.

The team drew praise for drafting Gonzaga sophomore Austin Daye with the 15th pick in this year's draft, but the jury is still out as to whether or not the wiry three man will develop. His offensive skill is unquestioned, but at this point he appears to be a less aggressive Tayshaun Prince without the defensive ability. Daye represents a virtual 180 from the mold of player Dumars put a premium on during the 2004-08 seasons.

Drafting Georgetown forward DaJuan Summers with the 35th pick could turn out to be the best pick of the draft for the Pistons. Summers has an NBA-ready body, a quick-release from behind the arc, and an underrated slashing ability, all of which has sturdy player written all over it. Jonas Jerebko, a 6-9 forward from Sweden, was the team's selection at No. 39 overall, but he looks to be another Carlos Delfino despite rave reviews from ESPN foreign expert Fran Fraschilla. Bottom line: Summers is the only one who seems to fit the Pistons image of old, but then again the roster has morphed into a virtual mish-mosh of raw offensive talent.

2) Signing Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva

The team made a big splash right off the bat in the 2009 Free Agent signing period by acquiring a pair of Central Division foes. The 6-3 Gordon has reportedly agreed to a five-year deal worth between $55 and $60 million, and the 6-11 Charlie Villanueva has agreed to a five-year $40 million deal. While the signings may provide Pistons fans with a short-term buzz, the fact of the matter is that they carry a whiff of haste. The team is drawing criticism for acting on impulse when next year's crop seemed to be a better fit for the team. Likewise, the team gobbled up cap room while the rival Bulls and new GM Gar Forman appear poised to make a big splash in the much-anticipated Free Agent signing period of 2010, when Bulls targets Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer will become available.

For one, there is no telling how the trigger-happy Gordon and the frail Villanueva will jell with the franchise that made its name on the Bad Boy image in the 80s and 90s. Gordon seems to be an awkward fit in the backcourt, where pet project Rodney Stuckey and fan favorite Rip Hamilton appear to have a hold on the starting spots. When he does get floor time, Pistons fans that are accustomed to the steady play of Billups and Hamilton likely will balk at Gordon's notorious shot selection. Though he sunk highlight reel shots at key moments in the Bulls' playoff series with Boston, what many didn't see was the slew of possessions in which he hastily took shots at inopportune moments, jeopardizing the team's chances in several of the close games in the series. Villanueva will likely start with Prince in a suddenly less-formidable frontcourt anchored by a combination of Fabricio Oberto and Kwame Brown. 

If Dumars' goal this year was to abandon its emphasis on defense and team play then he has succeeded. The bottom line is that Hamilton and Prince are the lone representatives of the old regime in Detroit, and after this season Dumars could be facing the hot seat if Villanueva and Gordon's scoring doesn't overshadow the defensive weakness that will be sure to plague this team.

1) The AI debacle

In perhaps the most egregious of Dumars' personnel decisions, the President of Basketball Operations drew the ire of the Pistons' fan base in November of 2008 when he traded away team captain Chauncey Billups to the Nuggets in return for the controversial Allen Iverson. At the time, Dumars cited a need to shake up a team he felt was merely going through the motions. "We have been extremely successful for a long time. But I also think what comes with that is a little bit of predictability," he said when the deal was announced, adding that he was drawn by Iverson's ability to create shots for himself on offense.

Well, the experiment failed, and the team was forced to take another step back in the playoff push. Not only did Iverson respond with a career-low 17.4 points per game, but his presence threw the team's offensive chemistry out of whack. To make matters worse, Billups proceeded to lead Denver to the two seed in the Western conference and the squad narrowly missed a trip to the Finals. Fortunately for Dumars, AI's gargantuan contract has expired, effectively ending his relationship with the Pistons. However, the damage had been done and the Pistons now are wishing then had their floor leader back in the blue and red.