Everyone else is making predictions, so why not MetsToday? We’ll focus on the National League, since that remains the only professional league still playing baseball, and not some twisted variation of the sport.

Cy Young Award

Obvious Candidates: Johan Santana, Roy Oswalt, , Brandon Webb, Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy, Dan Haren, Cole Hamels, Carlos Zambrano.

Sleepers: Edinson Volquez, Chad Billingsley, Aaron Cook, Ricky Nolasco.

Prediction: Santana

If Santana remains healthy, he should pitch through the 7th inning at least 25 times this year. If his one-two finishing punch of J.J. Putz and Frankie Rodriguez also remains healthy, Johan could win 20 of those 25, if not more.

Should any of those three suffer a significant injury, my money is on Volquez.

MVP

Obvious candidates: Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Beltran, David Wright.

Sleepers: Hanley Ramirez, Brian McCann, Dan Uggla, Lance Berkman, Adrian Gonzalez, Joey Votto, Nate McLouth.

Prediction: This one’s too hard, you can’t really choose an MVP without knowing what teams are in the playoffs. I’m going to go on a limb and give it to Votto, who is poised for a breakout year.

Rookie of the Year

Candidates: Jason Motte, Colby Rasmus, Jordan Schafer, Jordan Zimmerman

Prediction: My research on the rookies is awful. I’m going to go with Motte, who could save 25+ games for the Cardinals. After Motte I like Schafer, who is slated to start in centerfield for the Braves.

Batting Title

Another tough one. I don’t see Chipper Jones hitting .364 again, though I wouldn’t be stunned to see Pujols hit .350 again. In fact, with Matt Holliday out of the league, this might be Pujols’ best chance for a triple crown. Someone’s going to come out of nowhere and surprise us all, and I say it’s going to be James Loney.

Saves Leader

Can Francisco Rodriguez save 60 games again? Doubtful — he may not get that many opportunities in the competitive NL East. I’m betting on a neck-and-neck race between Jose Valverde and the “other” Francisco — Cordero, of Cincinnati.

NL West Champion: Arizona Diamondbacks

The Dodgers still have Manny, but they don’t have Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, nor Takashi Saito. After Chad Billingsley, the pitching staff looks questionable — even Jonathan Broxton looks like he might take a step back. I like the pitching of the Giants and the Diamondbacks, and think Arizona will have a little more offense and the better bullpen.

NL Central Champion: Chicago Cubs

On paper, the Cubs look to be the class of the NL, with great pitching depth and plenty of offense. However, they won’t run away with the division. I’m betting that the Reds have a surprising season, and that the Pirates climb out of the basement, while Houston and Milwaukee fight for last place.

NL East Champion: ?

This one’s too close to home. If I choose the Mets, I’m supposed to because this is a Mets blog. If I don’t choose the Mets, you wonder how I can’t since this is a Mets blog. So I’ll say this: the NL East is going to once again be a dogfight, and go down to the last weeks of the season. Further, neither the Marlins nor the Nationals will be pushovers in ’09, and the Braves won’t be left behind when it gets down to the wire. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if four games or less separates the Phillies, Mets, Braves, and Marlins when it’s all said and done. The Wild Card also will come from the East.

Agree or disagree with anything? Comment away!

Who do you think will / should win the NL MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and every other individual achievement award?

(Since the American League doesn’t play baseball, but some distorted version of it using substitute hitters and other such anomalies, we won’t discuss their individual achievements here.)

Comeback Player of the Year: Brad Lidge

Lidge already won the award, and deservedly so. I saw Ryan Ludwick garner significant votes, but I’m not sure what he was coming back from — he was NEVER any good, was he? Maybe there should be an award for “Late Bloomer of the Year”.
Mets CPOTY: Fernando Tatis

NL Rookie of the Year: Geovany Soto

Jair Jurrjens is up there too, as is Jay Bruce, but Soto put up the best numbers for a rookie catcher in a long time. Edinson Volquez would be tied with Soto, but he pitched just enough in the junior circuit to remove his rookie status.
Mets ROY: Daniel Murphy. Tough luck for Danny Boy, as he exceeded rookie status by one at-bat — so no chance to vie for this award in 2009.

Manager of the Year: Lou Piniella

This was a really tough one, as it was a neck-and-neck decision between Piniella and Charlie Manuel — and I had to give Dale Sveum consideration as well. Laugh all you want, but Sveum found a way to manage a team that appeared to be dead and buried, and was 2 1/2 games out of the wild card with six games to play, into the postseason.

I chose Piniella over Manuel because he managed around several key injuries during the season and still led the Cubs to the best record in the NL. At various points, the Cubs lost Alfonso Soriano, closer Kerry Wood, and ace Carlos Zambrano for significant periods. Further, Piniella inserted Wood into the closer role, and moved previous closer Ryan Dempster to the rotation — two moves that made a huge impact on the team’s success. Piniella also gets props for his ability to mix and match his middle infielders and center fielders for maximum performance. Finally, Piniella did an excellent job of bullpen management, an area where Charlie Manuel also did very well.
Mets MOY: Jerry Manuel (runner up: Willie Randolph)

NL Cy Young Award: Brandon Webb

The National League has not seen a 20-game winner since 2005, and that benchmark gets more and more difficult to reach as today’s game continues to degenerate by relying heavily on bullpens. The award is named for Cy Young because he won more games than anyone else in history — not because he was necessarily the best all-around or most-skilled pitcher. In the spirit of that, Webb gets the award by a landslide.
Mets CY: Johan Santana

NL MVP: Manny Ramirez

Scream all you want about Manny only playing half a season (actually, less than that). Bottom line is this: without Manny, the Dodgers don’t come close to the playoffs, much less win the NL West. There are strong arguments for Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, and C.C. Sabathia, and if you said I can’t pick Manny because he played in only 53 games, then I’d go with Howard. If the Mets made the playoffs, Carlos Delgado and David Wright would easily be in this conversation.
Mets MVP: tie, Carlos Delgado and David Wright

Post your choices below.