Mid-season awards for the Mets

We are past the 81 game mark, and it is time to give out awards to the players who have been playing the best throughout the season.

Most Valuable Player

Candidate 1: Juan Lagares entered this season being known for his excellent defensive skills, but the question was whether he could produce enough offensively. This year he has silenced critics with an average around .290, and OBP around .330. There are still flaws in Lagares’ offensive game, as he does not walk often, and lacks power. Hopefully with more experience, Lagares will improve in these areas, but as of now, he is one of the Mets’ most important players.

Candidate 2: It always seems that Daniel Murphy is most likely to get traded this time of year, but it is time to realize how important Murphy is to the offense. He leads the team in runs, average, and games played. Although his defense and base running may leave fans scratching their heads, Murphy is the best offensive player the Mets have, as seen by his 2.76 offensive WAR according to ESPN.

Conclusion: Although Lagares could make a case for the MVP, the honor goes to Daniel Murphy, as he has played everyday, and has been the most consistent and effective player the Mets have.

Cy Young Award

Candidate 1: Bartolo Colon was signed this past offseason as a fill-in for Matt Harvey. Colon was expected to be the ace and leader of the starting rotation. He has done that after his rocky start, as he lowered his ERA from 5.84 to 3.88 in the past couple of starts. We know his strength is throwing strikes, and hopefully Colon can help Wheeler and the other pitchers in that department.

Candidate 2: When “quality start” comes to mind, people think about a pitcher going 6 innings and 3 runs or less being allowed. No one on the Mets’ staff has been more quality than Jon Niese. Niese has 13 quality starts in 16 games. His ERA this year is almost a run lower than his career ERA, which shows that Niese continues to improve at a rapid pace.

Conclusion: Niese has been the Mets best pitcher this season, and continues to emerge as a key pitcher for this team. He may not be the flashiest, but you can always count on Niese to give you a chance to win every time he takes the mound.

Best Offseason Move:

There aren’t many great choices to choose from here. Chris Young has disappointed, Bartolo Colon has been solid, and Curtis Granderson has been streaky. However, it would be difficult to imagine this season without Granderson, and for that reason, signing him was the best move Sandy Alderson made this past offseason.

Worst Offseason Move:

This one might as well be named the “biggest regret award”, as I think the worst move the Mets made was hoping Chris Young would be the biggest sleeper in free agency. It was a low risk, high reward signing for the Mets, and he has not produced the way we were hoping. What makes it worse is that we could have had the AL leader in homers, Nelson Cruz. Signing Young may be a mistake, but let’s be glad that it won’t hurt the franchise in years to come.

What other awards would you give away? Any predictions for end of the year awards?