My thoughts, my picks, and the predicted winners:
AL Manager Francona, who now has won two World Series rings in the last four years, may lose out to managers he beat in the playoffs, Eric Wedge of Cleveland and Mike Scioscia of the Angels, who also had fine regular seasons. He might even have some competition from Joe Torre, who led the Yankees to the playoffs when it appeared early that they were down and out.
My pick: Wedge.
Predicted winner: Wedge.
AL Rookie The best shot for a Sox award winner is Pedroia (.317 average, 8 HRs, 50 RBIs, .380 OBP), whose candidacy gained steam late in the season though the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were openly campaigning for talented and temperamental right fielder Delmon Young (.288, 13, 93). Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-12, 4.40 ERA) and reliever Hideki Okajima (2.22 ERA in 69 games) and Kansas City's Brian Bannister (12-9, 3.87) all should receive votes. But it appears it'll be Pedroia, especially since Young might have harmed his candidacy with a late-season incident in which he failed to run out a grounder and was yanked from the game by manager Joe Maddon and threatened to quit (though he came back to play the next day).
My pick: Pedroia.
Predicted winner: Pedroia.
