Tom and I square off in selecting the American League award winners for 2007. We’re two months from getting the official results, but it’s not too early to start the debate.

MVP

It’s been a remarkable season for Detroit’s Magglio Ordonez, who leads the major leagues in hitting at .357 at the same time he’s been one of the top run producers in the game. Ordonez tops the majors in doubles (49), and among American Leaguers, he ranks second in hits (200) and RBIs (132), and fourth in runs (111) and slugging (.589).

There’s only one reason to deny the Tigers slugger the American League MVP Award, and that would Alex Rodriguez. It’s unlikely that the Yankees would be in the playoff mix without his bat, which has generated 52 home runs, 142 RBIs, a .651 slugging mark and 134 runs scored. Those numbers all rank first in the big leagues.

CY YOUNG

There are several solid candidates for Cy Young honors, including Boston’s Josh Beckett, Chien-Ming Wang of the Yankees, Detroit’s Justin Verlander, John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar of the Angels, and Cleveland’s top starters C. C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. All have had tremendous seasons and finished strong -- as a group, they are 15-3 in September.

It’s a tough call, but Carmona is my Cy Young pick. He’s rebounded from a dreadful 2006 season as Cleveland’s closer to lead the AL in ERA at 3.07, and his record could be better than 17-8. He has three losses and two no-decisions when allowing two earned runs or less. Fourteen AL pitchers have won 14 or more games this season. Among this group, Carmona has received the lowest run support per nine innings at 4.63. He’s 5-2 (2.40 ERA) against division rivals Detroit and Minnesota.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

There are three Red Sox among the top 10 candidates for the AL’s Rookie of the Year Award -- former Japanese ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, second baseman Dustin Pedroia and a pleasant surprise in the bullpen, Hideki Okajima, who was overshadowed by his fellow countryman in spring camp.

One of them gets my vote for rookie honors, and that would be Pedroia, who has brought so much to the Boston offense. Despite a slow April, the 24-year-old rookie is batting .321 with a .384 OBP, mostly hitting in the top two spots in the order. No other rookie who qualifies for the batting title is above .300, and he ranks eighth in the AL race. Pedroia, who has more walks than strikeouts, wasn’t a power source, though he was good for 35 doubles, one less than rookie leader Delmon Young. Pedroia outslugged Young and the rest of his AL peers at .441.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

You could give this award to Joe Torre for surviving another year in the glare of New York while piecing together a rotation that was dreadful for much of the season. Or to incumbent award-winner Jim Leyland for keeping a still-young Tigers team grounded and focused after a surprise trip to the World Series in 2006. Finding a way to play in October would aid his cause.

Then there’s Angels boss Mike Scioscia, who once again led his club to the postseason, as did Boston skipper Terry Francona. The award voters could do something without precedent and choose Seattle’s two managers, the retired Mike Hargrove and successor John McLaren, for having the Mariners playing meaningful games into September. Let’s go with Eric Wedge, who has endured Cleveland’s rebuilding and should return the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2001. The 88-62 Indians are on course for 95 wins, the most since the 1999 club won 97 games.

Thom Henninger

MVP

It would be foolish to give anybody besides Alex Rodriguez the award. In a year that’s seen home run totals and slugging percentages plummet, Rodriguez (52 HR, .652 SLG%) has lapped the field. Of course, he’s doing much of this at Yankee Stadium, which isn’t the friendliest park to RHBs. He’s actually slugging better at home (.659) than on the road (.646). And what about being clutch, you ask? How’s .325/.455/.669 with RISP? How’s .328/.408/.689 in close & late situations? In the seventh inning or later, he’s hitting .338/.445/.694. I mean, it just keeps getting better with this guy. Teammates Magglio Ordonez and Curtis Granderson are probably the only other two guys in the picture, but let’s face it, this one’s easy.

Oh yeah, A-Rod has stolen 24 of 27 bases this year also.

CY YOUNG

Let’s not get cute here: As long as Johan Santana is the best pitcher in the American League, he should never lose the Cy Young Award. But, uh, then again, he might not be the best this year—and there are plenty of guys in the team picture for this one. Everybody has a category for themselves. Josh Beckett: Wins (19). Dan Haren: Quality Starts (26). Fausto Carmona: ERA (3.07). C.C. Sabathia: IP (227). Santana: WHIP (1.06). Erik Bedard: K’s (221)

But I’ll stick with Santana, who won’t win it, but still looks like the best pitcher in the AL. He beats out Beckett, who really only has to face one top notch offensive team in his division (Yanks), compared to Santana’s two (Tigers, Indians).

They still owe him one for 2005, anyway.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Dustin Pedroia beats Daisuke Matsuzaka here simply because of the way they’ve finished. While Dice-K has tanked during the stretch run, Pedroia has put on his best performances. Any rookie with close to 500 ABs and a batting average of over .320 should rise to the top--and there just hasn’t been a special enough pitching performance by a rookie this season to upset Pedroia. He’s on-basing at a .385 clip and has established himself at the top of the Boston batting order, and has even out-slugged the rest of the eligible rookie class (.443). His defense has been very good as well, ranking in the top 10 in all of baseball in zone rating and fielding percentage. And, obviously, there’s his greatest attribute, scrappiness, which is off the charts.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Are good managers and good bullpens the same thing? The closer you look, the harder it is to tell. Managing a pitching staff is easily the most important on-field responsibility of a manager. The Red Sox have the best bullpen, and, well, Terry Francona is managing it. While Tito obviously isn’t fully responsible for the outcomes of his moves, they’ve still worked to the tune of an 82.4 SV% and a 22.3 Inherited Runners Scored %, both the best in baseball. The Red Sox seem destined for their first division title since 1995.

Tom Koch-Weser