Last week, Tom and I weighed in on the American League award winners. This time around we’ll make a case for our choices for National League honors.

MVP

There are a number of players worthy of National League MVP honors, and we’re probably in for a tight vote by baseball writers this fall. Playing on a team that is playoff-bound counts for something and may give one of the candidates the edge with voters, but no NL team is certain to see playoff action going into the final weekend of the season.

My final five are Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder, Florida’s Hanley Ramirez, David Wright of the Mets, and both Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies. With the Mets seemingly in the playoffs two weeks ago, Wright was my favorite. His raw numbers aren’t quite as good as the other sluggers, but he’s been a key run producer in the midst of a 30-30 season with outstanding hitting percentages of .321/.415/.548. He also leads the league by reaching base 289 times. I’m leaning toward Wright, but if the Brewers reach the playoffs, I’ll go with Fielder, a year after winning rookie honors. If the Mets and Brewers are on the outside looking in when the playoffs start, Rollins gets my vote.

CY YOUNG

The NL West race has been an exciting one, and the staff ace of three of the contenders are the front-runners for the league’s Cy Young Award. Arizona’s Brandon Webb, who won the award a year ago, is 17-10 with a 3.02 ERA. He’s been on top of his game all season for the first-place Diamondbacks. Dodgers right-hander Brad Penny is 16-4 with a 3.03 ERA, though he hasn’t been as dominant as he was during a 10-1 first half.

A pair of Padres are worthy of consideration, though Chris Young has just nine wins despite a 3.13 ERA and league-low .194 opponent batting average. Six times he has worked at least five innings and allowed one earned run or less and didn’t get a win. Teammate Jake Peavy gets my nod. He’s the league’s winningest pitcher at 19-6 and leads the NL with a 2.36 ERA and 234 strikeouts. Batters are hitting just .203 against him, .189 since the All-Star break.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Dodgers rookie James Loney could have used a couple more months of starting duty, and Houston’s Hunter Pence could have used the month he missed with a sprained wrist. Although Arizona center fielder Chris Young is four steals shy of a 30-30 season, the rookie race comes down to Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and Brewers third baseman Ryan Braun.

After starting slowly in April, Tulowitzki has steadily improved all season long. Since Aug. 1, the 22-year-old rookie has 11 homers and percentages of .319/.384/.559, and he’s batting .292 with 23 homers and 93 RBIs for the season. The Rookie of the Year, though, should be Braun, who wasn’t recalled until May 25. Still, he tops all rookies with 34 homers, and 95 RBIs. Because of his late arrival, Braun, who is slugging .639, will fall roughly a dozen plate appearances short of surpassing Mark McGwire’s slugging record for rookies (.618).

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

A case could be made for Willie Randolph, who had the Mets back on course for another playoff appearance before their recent struggles. Despite a host of injuries, the Mets will approach a second straight 90-win season. It’s also good to see Bud Black has the Padres in the playoff picture in his first season as a big league manager. Former pitchers rarely get a chance to manage these days, and he’s Manager of the Year material.

As long as the Diamondbacks are atop the NL West, however, it would be hard to deny Bob Melvin the honor of Manager of the Year. The Baby-Backs have plenty of talent, but their emergence at such a young age has been a surprise. If they hold on and finish first in the West, Melvin is the man. Otherwise, if the Padres win the division, Black is on equal footing with Melvin.

Thom Henninger

MVP

This is about as crowded as the AL Cy Young picture. There are plenty of good candidates, but the Phillies’ Jimmy Rollins gets my nod. Rollins plays gold glove defense at the toughest infield position, and provides tons of speed (38 SB) and power (30 HR) out of the leadoff spot, and has been the Phillies’ catalyst during their September surge. Minus a slide in May, he’s been remarkably consistent all year while starting every game, something the Phillies’ other superstars, Ryan Howard (three month-long slumps) and Chase Utley (injury), weren’t able to do. Speed is back in style, especially when you utilize it like J-Roll, who’s stealing bases at an 86% success rate and leading the NL in runs scored with 136.

CY YOUNG

Jake Peavy. It’s hard to make an argument against a guy who is about to win the pitching triple crown. Sure, Petco Park is a pitcher’s paradise, at a near obscene level, but Peavy has actually dominated on the road (10-1, 2.16 ERA) with more vigor than at home (9-5, 2.51 ERA). While Peavy should run away with this one, it’ll be interesting to see how much attention is given to Aaron Harang, who has very, very quietly gone 16-6.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Ryan Braun played his first major league game on May 25th. That’s right. One-third of the season was over, and then Ryan Braun started stepping into batters boxes and clubbing pitches. The rest of the league got a two-month head start on this kid and he’s played his way into the top-20 of almost every offensive category. Did Troy Tulowitzki have a nice season? Yes. And he’s a much better infielder than Braun. But the potency of Braun’s offense (.325/.370/.639) is nearly unprecedented by a rookie -- only Albert Pujols’ 2001 campaign and Mark McGwire’s 1987 come close in the last quarter century. Braun has played his way into superstar status.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

On June 1st the Cubs looked dreadful. They were fighting each other, and playing lousy baseball. On June 2nd, Lou Piniella kicked some dirt around and yelled at an umpire. On June 3rd, the Cubs won a baseball game, and won 60 more after that. Somehow, they currently have the largest divisional lead of any NL team. Lou’s made some shrewd moves, giving Ryan Theriot the starting job at short, turning Carlos Marmol into his bullpen ace, and, even as we speak, appearing to favor PCL MVP Geovany Soto as his starting catcher. The way he’s managed the bullpen has been particularly impressive, as the Cubs lead the NL in inherited runners scored percentage (23.6) and are 3rd in SV% (73.6).

Tom Koch-Weser