Now that we've reached the All-Star break, it seems appropriate to hand out Rotohelp mid-season awards. Click here to look at our pre-season end-of-year predictions.

American League MVP:
1. Jason Giambi
2. Alex Rodriguez
3. John Olerud

We looked primarily at Runs Above Replacement Position for hitters and Runs Prevented Above Average for pitchers when selecting award winners. Giambi edges ARod here even accounting for the difference in positions, and their teams' respective place in the standings cement our choice. Olerud, the most overlooked All-Star, is quietly anchoring the Seattle offense, providing more than even reigning MVP Ichiro.

American League Cy Young:
1. Derek Lowe
2. Bartolo Colon
3. Pedro Martinez

Lowe's been surprisingly effective this season in his move from the bullpen into the rotation and easily has pitched better than anyone else in the AL. Despite a late trade to the NL, Colon definitely ranks as the second best pitcher in the AL in the first half; unfortunately the trade robbed him of his All-Star appearance. Pedro continues pitch at an outstanding level.

American League Rookie of the Year:
1. Eric Hinske
2. Bobby Kielty
3. Rodrigo Lopez

Hinske's the clear favorite here, adding much more to his team than any other rookie in baseball. Kielty has provided the Twins with a nice offensive boost this season, while Lopez has contributed much more toward Baltimore's somewhat surprising record than teammate Jorge Julio.

American League Manager of the Year:
1. Ron Gardenhire
2. Art Howe
3. Lou Piniella

We primarily focused on wins above Pythagorean in our manager rankings. Rob Neyer's ESPN page lists Pythagorean standings. Gardenhire is tied with Howe for +3 and I think Gardenhire's made better decisions this season, specifically regarding lineup consistency and bullpen management. (Charlie Manuel leads the majors with +4 but he doesn't appear responsible for any overachievement.) Piniella's (-1) team continues to top the standings and he's done a lot to juggle his roster successfully this season with injuries to Edgar Martinez and several pitchers.

American League Comeback Player of the Year:
1. Nomar Garciaparra
2. David Wells
3. LaTroy Hawkins

Nomar's rebounded to his old form. After a poor season with the White Sox, leading some to believe he'd retire, Steinbrenner's impromptu lunch signing of Wells has worked out well for the Yankees. Hawkins has gone from one of the worst pitchers in baseball to one of the best relievers in a single season.

American League Executive of the Year:
1. Dan Duquette
2. Brian Cashman
3. J.P. Ricciardi

Duquette's moves before he left, including dumping Carl Everett, keeping Urbina and forcing Lowe to the rotation, and signing Damon, Burkett, Rey Sanchez, Rickey, and even Carlos Baerga, are the primary reason Boston now challenges the Yankees for the AL East. Cashman continues to talk teams into trading with New York. Ricciardi makes our list for acquiring Hinske and because we wanted to reward him for playing his youngsters despite public outcry against dumping salary. However, if Ricciardi doesn't make a few more trades before the end of the season, he could easily lose his spot here.

National League MVP:
1. Barry Bonds
2. Sammy Sosa
3. Lance Berkman

Despite the reduced homer totals this year, Bonds continues to lead the league in offense. Sosa's decently ahead of several outfielders for the second best production in the NL, and Berkman edges his competitors both due to superior quantitative and qualitative statistics.

National League Cy Young:
1. Randy Johnson
2. Tom Glavine
3. Curt Schilling

Randy and Glavine are in a dead heat but the tie goes to the more dominant pitcher. Despite Gagne's impressive performance as the LA closer, he just isn't as useful in the limited innings of a reliever as Schilling's effectiveness in a significantly greater number of innings.

National League Rookie of the Year:
1. Brad Wilkerson
2. Josh Fogg
3. Jason Simontacchi

Wilkerson's contributed more than either of the pitchers. However, Fogg and Simontacchi have both done a lot for their respective teams' rotations this season, providing needed and unexpected quality innings pitched.

National League Manager of the Year:
1. Frank Robinson
2. Jim Tracy
3. Bobby Cox

Robinson (+3) has really surprised us this season, leading his team to perform well above expectations. Tracy's (+3) performed similar feats in LA albeit with more resources. Cox (+1) makes the list for his part in choosing his bullpen and keeping together a team struggling with inconsistent offense and the sudden loss of effectiveness of rotation rock Greg Maddux.

National League Comeback Player of the Year:
1. Darren Holmes/Chris Hammond
2. Andy Ashby
3. Michael Barrett

Holmes and Hammond were both out of baseball a year ago, and now return as key contributors to one of the best pens in history. Ashby's rebounded from his arm problems. Now that Barrett's settled into playing one position, he's finally experiences the breakout year expected since his debut.

National League Executive of the Year:
1. Dan Evans
2. John Schuerholz
3. Jim Bowden

Dealing for Odalis Perez, Brian Jordan, Omar Daal, Cesar Izturis, Paul Quantrill, and Dave Roberts, signing Kaz Ishii, and Hideo Nomo before finally moving Herges for Mota, allowing Gagne to close, combine to sea Evans' place here at mid-season. Schuerholz needs to upgrade at first base, and I still don't approve of signing Vinny Castilla, but that pen deserves props. Bowden's off-season trades have worked out surprisingly well, and he's put together a fairly decent rotation from scratch.