Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers

Key stats: .367 avg., 13 HR, 70 RBIs

Comment: If this were a player of the year or most outstanding player award, Alex Rodriguez would get it. But the Yankees are a non-factor in the playoff picture. Ordonez has been the most valuable piece of one of the best teams in baseball.

Cy Young Award

Dan Haren, Oakland Athletics

Key stats: 10-3 W-L, 2.30 ERA

Comment: There are a number of candidates (C.C. Sabathia, Johan Santana, Josh Beckett, Justin Verlander, John Lackey), but pitching is about being hard to hit. No one has been harder to hit than Haren, who has a .205 opponents' batting average.

Rookie of the Year

Reggie Willits, Angels

Key stats: .312 avg., .408 OBP, 18 SB

Comment: One of Boston's dynamic duo from Japan (Daisuke Matsuzaka or Hideki Okajima) will win this and probably will deserve it by the end of the season. But up to this point, neither had the dynamic influence Willits had on the Angels during the first half.

Top Relief Man

Francisco Rodriguez, Angels

Key stats: 24 of 26 save chances, 2.33 ERA

Comment: Yeah, he can make you chew your fingernails down to nubs, and he can look horribly out of sync at times. But who would you rather have pitching the ninth inning?

Comeback Player of the Year

Sammy Sosa, Texas Rangers

Key stats: .245 avg., 14 HR, 63 RBIs

Comment: In the midst of our steroid revisionism and revulsion over Barry Bonds' march to the home run record, Sosa has returned from an entire season on the sideline to reach 600 career home runs. He also has put up numbers that could have put him on the All-Star team.

Manager of the Year

Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers

Key stats: 52-34 W-L, 1st place in AL Central