With six weeks left in the Major League Baseball season, the AL and NL MVP and Cy Young awards remain up for grabs. Here are my favorites to win the awards:

AL MVP

1. Vladimir Guerrero, Angels -- Guerrero and Jose Guillen have carried an Angels team decimated by injuries in 2004. Vlad has had little trouble adjusting to American League pitching. He's currently among the top eight players in the AL in batting average (.325), homers (25), RBIs (89), runs (89) and doubles (30). Oh by the way, Guerrero has 10 outfield assists as well. If the Angels make it to the postseason, Vlad should be a lock. Even if they don't, he's the favorite.



2. David Ortiz, Red Sox -- On offensive numbers alone, David Ortiz runs away with MVP award. He is tied with teammate Manny Ramirez for the league lead in homers with 30 and is second in RBIs with 105 (which puts him on pace for 41 HR and 144 RBI). He's also batting a healthy .309 with 39 doubles. The biggest negative for Ortiz is that he is mainly a designated hitter and many voters will not vote for a DH. But, if the Angels fade and the Sox push their way into the playoffs, Ortiz and Ramirez could have a chance to steal the award from Guerrero.



3. Manny Ramirez, Red Sox -- Manny Ramirez is having nearly as big as year as David Ortiz. He's tied with Big Papi for the league lead in homers and is in the top seven in doubles, RBIs, batting average and on base percentage. He leads the league in slugging percentage. Unlike Ortiz, Ramirez plays in the field on most days. Ramirez may miss out on some MVP votes because of his strange tendency to disrupt team chemistry. Sox fans know that Ortiz is the team's MVP and so do the voters. However, if Ramirez has a huge September and Ortiz and Guerrero do not, Manny could win the AL MVP.



4. Gary Sheffield, Yankees -- .292, 28 HR, 86 RBI
5. Travis Hafner, Indians -- .315, 21 HR, 91 RBI

AL Cy Young

1. Mark Mulder, A's -- 2004 looks an awful lot like the 2002 season when an Oakland A's ace held off two Red Sox starters to win the AL Cy Young Award. That year, it was Barry Zito outlasting Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe. This year, it is Mark Mulder with a narrow lead over Curt Schilling and Pedro. Mulder is impressive across the board: 15-4 with a solid 3.71 ERA and 119 strikeouts. Surprisingly, Mulder is the only A's starters in double figures in wins at this point. That fact, coupled with the A's success, makes Mulder the clear Cy Young leader with six weeks left.



2. Curt Schilling, Red Sox -- Curt Schilling was neck and neck with Mulder, but has struggled a bit of late. Schilling's numbers remain impressive, however. He's 14-6 with a 3.60 ERA and is fourth in the league with 143 strikeouts. He's also been a workhorse (as usual), tossing 167 innings.



3. Pedro Martinez -- After a slow start, Pedro Martinez has put himself in position to win a fourth Cy Young Award. Pedro is currently 13-4 with an ERA of 3.78 and 170 strikeouts. He's 9-1 in his last 14 starts and has double-digit strikeouts in his last three starts.



4. Johan Santana, Twins -- 12-6, 3.25 ERA
5. Joe Nathan, Twins -- 34/35 in save chances, 0.84 ERA

NL MVP

1. Scott Rolen, Cardinals -- What a year Scott Rolen is having. He's currently fourth in batting average (.328), eighth in homers (28), first in RBIs (104) and has played spectacularly at third base. It doesn't hurt that the Cardinals have been the best team in baseball by a mile and a half.



2. Albert Pujols, Cardinals -- Rolen's chief compeition for MVP is the amazing Albert Pujols who has put up equally impressive numbers (.324, 37 HR, 93 RBI). Rolen will likely have the edge on his teammate because of his superior defense but if Pujols hits 50 homers, he might get the nod.



3. Barry Bonds, Giants -- Barry Bonds is certainly the most important player to his team, which is officially what the MVP Award honors. Bonds has some freakish numbers including a .607 on base percentage and .790 slugging percentage. Those numbers would look good in a slow-pitch softball league. Bonds is also leading the league with a .354 average and is near the top with 33 homeruns. The fact that the Giants are back in the pennant race puts Bonds back in the MVP race.



4. Adrian Beltre, Dodgers -- .324, 34 HR, 82 RBIs
5. Bobby Abreu, Phillies -- .294, 26 HR, 82 RBIs, 29 SB

NL Cy Young

1. Jason Schmidt, Giants -- Jason Schmidt finished second in the NL Cy Young voting last season but will difficult to beat this season if he continues to win. The Giants ace is 15-4 with a 2.59 ERA and 186 strikeouts this season and is 32-9 since the start of last season. What's more, Schmidt started the season 0-2. He has won 15 of 17 decisions since.



2. Roger Clemens, Astros -- Unlike Schmidt, Roger Clemens had an amazing start to his first season in the National League. The Rocket was 9-0 with a 2.08 ERA through 12 starts. Since then, Roger has won only 3 of 7 decisions in 12 starts and his ERA has risen to a still excellent 2.76 ERA. Clemens would likely be the sentimental favorite if he returns to his early season form, but that is not a likely scenario for the 42-year-old.



3. Carlos Zambrano, Cubs -- Carlos Zambrano has been the victim of lack of run support on many occasions this season. Three times the Cubs have been shutout in a Zambrano start. Still, the 23-year-old righthander has had an outstanding season going 11-6 with a 2.84 ERA and 142 strikeouts. In addition, five times this season Zambrano has given up no earned runs. Zambrano will probably need to win at least another six or seven games this season to have a shot to win the NL Cy Young in 2004.



4. Carl Pavano, Marlins -- 13-5, 3.02 ERA
5. Russ Ortiz, Braves -- 13-6, 3.46 ERA

In his last 12 starts, Bronson Arroyo has an ERA of 3.35 and a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.35. Unfortunately, Bronson is only 3-6 during that time period. If you remove the bad outing against the Yankees on July 24th, Arroyo's ERA is 2.86 in his last 11 starts.

In the week that he has been with the team, Browns rookie tight end Kellen Winslow has fought with an opponent in a preseason game, fought with a teammate in practice and publicly challenged his teammates to match his intensity level. I've never played pro football, but my sense is that it isn't exactly appropriate for someone who has been in the league for a week to be questioning the desire of ten year vets. The Browns should be ashamed of themselves for giving $40 million ($16 million guaranteed) to a player who has never played a single down in the league and is a first class idiot, not unlike pretty much every player that arrives from the University of Miami, including the previous UM tight end, Jeremy Shockey. My prediction is that Winslow will suspended by midseason, will be demanding a trade by this time next year and will someday fake being injured and exhausted in an AFC Playoff game in Miami.

Speaking of losers, has anyone in the history of the NFL been more pathetic than Ricky Williams? Williams decided that giving up marijuana was too much of a sacrifice to receive $6 million per year to play in the NFL. Miami lost Williams to drugs and David Boston to an season-ending injury in a single week. For once, the Dolphins will have a legitimate excuse for failing to make the playoffs.

Michael Moore's "documentary" film Fahrenheit 9/11 will be available on DVD on October 5th, just four weeks before the Presidential Election. Michael Moore fans will be able to purchase the DVD alone or buy the deluxe edition, which includes the DVD, an American Flag, a bottle of gasoline and a lighter.

Last week John Kerry made a speech in which he told the audience that America should be fighting a more "thoughful" and "sensitive" war. I guess what this means is that if John Kerry becomes President, he will cancel the contract with Raytheon and ask the people at Hasbro to produce Nerf missiles.

George Bush also made news last week by not falling off of his bicycle.

Has anyone ever seen these guys -->
and these guys --> in the same place at the same time?