30-year old lefty starting pitcher C.J. Wilson finished 6th in the voting for the A.L. Cy Young Award voting. He pitched in 34 games (all starts) in 2011 and he was 16-7 with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Wilson has now pitched in 325 games (73 starts) in his first 7 years with the Rangers and he is 43-35 with 52 saves, a 3.60 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. It’s still up in the air as to whether or not Wilson will be back with the Rangers in 2012, but I don’t think they will overpay for him.

31-year old righty swinging RF Nelson Cruz has been named the MVP of the A.L.C.S. Cruz played in all six games against the Tigers and he was 8 for 22 (.364 avg, 1.273 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 doubles, 6 homers and 13 RBIs. Cruz was a one man wrecking crew for the Rangers, even in games which they lost in this series. Cruz has always been a solid player when healthy and they hope his hot streak continues into the World Series.

35-year old righty swinging RF/DH Vladimir Guerrero finished 11th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award last season. Guerrero played in 152 games for the Rangers last season and he was 178 of 593 (.300 avg, .841 OPS) with 83 runs scored, 29 homers, 115 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 2,002 games in his first 15 years in the majors and he is 2,427 of 7,593 (.320 avg, .946 OPS) with 1,268 runs scored, 436 homers, 1,433 RBIs and 179 stolen bases. Despite fading in the second half last season he still appears to have a lot of life in his bat.

29-year old lefty swinging CF Josh Hamilton has won the A.L. MVP Award. Hamilton played in 133 games for the Rangers last season and he was 186 of 518 (.359 avg, 1.044 OPS) with 95 runs scored, 32 homers, 100 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has now played in 468 games in his four years in the majors and he is 553 of 1,776 (.311 avg, .916 OPS) with 288 runs scored, 93 homers, 331 RBIs and 28 stolen bases. There is no reason to believe that Hamilton can’t win another couple MVP Awards before he’s done playing as he is just that good.

Ron Washington finished second in the A.L. Manager of the Year voting behind Ron Gardenhire of the Twins. I think Washington got robbed here but sometimes that happens to crackheads. Washington led the Rangers to a 90-72 (55.6%) record during the regular season and he was 8-8 (50%) in the post season as he guided the Rangers to their first ever World Series appearance. Washington now has a 331-317 (51.1%) record during the regular season in his first four years with the Rangers. Washington might eventually get one of these awards.