Pujols ... sure. But Howard?

Baseball's awards have been doled out, so let's take a look at the good and bad of them.

Good: Albert Pujols clearly deserved the National League's MVP award. He's the most feared hitter in the game right now and I'm heartened to see the voters weren't swayed in another direction because the Cardinals, who finished fourth in the NL Central but still had a good enough record to prevail in the NL West, didn't make the playoffs.

There is no reason to penalize Pujols (or Alex Rodriguez in the American League a couple of times earlier this decade) because the rest of his team is subpar. For all the people that feel like the Cardinals' also-ran status should somehow disqualify Pujols, ask yourself this question: What more could Pujols could possibly have done to get a team with a mediocre starting rotation, major bullpen issues and no offense in the middle infield into contention?

Bad: Ryan Howard second? Ryan Braun third? Obviously, the voters looked at little more than home runs and RBI. Howard isn't even the best player on the Phillies — second baseman Chase Utley had a better season, is a better all-around player (his defense is vastly underrated, as he showed in the postseason) and produces big numbers at a position where such production is hard to come by.

Let's see ... Utley led a divison (and World Series) winner in several offensive categories, scored and drove in over 100 runs, was in the top six in the NL in extra-base hits and plays outstanding defense. And he finished 15th?

Good: Geovany Soto was a near-unanimous pick as the NL's top rookie, with the voters acknowledging his contributions as a big-hitting, solid defensive catcher on a team with the best record in the league.

Bad: Edinson Volquez had a great year, establishing himself as Cincinnati's best pitcher. He deserved plenty of votes, except ... he wasn't eligible for the award.

Volquez made 17 starts over parts of three seasons with Texas before getting sent to the Reds in exchange for Josh Hamilton, one of the most interesting trades of the offseason. He had eclipsed the minimum number of innings to be eligible for rookie status.

You would think the voters would know that.