MLB award pick: Cliff Lee for AL Cy Young

November 12, 10:27 AMMLB ExaminerTony DeMarco

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The sixth of eight Baseball Writers Association of America awards will be handed out Thursday, and it's another no-brainer. For the second year in a row, a Cleveland Indians left-hander is going to win. 

But just so you know, the process works this way: Only two writers from each league city get a ballot. That means 28 voters for each of the four AL awards, and 32 voters for each of the four NL awards.

On the Cy Young, rookie and manager ballots, voters include only three names, and points are awarded on a 5-3-1 basis -- five points for first place, three for second and one for third. That makes the maximum number of points 140, which AL Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria received in his unanimous selection, and NL Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto narrowly missed by getting 31 of 32 first-place votes.

The MVP ballots -- results of which will be revealed Monday (NL) and Tuesday (AL) -- go much deeper. There are 10 spots, with points awarded on this basis -- 14 points for first place, nine for second, eight for third and so on down to one point for 10th place.

And remember, only regular-season play counts. With the details out of the way, here's one opinion on the AL Cy Young Award:

                     1. Cliff Lee, Cleveland; 2) Roy Halladay, Toronto; 3) Frankie Rodriguez, Los Angeles

There really is no strong argument against Lee, who finished 22-3 on a team that was 16 games under .500 at one point in the season before finishing at .500, led the league in wins and ERA, and started the All-Star Game for the AL. And, you can throw in the Comeback Player of the Year Award for the 30-year-old left-hander, while you're at it.

Halladay led the league in innings pitched and complete games (9!), was second in ERA at just 2.78, and tied Mike Mussina for second with 20 wins. That set of numbers would win the award in some seasons.

Take your pick for the third spot, and several others including Daisuke Matsuzaka, Mussina, Ervin Santana and Jon Lester -- likely will get some votes. But setting a single-season save record with 62 gives K-Rod a slight edge over the starting pitchers. 

 UPDATE: Here are the final results