Handicapping the major awards at the midpoint of the season

As the All-Star Game approaches, here are candidates for baseball's major awards based on the the first half of play:

* AL Manager of the Year: A.J. Hinch, Houston; Joe Girardi, New York, Paul Molitor, Minnesota. ... Any of these could win the award, but Hinch is leading Houston's turnaround with two starters, Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh, and a lineup that doesn't have a .300 hitter. Jose Altuve was hitting .298 going into Friday. ... Girardi has a dominating bullpen, but there are questions in the rotation, age in the lineup and the middle infielders are nonexistent when it comes to offense. ... Molitor, a Hall of Famer and a member of the 3,000-hit club, has the Twins winning while developing young talent such as Miguel Sano, Kyle Gibson and Trevor May. They are the second biggest surprise behind the Astros.

* AL MVP: Mike Trout, Los Angeles; Manny Machado, Baltimore; Josh Donaldson, Toronto. ... Trout, the defending AL MVP who has also finished second twice in the Baseball Writers' Association of America voting, is at it again: He's hitting for power, average and getting on base 40 percent of the time. He's playing rangy defense with a strong arm. ... After two knee surgeries, Machado has bounced back and doing it all, just not as consistently as Trout. ... Donaldson is a power/average threat in the Blue Jays lineup. How did Oakland ever decide to trade him?

* AL Cy Young: Chris Archer, Tampa Bay; Dallas Keuchel, Houston; David Price, Detroit. This is the closest race. ... Archer, 26, best-known for his slider, is having a breakout season and at one point had 38 strikeouts with no walks over three consecutive starts. ... Keuchel, a lefty, leads the American League with a 2.14 ERA going into Friday. ... Price is carrying the Tigers with a mix of devastating sliders and fastballs.

* AL Rookie of the Year: Billy Burns, Oakland; Devon Travis, Toronto; Carlos Correa, Houston. Burns, traded by the Nationals to the Athletics for reliever Jerry Blevins before the 2014 season, didn't get called up until May 2, but he's already got 17 steals while getting on base at a .350 clip. ... Travis, whom the Blue Jays acquired from Detroit, is an above-average, blue-collar second baseman who plays strong defense. ... Correa has seven home runs in his first 124 at-bats for the Astros and is playing excellent defense for a contending team.

* NL Manager of the Year: Mike Matheny, St. Louis; Matt Williams, Washington; Bruce Bochy, San Francisco. ... Matheny has the Cardinals on a 100-win pace even though he's missing his best pitcher (Adam Wainwright) and two of his best hitters (Matt Adams and Matt Holliday). ... Williams is maneuvering around a list of injuries to Denard Span, Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon, but the Nationals aren't dominating a weak National League East. ... Bochy has the Giants in contention despite a rotation rattled with injuries and inconsistent pitching. Injuries have also limited the Giants' MVP, Hunter Pence.

* NL MVP: Bryce Harper, Washington; Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona; Buster Posey, San Francisco. ... We stayed up all night - tossing and turning - trying to decide this one. Just kidding. Harper is the obvious choice. His high-average, high-powered bat, not to mention his cannon arm from right field, has kept the Nationals in first place in the NL East. He's only gone hitless in two consecutive games twice. ... Harper and Goldschmidt could contend for the NL Triple Crown. ... As a catcher, Posey is leading a banged-up and aging rotation while taking aim at his third .300 season and beating his career-high of 24 home runs. Posey has never hit lower than .284.

* NL Cy Young: Max Scherzer, Washington; Zach Greinke, Los Angeles; A.J. Burnett, Pittsburgh. It is true that Greinke has a 1.39 ERA, his Dodgers teammate Clayton Kershaw leads in strikeouts and Burnett is having a fantastic season with the Pirates, but Scherzer's domination is the story of the first half. He had a one-hitter against Milwaukee, a no-hitter against Pittsburgh and 16 consecutive batters retired to start a game in Philadelphia - the best three-game pitching stretch in history.

* NL Rookie of the Year: Yasmany Tomas, Arizona; Joc Pederson, Los Angeles; Maikel Franco, Philadelphia. ... Tomas came from Cuba and hasn't been hindered by a new culture or the expectations of a big-money contract. He's hitting in the .310 range. ... Pederson has 20 home runs as the Dodgers' center fielder, but that's about all he's hitting. He's struggling to hit .230 and he's already surpassed 100 strikeouts. ... Maikel Franco has settled in as the Phillies' third baseman with a .300 average and double figures in home runs, good production in a losing environment.