Larry Stone | Picking award winners for the 2008 season

How the mighty have risen.

Barely two years ago, Tim Lincecum was the baby-faced ace of the University of Washington pitching staff.

Now he's the baby-faced ace of the National League.

On a weak Giants team, despite a bullpen that has often let him down, Lincecum has emerged as the most dominant, and electrifying, pitcher in the NL.

It has been a mere 27 months since San Francisco picked Lincecum with the 10th overall pick of the 2006 draft, and 16 months since he made his major-league debut against the Phillies on May 6, 2007.

In his first full season in the majors, at the tender age of 24, Lincecum is the Cy Young Award winner.

That's my call, and it's no hometown bouquet. Lincecum earned it, even though the competition for the award is incredibly stiff.

Lincecum hasn't made it easy for himself by dropping his last two starts (with one more outing today against the Dodgers), while Brandon Webb has won three in a row to reach 22 victories.

One of those two Lincecum losses was by a 3-2 score against Arizona. Converted second baseman Eugenio Velez, playing left field, misplayed a ball that let in the two decisive runs for the Diamondbacks in the sixth inning.

His most recent loss, Tuesday against the Rockies, was perhaps his worst outing the year, termed "a garbage start" by Lincecum.

He failed to finish five innings for the first time all season, and gave up six runs. Perhaps significantly, a fourth-inning error by shortstop Rich Aurilia was changed after the game to a hit, adding two earned runs to Lincecum's ledger and raising his earned-run average from 2.58 to 2.66 — making Johan Santana the league leader at 2.64.

Santana has had a sensational year, with his usual closing kick (7-0, 2.37 ERA) after the All-Star break.

Ryan Dempster and Edinson Volquez have put together eye-popping seasons, and Brad Lidge has been unscathed as the Phillies' closer (40 saves in 40 opportunities). The whole CC Sabathia phenomenon in Milwaukee is well-chronicled, and Webb has obviously had a brilliant year.

But Lincecum, at 17-5 for a very bad Giants team, with a major-league-leading (and San Francisco record) 252 strikeouts, has been better than any of them.

There would be little argument if the Giants' bullpen had saved five of the leads he handed them that were instead squandered. Webb had just one blown lead to mar his record.

Lincecum still has the highest winning percentage (.773) and the lowest opponents' batting average (.223) of any NL starter.

No one in the majors has a lower batting average against with runners in scoring position (.164). Lincecum is 13-3, 2.85 in 24 games after a Giants loss. He has allowed the fewest homers per nine innings (0.45).

There's more, if you care to crunch the numbers. The total package is amazing.

Here are my award winners for 2008, a list which, stunningly, will be Mariners-free:

American League MVP

1. Joe Mauer, Twins

2. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox

3. Justin Morneau, Twins

This is very tough vote. You have the Twins faction (Mauer and Morneau) and the Red Sox faction (Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis). And there's the K-Rod factor; the A-Rod stat package; the Carlos Quentin question; the Grady Sizemore case; and the raging Rangers, Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley, monsters on a so-so team.

I went with Mauer based on his dominance at such a key position as catcher, on his .340 batting average after the All-Star break as the Twins have caught the White Sox, and fantastic clutch numbers.

National League MVP

1. Albert Pujols, Cardinals

2. Ryan Howard, Phillies

3. Jose Reyes, Mets

Another toughie, because you could also make a case for Lance Berkman, David Wright and Chase Utley. Hanley Ramirez and Chipper Jones have played great.

But Pujols, who practically willed a mediocre Cardinals team into contention, is the man. Pujols leads the majors in OPS (1.099) and for the SABR crowd, is the runaway leader in VORP (Value Over Replacement Player).

P.S.: If the award were the MVP of the last two months, it would be Manny Ramirez. But, sorry, you can't be a league MVP based on 60 games.

AL Cy Young

1. Cliff Lee, Indians

2. Roy Halladay, Blue Jays

3. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox

Finally, a no-brainer. This one should be unanimous, though in most years, Halladay put up Cy numbers. Just not in the Year of the Cliff. And, no, Francisco Rodriguez didn't make my top three. If a closer had, it would have been Mariano Rivera.

NL Cy Young

1. Tim Lincecum, Giants

2. Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks

3. Johan Santana, Mets

Here's what Wally Joyner, the Padres' hitting coach, said to The San Jose Mercury News when asked if Lincecum reminded him of any pitchers he faced: "How many Hall of Famers should I name? He's the best guy in the league right now. I can't think of anybody better."

AL Rookie of the Year

1. Evan Longoria, Rays

2. Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox

3. Alexei Ramirez, White Sox

In a pretty good year for rookies — don't forget David Murphy, Denard Span, Mike Aviles, Armando Galarraga, Nick Blackburn and Brad Ziegler, among others — Longoria was the clear standout. He became a vital member of the league's breakout team.

NL Rookie of the Year

1. Geovany Soto, Cubs

2. Joey Votto, Reds

3. Jair Jurrjens, Braves

Like Longoria, Soto has had a major impact on a playoff-bound team, reaching the weekend with 23 homers and 86 RBI as the Cubs' catcher.

AL Manager of the Year

1. Joe Maddon, Rays

2. Mike Scioscia, Angels

3. Ron Gardenhire, Twins

Scioscia and Gardenhire did remarkable jobs with their teams — Scioscia overcoming serious injury issues and Gardenhire surviving the loss of the Twins' best pitcher (Santana) and a top position player (Torii Hunter) to craft another contender.

But no one can top the job Maddon did in pulling a dominating playoff performance out of a team that lost 96 games last year and was considered at least a year away by most experts.

NL Manager of the Year

1. Lou Piniella, Cubs

2. Charlie Manuel, Phillies

3. Fredi Gonzalez, Marlins

There's no denying that Piniella knows what to do with talent. He cajoled and willed the Cubs to the NL's best record, and will be a Chicago deity for life if he can coax the team to a World Series title.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists