I’m sure many like myself expected the Phillies to have a fine overall season, but I don’t think many predicted that their success would carry them to the ultimate goal of winning the World Series.

I’ve received a few messages about why I haven’t broken down how the Phillies have been built, similar to my breakdown of the Tampa Bay Rays from a few weeks ago. I have always saved those features for surprise teams to illustrate where those teams’ overnight success came from.

The Phillies success did not occur overnight, as they have finished first in the National League East each of the last two years, having been ushered out of the playoffs quickly a year ago by the upstart Colorado Rockies. Before last season they finished in second place three years in a row, 2004-2006, finishing each of those seasons with at least 85 wins, and finished in third place the two years before that (2002-2003).

Much of the talent they have assembled can be attributed to Mike Arbuckle, who has left the organization after Ruben Amaro, Jr. was named the successor to Pat Gillick, and is expected to join Dayton Moore with the Kansas City Royals. Normally I wouldn’t criticize a team two weeks removed from a world championship, but in time the Phillies may discover that they chose to put the wrong person in charge of their baseball operations.

The talent Arbuckle supplied the organization is highlighted by three MVP caliber infielders in Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. A fixture in the Philadelphia outfield, Pat Burrell, is also entirely homegrown, as are their top two starting pitchers, Cole Hamels (the World Series and League Championship Series MVP) and Brett Myers, and their top setup man, Ryan Madson.

They also were able to use other talent within their system over the past few years to acquire other key cogs such as Jamie Moyer Joe Blanton, and Brad Lidge.

Overall the Phillies have been a well-run organization for several years now, seemingly doing so in a very quiet, under the radar type fashion, and the culmination of hard work and diligent talent evaluation, as well as a little luck, finally paid off for them this past season.

Congratulations to the organization, their fans, and the city of Philadelphia.

MLB Review

It’s time to review how many of my preseason picks fared, from my division-by-division breakdown to my early picks to take home postseason hardware.

American League

Starting with the AL East, while I didn’t pick the Rays to finish first (I would like to know of someone who did), I did pick them to finish third, ahead of the Blue Jays and Orioles, noting at the time that, “they don’t have the talent to take out the big boys quite yet, but that talent is quickly pushing its way to the big-leagues."

Of course, they did, and then some, as their talent carried them all of the way to the World Series.

I don’t know if I even want to bother with the AL Central, where I had the Indians taking the division ahead of the Tigers, Twins and Royals with the White Sox finishing last. Can I get a mulligan on that one? This is a very tough division to predict, as all five teams have a legitimate shot at making some noise during the 2009 season. Yes, even the Royals in my estimation have the potential to surprise people.

In the AL West the nod went to the Angels, who of course handily won their division, although I had the Mariners finishing second. Their collapse during the 2009 season led to manager Mike Hargrove leaving his post, citing that he was burnt out, while it also cost General Manager Bill Bavasi his job.

The Rangers and A’s finished admirably, as both teams clearly are willing to deal with the growing pains of allowing young talent to gain experience while looking forward to a bigger, more determined run in the years to come.

In addition to the division winners, I had the Tigers claiming the Wild Card and the Red Sox taking the pennant.

AL MVP: Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox

I picked Miguel Cabrera to win this award in the preseason, and despite the Tigers disappointing season, Cabrera enjoyed an MVP caliber season. Dustin Pedroia is also going to receive a ton of votes, and may even take home the official award, but Youkilis gets my vote since he was among the league leaders in almost every single major statistical category, not to mention he really stepped up after the team dealt Manny Ramirez to help keep the offense together.

AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians

The Indians may not have made the playoffs, but no pitcher was better than Lee this year, who posted an incredible 22-3 season, while finishing with the league-best ERA (2.54), the second best mark in all of baseball to Johan Santana’s 2.53. I guess I really felt strongly about the Tigers in the preseason, as Justin Verlander was my pick to win the Cy Young. He too enjoyed a good (not great) season, but he and Cabrera alone couldn’t carry the Tigers to a better finish.

AL Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays

As I noted a few weeks ago, Longoria is a no-brainer for this award. He finished among the league leaders in most of the major run-producing statistical categories despite missing over a month due to injury serving as the cleanup hitter for the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays. I think many expected a greater impact from Joba Chamberlain, who missed almost the entire month of August due to injury. His numbers were very good across the board, but he will benefit moving forward once it is determined whether his future lies in the starting rotation or the bullpen.

National League

In both the East and Central divisions I put the top two teams in the wrong order.

The Phillies of course overtook the East thanks to a strong, late-season surge (and another Mets collapse), while the Cubs spent most of the year in control of the Central, finishing the year as the best team in the league. Although I had the order wrong, both the Cubs and the Brewers did make the postseason. The success of the Astros and Cardinals helped reinforce my preseason point that the Central division would be a lot more entertaining to follow than it has been in recent years.

The Mets struggles are somewhat confusing, as they have plenty of productive players, but it seems as though they need to re-vamp their pitching staff (with the exception of Johan Sanatana), similar to the cross-town Yankees.

The Marlins exceeded expectations, thanks to their strong base of young talent. Unfortunately I don’t think the Nationals surprised anyone by being the worst team in baseball this past year.

The West division, as I pointed out in the preseason, was the most difficult to predict. I thought the Diamondbacks would emerge not only as the league leader, but the eventual World Series champions. The D-Backs young lineup did not progress as much as I thought it would, but they still have a bright future to look forward to.

The Padres and Rockies regressed while the Giants need to start thinking about the future instead of trying to fool themselves that they can be competitive from year-to-year by signing free agents such as Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand to big-money deals in consecutive offseasons.

The Dodgers emerged as the best of the West, although they were the worst of all playoff teams in the W-L column, despite advancing to the League Championship Series against the Phillies.

NL MVP: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

Ryan Howard may be the national favorite to win this award after he led all of baseball in home runs and RBI, but Pujols was the best hitter across the board, leading the NL in slugging while finishing second in batting and on-base percentage, and fourth in doubles, home runs and RBI. Matt Holliday, my preseason pick to win this award, had a good season, but not one worthy of MVP recognition, as the Rockies failed to reclaim the magic that made them so successful down the stretch in 2007.

NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

It is a little difficult to hand out the top two player awards to players that didn’t even play on playoffs teams, but both are more than deserving. Lincecum led all of baseball in strikeouts (265) while finishing second in the AL in wins (18) and ERA (2.62). His 18 wins accounted for 25% of his team’s victories, as it’s a little scary to think of where the Giants would have finished without him. Brandon Webb was my preseason pick, and he certainly will be in the running for this award after leading the league with 22 victories.

NL Rookie of the Year: Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs