The signs are there, clear to the naked eye.

Alex Rodriguez is once again under fire for saving his most heroic moments for Yankees blowouts. The Royals are looking ahead to next … uh … decade. And Bud Selig has been spotted preparing to end his hibernation and exit his steroids-proofed cave.

It must be that time of year again: the mid-point in baseball’s marathon of a season.

But as you listen to Selig spout rosy attendance and revenue figures from the All-Star extravaganza in Pittsburgh (as he surely will), take a moment to remember the foot soldiers who made it all possible. And I’m not talking about Victor Conte.

So without further ado, it’s time to honor those who went above and beyond the call of duty to make baseball great — and take attention off Barry Bonds — with our mid-season awards.

AL MVP
There is no shortage of candidates for the award this season. There is the Manny Ramirez-David Ortiz pair in Boston, and the Jim Thome-Paul Konerko duo in Chicago. Vernon Wells deserves a better exchange rate the way he is crushing the ball in Toronto. And Travis Hafner is wondering where all his help went in Cleveland.

But it's time to think outside the box. If you’re looking for the most indispensable player on a contending team (which is who usually wins these things), you’ve got to go with Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi.

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The Yankees have remained in contention despite a rash of injuries, and Giambi — with a big assist from Derek Jeter — is the biggest reason why. Heading into Monday’s games, Giambi is third in the AL in home runs, sixth in RBIs, and third in slugging percentage. And although the Yankees don’t look like a playoff team right now, George is always willing to make some deadline deals to help his team down the stretch. How is this guy not an All-Star?

NL MVP
Houston’s Lance Berkman, with his 70 RBIs, is a fine candidate, as is Philly’s Ryan Howard. But let’s be serious here. This award clearly belongs to St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols, otherwise known as Roy Hobbs in red. Despite missing 15 games to injury and slumping upon his return, Pujols is still tied for second in homers and RBIs. He leads the NL in slugging percentage by an astounding 95 points, and in OPS by more than 100. If he regains his stroke, he might be able to win the real MVP award even if the slumping Cardinals fail to make the playoffs.

AL CY YOUNG

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Johan Santana was the AL’s most dominant pitcher the last two seasons and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Put him in the damp sea-level air of Seattle or give him Boston’s offense, and this southpaw could win 20 games pitching right-handed. Regardless, he still gets plenty of attention in Minnesota, where each deck of cards sold has his picture on the aces. OK, I made that up, but you get the point. This guy is good.

NL CY YOUNG
Arizona’s Brandon Webb was the early leader for this award, but he has cooled off. Tom Glavine is hard to ignore with his 11 wins for the Mets, but his 3.33 ERA is higher than the other candidates.

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Carlos Zambrano has better numbers than Glavine, but the Cubs are so bad that he hardly bothers to pump his fist anymore to celebrate strikeouts. Jason Schmidt has a strong argument for the award with his 2.82 ERA. But if the Giants make the playoffs, it will only be because the rest of the NL West teams are realigned into the Pac-10 (where they might struggle against Oregon State).

No, the first-half NL Cy Young winner here is Reds right-hander Bronson Arroyo, who took his wicked breaking balls, funky hairdos and pop-star dreams to Cincinnati after the Red Sox traded him in the offseason for the mighty Wily Mo Pena. Arroyo leads the NL in ERA at 2.58 and is 9-4 for the Reds, who are actually contending for more than a good draft pick.