Forget the Espys. What most baseball players want more than anything in the world is a Corey.

I refer to the heretofore-unknown Associated Press half-season fantasy baseball awards.

They consist not of a statue or a plaque, but of an admiring nod, a figurative pat on the back for players who have gone above and beyond to the delight of fantasy baseball players everywhere.

What could be more valuable than an imaginary kudo, awarded to ballplayers for helping fantasy owners they don’t know win a game that only exists in the minds of a small subset of the population, signifying nothing?

Named after Corey Patterson, this year’s waiver-wire pickup most likely to have led fantasy teams into first place, these Coreys go to players who have been superlative in some facet of fantasy baseball.

Without further ado, the 2006 Coreys (all stats through June 28):

Most Valuable Player Corey

Albert Pujols was on his way to a landslide victory in the MVPC category, but Nationals 2B Alfonso Soriano slid by him when Pujols landed on the disabled list with a strained oblique muscle. All Soriano has done in his first half-season with the Nationals is slam 24 home runs and steal 18 bases. To put that in perspective, only seven players reached the 10-10 mark in the first half of the season, and only Carlos Beltran and Grady Sizemore had at least 12 and 12. Add Soriano’s eligibility at second base, and he’s gold. Honorable mention to Mets SS Jose Reyes (.293-8-36, 34 SB), who is beginning to show a power-speed combination reminiscent of Rickey Henderson.

Rookie of the Year Corey

The best closer in baseball this season, bar none, is a guy who wasn’t even expected to be a closer. Red Sox rookie Jonathan Papelbon was in a battle for a rotation spot this spring, and got thrown into the closer role because of an ineffective Keith Foulke. All he’s done since is post an unbelievable 0.46 ERA with 23 saves in 25 chances. What will he do for an encore?

Least Known Despite Being on Pace for 30 HRs Corey

Offseason talk about the crowded Tigers outfield revolved around underrated Craig Monroe, and young Curtis Granderson. Remember Nook Logan? No one could have guessed that it would be none of those guys, but former Yankee farmhand Marcus Thames, who would sneak into the outfield fray and hit .298 with 15 home runs in the first half. The team will continue to play Thames because he flat out mashes the ball.

The Undrafted Stud Corey

It’s highly likely that none of the three recipients of this award were drafted in any typical mixed fantasy league anywhere, yet all three are possible batting champs. Co-winners Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates (.354-4-39), Jamey Carroll of the Rockies (.329-3-13) and Reed Johnson of the Blue Jays (.371-4-18) are proving people wrong. Hard to know if the sky-high averages will last, but all of these guys have proven they can hit at a very high level.

Most Costly Eight HR Corey

The co-winners here are a top-five overall pick in most leagues, and a future Hall of Famer that everyone figured was set to have a bounce-back year. True, Mark Teixeira (.275-8-44) and Todd Helton (.307-8-38) are both now swinging with authority, but fantasy owners are sick with the lack of power output from both, especially Teixeira, who is too young to suffer this type of shocking decrease in home runs (43 to a pace of 16). Who’d have thought Teixeira and Helton would have fewer home runs than teammates Gary Matthews Jr. and Garrett Atkins, respectively?

Most Maddeningly Inconsistent Starter Corey

Matt Cain’s pitching has been like a box of chocolates: You never know what you’re going to get. What else can you say about a guy who allowed two hits in a combined 17 innings in two of his starts for the San Francisco Giants, while not making it out of the sixth inning in nine of his 14 total games? Looking at his game log is to look at a series of numbers with absolutely no discernable pattern. Good looking young pitcher, though. Who knows what he’ll do in the second half.

The D-Lee Corey

Named after Cubs 1B Derrek Lee, who put up monster first-half numbers last year (.380-27-81), ensuring a good season, before enduring a fairly pedestrian second half. We tap Blue Jays future star Alex Rios (.330-15-53, 9 SB). No slight on Rios, who is a great hitter with elite five-category ability. We love watching him, but his numbers fell hard in June, and a .285-25-90-15 is probably where he’ll wind up.

The Holliday Corey

For the guy who, like Matt Holliday in 2005, lulled you to sleep in the first half (.291-4-23) but drove in 64 runs and hit 15 homers in the second half, we look to third baseman Adrian Beltre of the Mariners. Beltre is hitting .258 with seven home runs, but is hitting .314 with five homers in June. Twenty second-half home runs and an average above .300 the rest of the way is hardly out of the question. Honorable mention to third basemen Aramis Ramirez of the Cubs (.249-14-42), who is just beginning to find his groove and is very likely to stay hot all summer and fall.

The Dudley Do-Little Corey

Given to the least productive everyday player in baseball, we tap Astros SS Adam Everett (.242-2-28, 2 SB). He’s a fine defender, but if he’s your fantasy shortstop, you’re doing something wrong.