MLB awards week: Our picks for MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and more
Awards week is here for Major League Baseball. By Thursday, we’ll know who will take home this year’s hardware for MVP, Cy Young and more.
Rookie of the Year is the first award and will be handed out Monday. Manager of the Year awards come Tuesday, then Cy Youngs on Wednesday and MVPs on Thursday. All four will be announced on MLB Network starting at 6 p.m. ET.
Who’s going to win the awards? Like most years, there’s a combination of shoo-ins and mystery. The Rookie of the Year awards seem like a sure thing, but there’s some debate to be had with managers and MVPs.
Before we find out the winners, here are four of our MLB writers making their picks in each category. Before we do, consider this your annual reminder that all voting took place before the postseason and thus, October performance doesn’t factor into the awards:
Hannah Keyser
AL Rookie of the Year: Yordan Alvarez
NL Rookie of the Year: Pete Alonso
AL Manager of the Year: Aaron Boone
NL Manager of the Year: Dave Martinez
AL Cy Young: Gerrit Cole
NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom
AL MVP: Mike Trout
NL MVP: Cody Bellinger
These are not surprising or controversial or even especially interesting picks! Christian Yelich getting hurt clears the way for Cody Bellinger to take NL MVP easier than he would have otherwise, but I'm choosing to not apply this logic to Mike Trout in the AL because he really is that good. I want to think I'm not factoring postseason performance into picking Gerrit Cole over Justin Verlander for AL Cy Young, and fortunately that's believable enough to avoid admitting it's not really true. It's tough to argue with stats which is why the manager awards are both the silliest and most fun to debate. Ultimately, two of the tiredest team-wide narratives in baseball this year proved sufficiently compelling to me: Dave Martinez keeping the Nationals' spirits high after a 19-31 start to the season, and Aaron Boone steering the Yankees to 103 wins despite a record-setting array of injuries — both in terms of sheer numbers and as well as star power.
Mike Mazzeo
AL Rookie of the Year: Yordan Alvarez
NL Rookie of the Year: Pete Alonso
AL Manager of the Year: Aaron Boone
NL Manager of the Year: Craig Counsell
AL Cy Young: Gerrit Cole
NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom
AL MVP: Mike Trout
NL MVP: Christian Yelich
Covering Alonso (MLB rookie-record 53 homers), deGrom (frontrunner for back-to-back Cy Youngs) and Boone (103-59 despite an MLB-record 30 different players on the injured list) in New York on a daily basis was memorable. Trout and Yelich both winning MVP awards despite missing the end of the season due to injuries would be quite a feat. Cole gets the nod over Justin Verlander here, but maybe there should be co-honors.
Mike Oz
AL Rookie of the Year: Yordan Alvarez
NL Rookie of the Year: Pete Alonso
AL Manager of the Year: Rocco Baldelli
NL Manager of the Year: Dave Martinez
AL Cy Young: Gerrit Cole
NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom
AL MVP: [Answer withheld]
NL MVP: Christian Yelich
First off, I cast a ballot for AL MVP this year, so I can’t reveal my vote until the awards are announced. Cue dramatic music. I like Gerrit Cole over Justin Verlander for Cy Young even though the numbers were tight. Being unbeatable in the second half, was a tad more impressive. Jacob deGrom is the pick almost by default, as neither Ryu or Scherzer had the full body of work to warrant a Cy Young. Dave Martinez isn’t a finalist, but should be — from getting nearly getting fired to finishing the way the Nats did, that’s worthy of something. As for NL MVP, Yelich gets the nod despite missing the Brewers’ stretch run. Normally, I’d want someone who didn’t miss the most important part of the season, but Bellinger’s season was pretty uneven, with a significant drop-off in production in the second half.
Mark Townsend
AL Rookie of the Year: Yordan Alvarez
NL Rookie of the Year: Pete Alonso
AL Manager of the Year: Aaron Boone
NL Manager of the Year: Dave Martinez
AL Cy Young: Gerrit Cole
NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom
AL MVP: Mike Trout
NL MVP: Cody Bellinger
The rookie picks are no-brainers and the manager field is so wide open that I'd be fine with any of finalists winning. I still think Martinez has the best résumé just based on how Washington finished the regular season. The consistent dominance of Cole and deGrom make them easy choices, while Bellinger taking his all-around game to another level clinches the NL MVP. Trout and Bregman is a fun debate, but Trout produced massive numbers despite missing extended time. He's simply the best player baseball has to offer.
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Mike Oz is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @mikeoz
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