Kris Bryant, Mike Trout among finalists for MLB's biggest awards
Who will take home baseball’s top awards? We won’t find out for another week, but on Monday we found who were the finalists to be the 2016 MVPs, Cy Young winners, Managers of the Year and Rookies of the Year.
The World Series champion Chicago Cubs fared well — with Kris Bryant nominated for MVP and two pitchers, Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks, in the running for Cy Young. Two other NL playoff teams, the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers, did well too. In fact, only Cubs, Dodgers and Nats were nominated for the NL awards. Sorry, other 12 teams.
In the AL, we might be talking most about which players weren’t among the finalists. David Ortiz and his historic farewell season didn’t rank in the top 3. Zach Britton, who some pundits thought could *win* the AL Cy Young, didn’t land in the top 3. The AL awards might also be the most open for debate, considering there’s no clear favorite in any of them.
Here’s a rundown each category. Winners are chosen by votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Only regular-season play is considered.
AL MVP
• Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
• Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox
• Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
Our take: It’s a strong field with no clear-cut winner, though it should come down to Betts vs. Trout. Fans of traditional stats will favor Betts (.318, 31 homers, 113 RBIs) while advanced-stat-minded folks who support Trout (he led MLB in WAR again, per Fangraphs). Altuve fell off late, but still won the AL batting title.
Notable snub: David Ortiz’s historic farewell season — he led baseball in RBIs and OPS — wasn’t enough to crack the top 3.
NL MVP
• Kris Bryant, Cubs
• Daniel Murphy, Nationals
• Corey Seager, Dodgers
Our take: This one won’t be the source of much debate. Both Seager and Murphy were essential to their teams’ success — perhaps more essential than expected — but Bryant should be the runaway winner here because he was across-the-board good in helping the Cubs to the best record in baseball. He led the NL in WAR, hit 39 homers with 102 RBIs while hitting .292. He also played all over the diamond for the Cubs.
Notable snub: This was the best possible group. The next people up would have been either Nolan Arenado, Justin Turner or Anthony Rizzo.
AL CY YOUNG
• Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians
• Rick Porcello, Red Sox
• Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
Our take: This might be the toughest award on the ballot, because all of them were good but none was head-and-shoulders great. In fact, many people thought that might open the door for Orioles closer Zach Britton to win the award, but …
Notable snub: Yep, Britton. He was by far the best closer in the game this season. He only allowed four earned runs in 67 innings while collecting 47 saves.
NL CY YOUNG
• Kyle Hendricks, Cubs
• Jon Lester, Cubs
• Max Scherzer, Nationals
Our take: Two Cubs, one Max — and Scherzer might be the best selection here. He led the NL in innings pitched, won 20 games and was third in strikeouts per nine innings. Hendricks’ 2.13 ERA was certainly impressive, but most voters want more than 190 innings. He and Lester could split the vote too.
Notable snub: There were at least three more good picks out there in Noah Syndergaard, Madison Bumgarner and Jose Fernandez, who died shortly before ballots were due. Syndergaard, who led NL pitchers in fWAR, might stand out the most.
AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
• Tyler Naquin, OF, Indians
• Gary Sanchez, C, New York Yankees
• Michael Fulmer, SP, Detroit Tigers
Our take: This is another of the tough AL votes, and it really comes down to Sanchez vs. Fulmer. Sanchez had a huge impact in a small amount of time (20 homers in 53 games) but Fulmer was effective all year long for a Tigers rotation that needed another arm. Naquin was good (he hit .296 in 116 games) but Sanchez’s surge seems to have overshadowed him.
Notable snub: Mariners closer Edwin Diaz will get some votes because of his 18 saves, but he’s not exactly a snub against this group.
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
• Kenta Maeda, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Trea Turner, SS/OF, Nationals
• Corey Seager, SS, Dodgers
Our take: This is the biggest no-brainer in this year’s awards. Seager is an MVP finalist, so that tells you all you need to know about whether he’s ROY-worthy. Turner was great, but Seager is a no-doubter here.
Notable snub: Trevor Story and his 27 homers were the early story in MLB. If he hadn’t gotten hurt, he might have gotten more traction here.
AL MANAGERS OF THE YEAR
• Jeff Banister, Texas Rangers
• Terry Francona, Indians
• Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles
Our take: Hard to make a bad choice here. They’ve all won the award in the past. Remember that postseason isn’t included and it’s even tougher. Showalter might be the pick for taking an Orioles team many didn’t believe in, with bad starting pitching, and getting them into wild-card position.
Notable snub: Nada, this is the right group.
NL MANAGERS OF THE YEAR
• Dusty Baker, Nationals
• Joe Maddon, Cubs
• Dave Roberts, Dodgers
Our take: Roberts is the best choice here since he was a rookie manager and he helped turn around the Dodgers’ season when Kershaw was injured. The other two are fine choices, but Roberts had the toughest route to the postseason.
Notable snub: Terry Collins deserves at least an honorable mention here for keeping the Mets viable while dealing with a glut of injuries that would have devastated other teams.
Here’s a rundown of when winners will be announced: Rookies of the Year (Nov. 14), Mangers of the Year (Nov. 15), Cy Young (Nov. 16) and MVPs (Nov. 17).
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
