On Monday, the Baseball Writers' Association of America announced the three finalists for Major League Baseball's four major regular-season awards: Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year. Winners will be announced over the next two weeks.
Here are the finalists for each award:
AL MVP
| Player | Pos. | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Mookie Betts | OF | Boston Red Sox |
| Jose Ramirez | 3B-2B | Cleveland Indians |
| Mike Trout | OF | Los Angeles Angels |
Ramirez - an MVP finalist for the second straight year - and Betts both finished top three in voting after producing 30-30 seasons for playoff teams. They're joined by two-time MVP Trout, who led MLB in walks, OBP, and slugging, and finished six steals shy of his own 30-30 campaign. This is the sixth time in his seven full seasons that Trout's finished in the top three of AL MVP voting; last year, he placed fourth.
NL MVP
| Player | Pos. | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Nolan Arenado | 3B | Colorado Rockies |
| Javier Baez | IF | Chicago Cubs |
| Christian Yelich | OF | Milwaukee Brewers |
Three first-time finalists will vie for the NL MVP. Arenado led the Senior Circuit in home runs and Baez paced the NL in RBIs while providing stellar infield defense at three positions. Yelich led all NL hitters in batting, slugging, and OPS, and he finished two homers and one RBI shy of becoming the first NL Triple Crown winner since 1937.
AL Cy Young
| Player | Pos. | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Corey Kluber | RHP | Cleveland Indians |
| Blake Snell | LHP | Tampa Bay Rays |
| Justin Verlander | RHP | Houston Astros |
Kluber is hoping to join some elite company by winning his third Cy Young and has a chance to become the first pitcher to win it in consecutive seasons since Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000. Verlander, who paced the AL in strikeouts, is trying for his second Cy and first as an Astro. They'll be joined by the newcomer Snell, who crafted an AL-best 1.89 ERA in only his third full season.
NL Cy Young
| Player | Pos. | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Jacob deGrom | RHP | New York Mets |
| Aaron Nola | RHP | Philadelphia Phillies |
| Max Scherzer | RHP | Washington Nationals |
DeGrom only won 10 games due to a lack of run support, but that didn't stop him from posting a microscopic 1.70 ERA. He may be the front-runner, but he does face stiff competition in NL East rivals Nola - who led in WAR and finished top 10 in multiple categories - and Scherzer - the future Hall of Famer and two-time defending Cy winner who struck out 300 batters and is trying to become only the fifth pitcher ever to win the award four times.
AL Rookie of the Year
| Player | Pos. | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Miguel Andujar | 3B | New York Yankees |
| Shohei Ohtani | RHP-DH | Los Angeles Angels |
| Gleyber Torres | 2B-SS | New York Yankees |
Andujar slugged 27 home runs and tied an AL rookie record with 47 doubles, while his Yankees teammate Torres was right behind him with 24 big flies. The two Baby Bombers go up against Ohtani, the Japanese phenom who exploded onto the MLB scene by becoming the league's first true two-way player since Babe Ruth. Ohtani posted a .925 OPS and hit 22 homers as a DH, while also striking out 11 per nine innings with a 3.31 ERA in 10 starts on the mound before suffering an elbow injury.
NL Rookie of the Year
| Player | Pos. | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Ronald Acuna Jr. | OF | Atlanta Braves |
| Walker Buehler | RHP | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Juan Soto | OF | Washington Nationals |
Acuna lived up to the hype in his rookie campaign, raking to the tune of a .917 OPS, 26 homers, and 16 steals as the Braves' dynamic leadoff hitter. Buehler established himself as a future ace for the Dodgers by striking out 151 in 24 appearances (23 starts) and throwing the first six innings of a combined no-hitter in May. Soto was one of the best hitters in baseball and looked nothing like his 19 years of age; his 22 homers tied teammate Bryce Harper for the second most by a teenager in a single season.
AL Manager of the Year
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Kevin Cash | Tampa Bay Rays |
| Alex Cora | Boston Red Sox |
| Bob Melvin | Oakland Athletics |
Cora may be the odds-on favorite after leading the Red Sox to a club-record 108 wins as a rookie manager. He's got tough competition from AL East rival Cash, who guided the Rays to 90 victories despite a bevy of injuries and the midseason trade of ace Chris Archer, and Melvin, the two-time winner who orchestrated the Athletics' shocking run to the playoffs following three straight last-place finishes.
NL Manager of the Year
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Bud Black | Colorado Rockies |
| Craig Counsell | Milwaukee Brewers |
| Brian Snitker | Atlanta Braves |
Black won this award in 2010 and finished third last year; he's a finalist again after deftly guiding the Rockies to the playoffs for a second consecutive season, a first for the young franchise. Counsell's maneuvers weren't always conventional, but his work speaks for itself: the NL's best record, a franchise-best 96 wins, and the Brewers' first division title in seven years. Snitker, a Braves employee since 1977 who finally got his shot to manage two years ago, orchestrated the team's worst-to-first turnaround and got Atlanta into the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
