The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season, which will be announced next week. It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate. Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.
American League
Most Valuable Player: Jose Altuve, Mookie Betts, Mike Trout
Mike Trout was my pre-season selection to win the award this year and, sadly, I think the failure of the Angels to compete has left his accomplishments unappreciated. My guess is Mookie Betts gets rewarded for the division-winning Red Sox.
Cy Young Award: Corey Kluber, Rick Porcello, Justin Verlander
If the voting had taken place after the post-season, then Corey Kluber would likely get more love for leading the Indians within a game of winning the World Series. So, I’m going to assume Rick Porcello, with his gaudy win total, will take home the award.
Manager of the Year: Jeff Banister, Terry Francona, Buck Showalter
Once again, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season. I’m guessing Terry Francona will win the award for the second time.
Rookie of the Year: Michael Fulmer, Gary Sanchez, Tyler Naquin
Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season. I imagine that Michael Fulmer will be taking home the award.
13 years ago tonight, the Cubs were 5 outs away from the World Series before an incident saw their season unravel. 1 year ago, they prepared to return to the NLCS for the first time since, a series they ultimately lost to the Mets. Tomorrow night, they head back for the second straight year, hoping to end a 71 year World Series drought. With the Dodgers coming to town, let’s look at the offensive leaders in the 7 LCS games I’ve attended, games 1, 6, and 7 of the 2003 NLCS, games 1 and 2 of the 2005 ALCS, and those ill-fated games 3 and 4 of the 2015 NLCS.