The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season. It is a good bet that none 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: Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Chris Davis
Mike Trout was my pre-season selection to win this award, but I also picked the Angels to win the American League. They dropped out of contention early, and I think the same can be said for Trout’s candidacy. My guess is Miguel Cabrera, who was having an even better year than his triple crown winning season a year ago before nagging injuries dragged him down towards the end of the year, takes home his second straight MVP.
Cy Young Award: Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, Max Scherzer
My initial guess of David Price obviously did not make the cut. While books have been written about how wins are not a reliable way to track pitching effectiveness, my guess is that if you add in a 20 win season with a trip to the post-season, Max Scherzer will take home the prize.
Manager of the Year: John Farrell, Terry Francona, Bob Melvin
I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season. I imagine that Terry Francona, beloved former manager of the Red Sox, will take home the award for turning around a putrid Indians team and keeping them in contention for the majority of the year.
Rookie of the Year: Chris Archer, Jose Iglesias, Wil Myers
Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season. It is somewhat ironic, given the current value placed on young talent, that all 3 finalists for the award were traded to their current teams, one during this past season. My guess is that Wil Myers will win the award.