The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the recently 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: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Bobby Witt Jr.
While Witt led the league in hitting while posting a 30-30 season and leading the surprising Royals back to the post-season, Judge’s 58 home runs and 1.159 OPS, the highest number since Barry Bonds in 2004, should take this with no problem.
Cy Young Award: Emmanuel Clase, Seth Lugo, Tarik Skubal
In his breakout season, Skubal looks like the logical choice, winning the AL triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts.
Manager of the Year: A.J. Hinch, Matt Quatraro, Stephen Vogt
As usual, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season. Three teams from the AL Central made the post-season and all three of their skippers show up here. I’m guessing that A.J. Hinch, whose Tigers were left for dead before going on a tremendous stretch run to get into the playoffs, will get the award.
Rookie of the Year: Colton Cowser, Luis Gil, Austin Wells
Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season. The two Yankees both had impressive stretches throughout the season but also faced significant struggles at times. Cowser, meanwhile, tied for the rookie lead with 24 home runs and led AL rookies with a 123 OPS+, which should earn him the nod.
