The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed shortened 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 Abreu, D.J. LeMahieu, Jose Ramirez
Well, my pre-season selection to win the award this year, Yoan Moncada, got taken down by the corona virus, but I’m expecting (and hoping) that it stays in the same clubhouse and that Jose Abreu wins.
Cy Young Award: Shane Bieber, Kenta Maeda, Hyun-Jin Ryu
My initial guess was that Blake Snell would take home the prize, but this has Shane Bieber written all over it.
Manager of the Year: Kevin Cash, Charlie Montoyo, Rick Renteria
Once again, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season. Kevin Cash is the likely winner, though wouldn’t it be funny to see Renteria bring home this award a month after losing the job he was being recognized for?.
Rookie of the Year: Christian Javier, Kyle Lewis, Luis Robert
Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season. Had you held the election at the end of August, Robert would have been the odds-on favorite. However, a month long slump in September probably puts Kyle Lewis in the driver’s seat.
National League
Most Valuable Player: Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Manny Machado
My pre-season prediction here could also claim to have been taken down by the corona virus, or at least by the insane make-up schedule caused by an outbreak of the corona virus in the Cardinals clubhouse. My guess is that Freddie Freeman will take home this award.
Cy Young Award: Trevor Bauer, Yu Darvish, Jacob deGrom
Well, at least I can say that my prediction of Jacob deGrom was a finalist, though I expect that Trevor Bauer will win the prize.
Manager of the Year: Don Mattingly, David Ross, Jayce Tingler
In any other year, leading the Marlins to the post-season would pretty much be a guarantee of winning Manager of the Year. Add in the roster turnover caused by an early season corona virus outbreak and Don Mattingly is pretty much a shoe-in.
Rookie of the Year: Alec Bohm, Jake Cronenworth, Devin Williams
What does it tell you about the 2020 season that my first reaction to all 3 of these names is “who?” I’ll take a wild shot in the dark and say Cronenworth.