Award season: Who took home the hardware
Baseball's major awards winners were rolled out as the Baseball Writers' Association of America revealed the results of voting conducted at the end of the regular season.
USA TODAY Sports examined who should, and will, win 'em all:
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MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
AL finalists: LF Michael Brantley, Indians; DH Victor Martinez, Detroit Tigers; CF Mike Trout, Angels.
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NL finalists: LHP Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers; CF Andrew McCutchen, Pirates; RF Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins.
AL opening arguments: Brantley had a stellar year and graded well in traditional measures (third with a .327 batting average) and advanced ones (third in position-player WAR, 7.0). ... Martinez batted .335 with 32 homers and 103 RBI. ... Trout claimed the AL WAR crown (7.9) and edged nemesis Miguel Cabrera for the RBI crown (111-109).
NL opening arguments: The Dodgers were 23-4 (.852) when Kershaw started, 71-64 (.526) when anyone else did. ... McCutchen led the league in OBP (.410) and on-base plus slugging (.952) while playing through a rib injury. ... Stanton's reΜsumeΜ β an NL-best 37 homers and .555 slugging β is untarnished by his absence the final month after a pitch struck him in the face.
Who should win: Kershaw and Trout. And maybe pitcher MVPs become more frequent as offense continues going south.
Who will win: Kershaw and Trout. Trout finally gets his MVP. Wait β he's just 23.
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CY YOUNG AWARD
AL finalists: RHP Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners; RHP Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians; LHP Chris Sale, White Sox.
NL finalists: RHP Johnny Cueto, Reds; LHP Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers; RHP Adam Wainwright, Cardinals.
AL opening arguments: Hernandez enjoyed arguably the best season of his stellar career, leading the league in ERA (2.14) and WHIP (0.92). ... Kluber led all major league pitchers β Kershaw included β in wins above replacement (WAR) and struck out 269 in 235 2/3 innings. ... Sale was just behind Hernandez in ERA (2.17) and WHIP (0.97) and led the AL in strikeouts per nine innings (10.76).
NL opening arguments: Kershaw was the majors' ERA champ for a fourth consecutive season with a career-low 1.77 mark. ... Cueto pitched 45 more innings than Kershaw, had nearly as good a WHIP (0.96) and tied for the strikeout title (242). ... Wainwright matched Cueto's 20-9 record.
Who should win: Kershaw and Kluber. Advanced metrics enabled Hernandez to win his first Cy Young Award with a 13-12 mark in 2010. They should do the same for Kluber this year.
Who will win: Kershaw and Hernandez. It's tough to wrestle this award from King Felix.
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ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
American League finalists: 1B Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox; RHP Dellin Betances, New York Yankees; RHP Matt Shoemaker, Los Angeles Angels.
National League finalists: RHP Jacob deGrom, New York Mets; CF Billy Hamilton, Cincinnati Reds; 2B Kolten Wong, St.Louis Cardinals.
AL opening arguments: Abreu, a Cuban defector in his first pro season in the USA, finished in the league's top five in batting average (.317), on-base percentage (.385), slugging percentage (.565), homers (36) and RBI (107). ... Betances was one of the AL's most dominant relievers, striking out 135 in 90 innings and posting a 1.40 ERA. ... Shoemaker was a revelation, going 16-4 with a 3.04 ERA and a 1.07 walks-plus-hits per inning pitched (WHIP).
NL opening arguments: No one had a better finishing kick than deGrom, who went 9-2 with a 1.99 ERA over his last 15 starts after a 0-4 start. He finished with a 2.69 ERA and a strikeout rate (9.2 per nine innings) better than he posted in the minors. ... Hamilton stole 53 bases but was caught 23 times. ... Wong had a nice combination of power and speed, stealing 20 bases in 24 attempts and hitting 12 homers.
Who should win: Abreu and de Grom. Abreu's numbers stand out all the more in a pitching-dominated environment. As an everyday player from opening day on, Hamilton has a strong case but posted a .200 average and .254 on-base percentage (OBP) in the second half.
Who will win: Abreu and de Grom, the latter in a close one.
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MANAGER OF THE YEAR
AL finalists: Mike Scioscia, Angels; Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles; Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals.
NL finalists: Bruce Bochy, San Francisco Giants; Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates; Matt Williams, Washington Nationals.
AL opening arguments: Scioscia benefited from the league's most productive offense but also proved nimble, working around a ghastly bullpen early in the year and then running a revamped unit to perfection after several midseason trades. ... Showalter took a team of many spare parts and molded it into a 96-win machine. ... Yost's team finished last in the league in home runs but won 89 games and broke a 29-year streak without a playoff berth.
NL opening arguments: Bochy's and Hurdle's clubs shook off midseason doldrums to snag wild-card berths β Pittsburgh going 17-9 in September. ... Williams wrung the potential out of a Nationals club that underachieved and handled a potentially dicey position logjam involving veteran Ryan Zimmerman with aplomb.
Who should win: Showalter and Williams. There's no stirring underdog tale for either club, but they made winning 96 games look easy. Note: It is not.
Who will win: Yost and Williams. While voting was completed before often-criticized Yost guided the Royals to the World Series, ending their playoff drought might be a hard narrative for voters to ignore.
Contributing: Ted Berg, Gabe Lacques