MLB awards week is here, and that means it’s time to hand out some hardware as baseball’s best of 2019 vie for MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year honors.
Will Mike Trout hold off Alex Bregman for his third American League MVP award? Did Cody Bellinger separate himself from Christian Yelich and Anthony Rendon as the National League’s most valuable player? And which Astros ace will take home Cy Young honors in the AL? Here’s when each award will be announced, the finalists to win and a quick take to get you in the know — and make sure to check back during the week as we update this page with winners and more key information.
MLB awards schedule
Monday: AL and NL Rookie of the Year
Tuesday: AL and NL Manager of the Year
Wednesday: AL and NL Cy Young
Thursday: AL and NL MVP
(All awards announced at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network.)
Rookie of the Year (Monday)
AL finalists: Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros; Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays; John Means, Baltimore Orioles
Quick take: Alvarez is the clear favorite here after posting a .313/.412/.655 slash line with 27 home runs in 87 games.
NL finalists: Pete Alonso, New York Mets; Mike Soroka, Atlanta Braves; Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
Quick take: All three finalists showed that superstardom is in their future this season, but Alonso’s rookie-record 53 home runs make him the likely winner here.
Manager of the Year (Tuesday)
AL finalists: Rocco Baldelli, Minnesota Twins; Aaron Boone, New York Yankees; Kevin Cash, Tampa Bay Rays
Quick take: Baldelli excelled in his first season as a manager and Cash steered the small-market Rays to the postseason, but it will be hard to top Boone leading the Yankees to 103 wins and an AL East crown in an injury-filled season for New York.
NL finalists: Craig Counsell, Milwaukee Brewers; Mike Shildt, St. Louis Cardinals; Brian Snitker, Atlanta Braves
Quick take: This one is wide open. Snitker could take home the honor for a second consecutive year, and Shildt has a strong case after leading the Cardinals to the top of the NL Central, but Counsell getting the Brewers back to the playoffs with a strong finish after Christian Yelich’s season-ending injury might be too much for voters to ignore.
Cy Young (Wednesday)
AL finalists: Gerrit Cole, Houston Astros; Charlie Morton, Tampa Bay Rays; Justin Verlander, Houston Astros
Quick take: With all due respect to Morton, this is a race between the two Astros aces — and Cole is likely to come out on top.
NL finalists: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets; Hyun-Jin Ryu, Los Angeles Dodgers; Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals
Quick take: Ryu faded down the stretch after dominating this conversation for most of the year and Scherzer lost part of his season to injuries, leaving deGrom in line for back-to-back Cy Young victories.
MVP (Thursday)
AL finalists: Alex Bregman, Houston Astros; Marcus Semien, Oakland Athletics; Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
Quick take: Trout’s September injury opened the door for a close race with Bregman here. The big question is how much of a boost voters will give Bregman for playing on a winning team and appearing in 22 more games than Trout in 2019.
NL finalists: Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers; Anthony Rendon, Washington Nationals; Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers
Quick take: A strong case could be made for any of the three finalists here. Bellinger might be the favorite after Yelich’s season ended in mid-September and with much of Rendon’s best work coming in October. Remember, this is a regular-season award.