The Award Finalists

I watched a special on MLB Network today where the finalists for each of the eight major awards were unveiled.  The winners will be announced on MLB Network, too.  This is a new wrinkle for MLB, and it's one that I really like.  Sure, it takes some luster off my annual series of posts breaking down each award the night before it's announced, but I'll survive.  This is a really good step that I think fans will definitely embrace.  While it's always fun debating the candidates, knowing that the field has been reduced to only three doesn't really take anything away from the debate.  Although, there are some guys I'm surprised didn't make the final cut for certain awards.

AL Rookie: Yoenis Cespedes (A's), Yu Darvish (Rangers), Mike Trout (Angels)
No surprises here.  These three were clearly the three best rookies in the American League this season.  Trout's going to win.  That's pretty obvious.  Darvish and Cespedes were the prize international grabs, and they were both as good as advertised.  Cespedes was a middle-of-the-lineup hitter for an A's team that won a surprise division title, while Darvish ended up as the de facto ace of the Rangers staff, making the All-Star team and starting the AL Wild Card Game.  The only question is which will finish second behind Trout.
My Vote: 1. Trout, 2. Darvish, 3. Cespedes

NL Rookie: Todd Frazier (Reds), Bryce Harper (Nationals), Wade Miley (Diamondbacks)
Some might disagree, but I think this is another easy one.  Harper's obviously the biggest name of the three, but he certainly lived up to the hype.  Consider: as a 19-year-old rookie, he was the everyday center fielder and leadoff hitter for the team that finished with the best record in baseball.  Oh yeah, and he made the All-Star team, too.  Is Harper the NL Rookie of the Year?  That's a clown question, bro.  As for the other two, Miley also made the All-Star team and led all Diamondbacks starters in pretty much everything.  I still don't really know who he is.  Frazier, who was a Little League World Series hero for Toms River, N.J.'s championship team in 1998, was great filling in for Joey Votto and Scott Rolen at various points this season, and he's a big reason why Cincinnati won the NL Central.
My Vote: 1. Harper, 2. Frazier, 3. Miley

AL Manager: Bob Melvin (A's), Buck Showalter (Orioles), Robin Ventura (White Sox)
Just like AL Rookie of the Year, these were the three obvious finalists.  Ventura had never before managed at any level before getting the White Sox job, and he did a great job, keeping his team in first place for most of the season before they were caught by the Tigers in the end.  But this is a two-man race.  If they could give it to both Melvin and Showalter, that would be completely fine with me.  But I don't think they're going to do that, which means you have to separate the two somehow.  Showalter deserves a world of credit for the Orioles' surprising playoff run, but I'm giving the slight edge to Melvin.  The equally surprising A's didn't just make the playoffs.  They won a division that includes the Rangers and Angels.  With a team full of guys you've never heard of.
My Vote: 1. Melvin, 2. Showalter, 3. Ventura

NL Manager: Dusty Baker (Reds), Bruce Bochy (Giants), Davey Johnson (Nationals)
I'm not sure why Bruce Bochy is a finalist.  Yes, the Giants won the World Series, but they were supposed to be good.  I would've gone with Mike Matheny as the third finalist for taking the Cardinals back to the playoffs without Albert.  Dusty Baker's won this award in the past, and the Reds won the NL Central with the second-best record in baseball.  But Davey Johnson's the clear choice.  Everything he did with the Nationals this season worked.  (Even the controversial decision to shut down Stephen Strasburg.)  As a result, a team most people thought was a year or two away, had the best record in the Majors and brought playoff baseball back to the nation's capital for the first time since 1933.
My Vote: 1. Johnson, 2. Baker, 3. Bochy

AL Cy Young: David Price (Rays), Justin Verlander (Tigers), Jered Weaver (Angels)
The AL Cy Young is the biggest toss-up of the eight awards.  I have no idea which of these three guys will win, and I'd really be fine with any of them.  I said Price immediately after the season ended, and I'm going to stick with it.  Narrowly.  His league-leading 20 wins and 2.56 ERA came were made even more impressive by the fact he played in a division that included the Yankees and Orioles, who he always saved his best for.  Weaver was just as dominant as Price, albeit for an Angels team that underachieved.  And Verlander's Verlander.  He wasn't as incredible as last season, but that was a tough act to follow.
My Vote: 1. Price, 2. Weaver, 3. Verlander

NL Cy Young: R.A. Dickey (Mets), Gio Gonzalez (Nationals), Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers)
Another one that's too close to call.  In fact, there could easily be two or three more guys on this list.  Where's Craig Kimbrel, who had possibly the most dominant year a closer's ever had?  My end-of-season vote went to Kimbrel, who's obviously not going to win.  And what about Johnny Cueto or Aroldis Chapman?  No love for the Reds.  Kershaw won this award last year, but he only had 14 wins and was hurt for much of the year, so I think he finishes third.  That leaves Gio and Dickey.  R.A. Dickey's year was as amazing as his story.  He led the NL in strikeouts and won 20 games for a terrible Mets team.  But, sorry Mets fans, as dominant as Dickey was, my vote would go to Gonzalez.  Call me old school, but I'm inclined to give 19 wins for a playoff team credence over 20 wins for a terrible team.  Trading for Gio Gonzalez is perhaps the reason why the Nationals made the playoffs.  He was considered only their second-best pitcher, but performed like an ace and led the league in ERA for the best team in baseball.
My Vote: 1. Gonzalez, 2. Dickey, 3. Kershaw

AL MVP: Adrian Beltre (Rangers), Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), Robinson Cano (Yankees), Josh Hamilton (Rangers), Mike Trout (Angels)
Where's Adam Jones?  I had him third on my AL MVP list.  Since the writers vote 10-deep for MVP, they named five guys as finalists instead of three, but who we kidding?  This is a two-man race.  It's Cabrera vs. Trout.  I haven't gotten into the Cabrera vs. Trout debate yet, so I will now.  Mike Trouyt had a sensational rookie year, but Miguel Cabrera was the best player in the American League this season.  He won the Triple Crown.  That has to still mean something.  He led the league in average, home runs and RBIs.  For a team that made the World Series.  Trout's numbers were ridiculous.  Especially for a 20-year-old rookie.  But I simply don' think the Trout supporters make a strong enough argument.  Their favorite "stat" to point to is that Trout led the league in WAR.  So what?  What's WAR?  It's not even a real stat.  Likewise, you can't really hold Mike Trout's stolen bases against Miguel Cabrera.  It's apples and oranges.  Trout's a leadoff hitter.  He's supposed to get on base and steal bases.  Cabrera bats third.  He isn't paid to steal bases.  He's paid to drive in runs and hit homers.  The defense thing makes no sense, either.  Mike Trout is much better defensively than Miguel Cabrera.  Cabrera would be the first to admit that.  What everybody fails to mention, though, is that Miguel Cabrera switched positions this year so that the Tigers could sign Prince Fielder and, while no means a "good" third baseman, he at least held his own over there.  And let's also not forget this: the Tigers went to the World Series.  The Angels finished third in their four-team division.  Mike Trout will unanimously win Rookie of the Year.  Miguel Cabrera should be the MVP, though.  In my opinion, it's not even close.
My Vote: 1. Cabrera, 2. Trout, 3. Hamilton, 4. Cano, 5. Beltre

NL MVP: Ryan Braun (Brewers), Chase Headley (Padres), Andrew McCutchen (Pirates), Yadier Molina (Cardinals), Buster Posey (Giants)
Joey Votto had this thing pretty much locked up at the All-Star Break.  Then he missed two months and dropped out of the running.  Chase Headley's the surprise name here, and it's nice to see a guy who doesn't get a lot of press playing for a bad team on the West Coast being recognized.  He's not going to come anywhere close to winning, but just being on the list of finalists shows Chase Headley that he's not completely anonymous in San Diego.  Ryan Braun's numbers this season were actually better than they were last year when he won.  (I guess he didn't need steroids after all.)  But he's not going to win.  Not after his suspension/non-suspension.  Andrew McCutchen almost single-handedly kept the Pirates in the race and was right up there with Votto at the All-Star Break before fading down the stretch.  But this race comes down to the two catchers.  Molina's the best catcher in baseball and displayed the offense to go with it this season.  He's quickly becoming the face of the Post-Albert Cardinals.  There's a clear winner here, though.  And his name is Buster Posey.  When Melky Cabrera was suspended in August, the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year put the Giants on his back.  He won the batting title while hitting in the middle of the order and catching every day.  The Giants got hot and never stopped, winning their second World Series in Posey's three seasons.  Is it any coincidence that the only time they haven't won was last year, when he got hurt in May and missed the rest of the season?  Buster Posey's 2012 season was the definition of an MVP season.
My Vote: 1. Posey, 2. Molina, 3. McCutchen, 4. Braun, 5. Headley