Just wanted to touch base real quick on this. The next two nights we’ll find out who won the only 2 MLB Awards that matter. The votes have been in since the end of the regular season, and we know the top 3 vote-getters (finalists) and they’ll give them out tonight. Here are my picks:

AL Cy Young

Finalists: Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, Justin Verlander

My Pre-Season Pick:  Gerrit Cole

Who will win?

It’s Cole here. Morton had a great year, but doesn’t belong with these other two. Both Verlander and Cole were ACES, this year, and had ridiculous numbers. They both had over 300 K’s, sub- 2.60 ERA’s and 20 wins (even though wins don’t matter). Cole was slightly better statistically, and, hey, he was my pre-season pick, so I’m giving him the edge.

NL Cy Young

Finalists: Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, Hyun-Jin Ryu

My Pre-Season Pick: Aaron Nola

Who will win?

I’m going with deGrom. He and Scherzer both pitched like Cy Young winners, but Max only threw 175 innings. deGrom followed up his Cy season with another dominant year, even though the Mets are a complete joke of a franchise. He’s so good, that the front office actually thought the Mets had a chance to win.

 

AL MVP

Finalists: Alex Bregman, Marcus Semiem, Mike Trout

My Pre-Season Pick:  Alex Bregman

Who Will Win?

As much as I take pride in my Bregman pick- he had an MVP-worthy season- it’s undoubtedly MVP #3 for Mike Trout. He led the league in OBP, Slugging, hit 45 HR, 104 RBI and scored 110 runs…he’s the MVP. And don’t give me the shit about standings. A player contributes just as much to a losing team as he does to a winning team…it’s the rest of the team and the manager that are worse. Thank god we won’t have to listen to the stupid argument any more, since the Angels will sign Cole and have Ohtani back at full strength, and will be a playoff contender for sure in 2020.

NL MVP

Finalists: Cody Bellinger, Anthony Rendon, Christian Yelich

My Pre-season Pick:  Ronald Acuna

Who Will Win?

It’s crazy to think that 13 months ago, Cody Bellinger was NOT in the starting lineup of TWO World Series games against the Red Sox. Even more crazy Dave Roberts still has a job. But, I digress. This was a real race until Yelich went down with a season-ending injury, and Bellinger took advantage of it. He tallied 47 HR, 115 RBI and a 1.035 OPS, all while playing CF. He’s a 3rd year player and 23 years old…so good luck with that, rest of the league.

 

That’s it…those are the picks.