2026 MLB Awards Picks For AL and NL MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Every Major Award
We'll have to wait until mid-November to officially find out who wins Major League Baseball's Most Valuable Player, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards for 2026.
But if you're not that patient, we can go ahead and unofficially declare those winners now.
For the most part, this year's awards races have been pretty boring. Shohei Ohtani vs. Pete Crow-Armstrong for NL MVP was a fun debate for about a week, but PCA is probably going to win unanimously at this point. That might also be true for AL MVP, both Cy Youngs and maybe even both Rookies of the Year.
At any rate, there's nothing even remotely close to last year's Aaron Judge vs. Cal Raleigh debate.
For each of those six awards, though, who is most likely to finish as first runner-up? Who has slipped through the cracks and not gotten nearly as much attention as they deserve?
Before we get into those big six, we'll start with a few much more debatable awards, like Manager and Comeback Player of the Year.
Statistics current through the start of play on Wednesday.
Comeback Player of the Year
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AL CPOY: Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros
MLB has been officially naming a comeback player of the year in each league on an annual basis since 2005. The only player thus far to win both this award and MVP in the same season was Buster Posey in 2012. Alvarez is destined for both trophies after playing in just 48 games with a sub-.800 OPS in 2025. Not only has he bounced back, but he has been better than ever before.
Also Worth Considering: Shane McClanahan, Gerrit Cole, Mike Trout, Willson Contreras, Nick Martinez
NL CPOY: Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins
Of all the awards we'll get into today, this one is the toughest to pick.
Zack Wheeler deserves serious consideration for a dominant return from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. However, because he merely missed the final six weeks of last season and the first four weeks of the current campaign, he might get overlooked.
Eduardo Rodriguez was dreadful over the past two seasons, posting an ERA north of 5.00 in each, but he is under 3.00 this season and is the biggest reason the Diamondbacks have made it this far with a postseason pulse.
Michael Harris II has also had a major bounce back from a disappointing 2025.
If you possibly had Ty France penciled in as San Diego's best hitter in 2026 after four separate teams in the previous two years sent him packing with a sub-.700 OPS, please step forward to claim your prize.
Alcantara probably takes the cake for returning to his throne as the rubber-armed ace of the Marlins. He missed all of 2024 following Tommy John surgery and had a horrendous first four months of last season. He returned to his old self this year, leading the majors in innings pitched with a sub-4.00 ERA.
Also Considered: Zack Wheeler, Eduardo Rodriguez, Ty France, Michael Harris II, Nolan Arenado, Garrett Mitchell, Tanner Scott
Reliever of the Year
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AL Reliever of the Year: Louis Varland, Toronto Blue Jays
It was clear from last October that the Blue Jays had a lot of faith in Varland, using him in a record-setting 15 postseason games. He did so with a 3.94 ERA. He entered 2026 with a career 4.66 ERA during the regular season and nary a save in his big-league career.
This year, though, he was pretty much forced into the closer role in late April by Jeff Hoffman's struggles and subsequently became the king of the ninth inning, going 34-for-36 in save chances with a 1.29 ERA in 77 innings pitched.
Also Worth Considering: Cade Smith, Bryan Baker, Paul Blackburn, Jacob Latz
NL Reliever of the Year: Mason Miller, San Diego Padres
Varland winning the AL award would have been unthinkable six months ago, but Miller doing so in the NL was the expectation all along.
Miller was special from the outset with the Athletics, but getting traded to the Padres last summer unlocked a whole new level of dominance. Between his 85 regular season and two postseason appearances with San Diego, he has a 1.06 ERA, a 0.78 WHIP and a 17.0 K/9.
He has gone 37-for-40 in save chances this season, with two of the three blown saves coming in a "break in case of emergency" situation, with the winning run already on base and one out in the eighth inning. Even then, he pitched well enough that the Padres still won after the save was blown.
Also Worth Considering: Jhoan Duran, Adrian Morejon, Tanner Scott, Didier Fuentes
Manager of the Year
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AL Manager of the Year: Kevin Cash, Tampa Bay Rays
Chad Tracy gets a serious tip o' the cap for inheriting a mess from Alex Cora in late April and rallying the troops for a postseason berth.
However, Boston was supposed to be good and maybe needed that change of guard to eventually turn things around. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, was supposed to finish in dead last in the AL East, given a preseason win total of 76.5.
Thanks to Cash's leadership in the dugout, bets on the over cashed more than a month ago, as the Rays have already locked up the American League's No. 1 seed.
(If this award goes to Will Venable, though, no arguments here. Can't imagine there are many, if any, instances in history of a manager improving a team by at least 19 wins in back-to-back seasons, let alone in his first two years as a big-league manager.)
Also Worth Considering: Chad Tracy, Boston Red Sox; Will Venable, Chicago White Sox
NL Manager of the Year: Pat Murphy, Milwaukee Brewers
Like Tracy in Boston, three cheers to Don Mattingly in Philadelphia for taking over a 9-19 disaster in late April before steering the Phillies (barring a disaster scenario in this closing stretch) back to the postseason.
Mattingly merely got them back onto the right track, though, headed for a photo finish on that 89.5 preseason win total. Murphy should be headed for a third straight NL Manager of the Year award for repeatedly raising the bar in Milwaukee.
The Brewers set a franchise record with 97 wins last season. They've already reset that record this year.
Despite trading away three of last year's 10 most valuable players (Freddy Peralta, Caleb Durbin and Isaac Collins) during the winter.
Despite having last year's breakout pitcher, Quinn Priester, land on the IL in spring training and never return.
Despite losing Brandon Woodruff to a season-ending shoulder injury after just nine appearances.
And despite Christian Yelich dropping off a cliff for career-worst numbers.
Mattingly helped revive the Phillies, but Murphy might actually be a magician.
Also Worth Considering: Don Mattingly, Philadelphia Phillies
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Platinum Gloves
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AL Platinum Glove: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
Witt also received this honor last season, when he was a tiny bit better and a good bit healthier.
Unless it's going to Dillon Dingler for proving that the art of framing pitches still matters in the ABS era, Witt ought to be the repeat winner of the American League's Platinum Glove.
It feels like a lifetime ago that he was a liability on defense as a rookie, but he has blossomed into one of the best five-tool players in the game today. He is sure to finish top seven in the AL MVP vote for a fourth straight year.
Also Worth Considering: Dillon Dingler, Detroit Tigers; Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox; Ezequiel Duran, Texas Rangers
NL Platinum Glove: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
The quest for a 40/40 season has drawn all the attention around PCA, but his range in center field might be even more ludicrous than what he is accomplishing on offense.
Per Statcast, he gets the best jump among qualified outfielders, and it's not even close.
As a result, he makes the improbable look routine and makes the impossible look anything but.
Crow-Armstrong has gone 8-for-16 on 5-star catch opportunities. He is the only qualified outfielder north of 30 percent (let alone 50 percent) in that category. He is also 12-for-15 on 4-star catch opportunities for a combined total of 20 catches and a 64.5 percent success rate on plays with a catch probability of 50 percent or lower. No other player has more than 13 such catches. AJ Ewing (6-for-7 on 4-star; 2-for-9 on 5-star; 50 percent total) is the only other with a success rate of 38 percent or better.
That's a lot of numbers to say that if anyone is going to replicate Willie Mays' iconic catch in the 1954 World Series, it's PCA. (He may well also homer and steal a bag while he's at it.)
Also Worth Considering: JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals
AL Rookie of the Year
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Who Will Win: Kevin McGonigle, Detroit Tigers
Season Stats: .276/.376/.425, 17 HR, 70 RBI, 12 SB, 6.7 bWAR
It's wild to think McGonigle has been worth more wins above replacement than any other hitter in the American League, even though he hadn't made his Double-A debut until 15 months ago.
It's also wild to think Detroit couldn't even sniff the postseason in this year's American League while getting such a remarkable season from its 21-year-old infielder, but he certainly did everything in his power to keep the Tigers afloat.
At the moment, McGonigle has drawn 94 walks against 95 strikeouts. If he can get that ratio back up to 1.00 or better, he would become the first player to do so in an age-21-or-younger campaign with at least 400 plate appearances since Gary Sheffield in 1990.
Worthiest Challenger: Parker Messick, Cleveland Guardians
Season Stats: 183.1 IP, 12-9, 2.55 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, 6.2 bWAR
McGonigle might win in unanimous fashion, but Messick hasn't had an ERA north of 3.00 at any point in this entire season and really ought to be a more serious threat in this race. In starts in which Messick received at least three runs of support, Cleveland has gone 18-3. They might end up with a first-round bye because of it.
Deserved More Attention: Walbert Ureña, Los Angeles Angels
NL Rookie of the Year
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Who Will Win: Sal Stewart, Cincinnati Reds
Season Stats: .267/.335/.468, 32 HR, 110 RBI, 15 SB, 2.2 bWAR
Of the six races for major awards, NL ROY is the most debatable by far.
Whether you prefer Baseball-Reference or FanGraphs for your sabermetrics, JJ Wetherholt has Sal Stewart smoked in wins above replacement.
At a certain point, the RBI count matters more than the WAR calculation, as evidenced by the fact that all seven rookies to tally at least 111 RBI in a season over the past seven decades were named Rookie of the Year, four of them in unanimous fashion.
What's wild about Stewart sitting one shy of that plateau is that the Reds rank dead last in the National League in scoring. He has made the most of his opportunities, though, batting .301/.361/.569 with runners in scoring position. Because of that, there's a chance he's going to lead the majors in RBI.
Worthiest Challenger: JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals
Season Stats: .240/.339/.365, 17 HR, 50 RBI, 14 SB, 4.6 bWAR
Wetherholt has had a preposterously impressive season in the field, last committing an error on April 10. Pete Crow-Armstrong will probably win the NL's Platinum Glove, but this rookie is the one player who could plausibly prevent that. Though a ton of his value added stems from his defense, the Cardinals aren't exactly hiding his bat in the lineup, batting him leadoff in every game that he has started.
Deserved More Attention: Logan Henderson, Milwaukee Brewers
AL Cy Young
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Who Will Win: Cam Schlittler, New York Yankees
Season Stats: 190.2 IP, 14-6, 1.94 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 11.0 K/9, 7.0 bWAR
From 1972 to 2025, there were 12 cases of a pitcher recording at least 225 strikeouts with a sub-2.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP.
All 12 of them won the Cy Young Award. Cam Schlittler and Jacob Misiorowski will be joining that fraternity soon.
Schlittler has made 24 starts in which he allowed zero or one earned run and 24 starts in which he had at least as many strikeouts as the number of baserunners allowed.
The four-seamer is his moneymaker, responsible for more than half of his strikeouts. His sinker has been just as deadly. Opponents are hitting below .180 and slugging below .270 against both of those occasionally-more-than-100 MPH offerings.
Worthiest Challenger: Dylan Cease, Toronto Blue Jays
Season Stats: 169.0 IP, 11-6, 2.40 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 12.7 K/9, 5.6 bWAR
This was quite the two-horse race until about three weeks ago, when Cease's diminishing velocity started producing diminishing returns. Through the end of August, though, he was striking out 36.1 percent of opposing hitters, which is better than where Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer or Clayton Kershaw ever finished a season. For the Blue Jays' sake, here's hoping his shoulder inflammation doesn't turn into anything more long-lasting.
Deserved More Attention: Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians
NL Cy Young
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Who Will Win: Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee Brewers
Season Stats: 169.1 IP, 15-5, 1.86 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 13.1 K/9, 6.1 bWAR
The Miz was to 2026 what Paul Skenes was to the 2024 and 2025 campaigns: appointment-viewing television every time he stepped on the mound.
The magnum opus was his 15-strikeout, one-hit shutout of the Phillies in mid-June. But his biggest "I beg your pardon, he's doing what now?" performance came against Colorado in late July, in which he struck out 12 of the first 13 batters he faced.
Unfortunately, that was his second start back after missing a bit of time with arm fatigue, so we all knew he wasn't going to pitch deep enough into the game to break the single-game strikeout record. Still, it was one of the most dominant abbreviated starts in recent memory and a sobering reminder of how untouchable Misiorowski can be when he's in his bag.
Worthiest Challenger: Cristopher Sánchez, Philadelphia Phillies
Season Stats: 200.0 IP, 18-6, 2.93 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 9.9 K/9, 7.7 bWAR
Atlanta's Chris Sale might actually finish second in this vote with his 2.18 ERA. However, while Atlanta pretty much always gave Sale at least five days' rest en route to just barely qualifying for the ERA title, Sánchez has been a workhorse, going at least 200 innings for the second straight year. Though May feels like ancient history at this point, that scoreless streak of 50.2 innings pitched was a legendary run.
Deserved More Attention: Jesús Luzardo, Philadelphia Phillies
AL MVP
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Who Will Win: Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros
Season Stats: .314/.431/.601, 41 HR, 102 RBI, 6.5 bWAR
If you want your MVP to be a five-tool guy, Alvarez isn't for you. He almost ranks dead last in the majors in baserunning run value, per Baseball Savant. While logging just 186.0 innings in left field—several pitchers have spent more time in the field than that—he committed multiple errors.
Also, if you want the MVP to be the best player on the best team, go ahead and scroll down a bit to Junior Caminero instead. Alvarez definitively has been Houston's most valuable player, but the Astros are a game below .500 and fighting to even reach the postseason.
With just five games left, though, Alvarez is the overwhelming favorite for AL MVP because he is leading the majors in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. No one has drawn more walks. Only Pete Crow-Armstrong has more total bases.
If he ends up one home run or one RBI shy of the Triple Crown, maybe we can retroactively award him a solo shot for that "foul ball" that he hammered off the rafters on Opening Day?
Worthiest Challenger: Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays
Season Stats: .275/.361/.525, 41 HR, 97 RBI, 5.7 bWAR
In case you thought Caminero's 45-homer campaign last year was a "benefited from playing home games at a spring training venue" fluke, he doubled down with an even more impressive run through 2026. Not quite as many home runs, but he did join 1953-54 Eddie Mathews as the only hitters in MLB history with multiple seasons of 40+ home runs by the end of their age-22 season. Caminero also improved his on-base percentage by 50 points, becoming more of an overall asset at the dish.
Deserved More Attention: Miguel Vargas, Chicago White Sox
NL MVP
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Who Will Win: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
Season Stats: .282/.373/.579, 45 HR, 107 RBI, 39 SB, 9.8 bWAR
What's bonkers about Crow-Armstrong now running away with the NL MVP and one swipe away from the 40/40 club is that it seemed impossible four months ago.
In late May, most of the discourse about PCA involved a couple of careless errors in center field, his disappointing sub-.700 OPS or that profane altercation with a White Sox fan. Through 58 games, he was hitting .224 with six home runs and 12 stolen bases. Trea Turner (.222, seven and 11, respectively) was in pretty much the exact same boat. We're still waiting on him to snap out of his funk.
Since May 30, though, Crow-Armstrong has triple-slashed .312/.404/.693 while operating at 162-game paces of 64 home runs and 44 stolen bases.
Even if Shohei Ohtani hadn't gotten hurt, PCA's run to a possible 10 WAR season probably would've been enough to win this vote.
Worthiest Challenger: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
Season Stats: .277/.380/.522, 30 HR, 80 RBI, 11 SB; 85.2 IP, 1.79 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 6.5 bWAR
Ohtani is one of three hitters with at least 30 home runs and an OPS of .900 or better. The others are inevitable MVPs Alvarez and PCA. Ohtani is also one of three pitchers with at least 80 innings, a sub-2.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP. The others are inevitable Cy Youngs Schlittler and Misiorowski. He hasn't pitched since early July and hasn't been the same hitter since early August. But if you've been disappointed by Ohtani's season, you might want to recalibrate.
Deserved More Attention: Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds
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