B/R Roundtable Picks MVP, Cy Young, ROY and More MLB Awards for 2021 Season
MLB award week is right around the corner, as the league's best and brightest will be honored and a bow will officially be slapped on the recently concluded 2021 season.
Before the hardware is handed out, Bleacher Report MLB writers Joel Reuter and Zachary Rymer sat down to debate their picks for each major award.
A quick breakdown of when each award will be announced:
- Monday, Nov. 15: AL/NL Rookie of the Year
- Tuesday, Nov. 16: AL/NL Manager of the Year
- Wednesday, Nov. 17: AL/NL Cy Young
- Thursday, Nov. 18: AL/NL MVP
- Monday, Nov. 22: AL/NL Comeback Player of the Year
Ahead we'll debate each of those major awards, along with a few others we felt were worth discussing as we wrap up the 2021 season and turn our attention to 2022.
Enjoy!
AL MVP
1 of 10
Zach: We meet again, Joel. This week we're here to break down the best of King Crimson, starting with...wait, no. Wrong prompt. It's MLB awards picks time, and there's no better place to start than with the MVPs. So, who is your American League MVP, and why is it Shohei Ohtani?
Joel: Oooh, that's a deep music cut. I actually had to Google that one. Meanwhile, I'm over here listening to the same 2016 album from The Knocks that's always on while I'm working. Probably a good thing we're here to talk baseball...
Look, I love Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and he had a season that would win him an MVP award in a lot of other years. But we've just never seen anything like what Ohtani did in 2021. How can anyone be more valuable than a guy who was his team's best hitter and best pitcher?
Zach: Oh, well then, you're welcome. Go ahead and put Court of the Crimson King on your listen list.
Anyhow, one does feel for Vlad Jr. To lead one's league in on-base percentage, slugging, runs and home runs and not be a shoo-in for an MVP is tough, but them's the breaks this year. Ohtani had more pitching WAR than Adam Wainwright, and as much batting WAR as Xander Bogaerts. That's just nuts for one player. I'll even throw another stat out there: Ohtani also paced all hitters in win probability added, in part courtesy of a 1.276 OPS in high-leverage spots. Amazing and clutch? That's an MVP.
Joel: Had a feeling we would be in agreement on this one, but I'm excited to see where you fall on the NL MVP debate.
NL MVP
2 of 10
Joel: In my eyes, NL MVP is a three-man race between Bryce Harper, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr. I listed them alphabetically on purpose so as not to tip my hand. Who ya go?
Zach: Geez, the NL MVP race this year is some kind of Rorschach test. The shape I see looks vaguely like...well, like Bryce Harper.
I'm basically ignoring WAR here, since he only ranked ninth just among NL position players at 5.9. But he did lead MLB in slugging and OPS, which was no easy task this year. He also led the National League in WPA, though the best measure of his clutchness is more specific. As the Phillies were pushing for a playoff spot, he slashed .342/.481/.740 with 20 homers over his last 67 games. The word "hot" doesn't even cut it there. Please tell me you're not also picking Harper. Or maybe do. Whatever.
Joel: I've gone back and forth but have ultimately landed on Juan Soto as my NL MVP.
If the Phillies or San Diego Padres had made the playoffs, it would have been an easy tiebreaker for Harper and Tatis, but since all three guys were on the outside looking in this October, it all comes down to the numbers.
I simply can't unsee that .348/.525/.639 line that Soto posted after the All-Star break. A .525 on-base percentage is peak Barry Bonds territory, and it was a pretty large sample size of 322 plate appearances. He led the NL with 7.0 WAR, and he did it all with an inferior supporting cast relative to the other two. I think he was the most important to his team's success...what little of it there was amid a 65-97 campaign.
So we're in agreement on AL MVP and split on NL MVP. On to the pitchers?
Zach: If this were one of those played out debate shows, I'd reject your stance and double down on mine just to create some drama. But I don't really have any quarrel with Soto as the NL MVP, especially not after you made such a good case. Yes, on to the pitchers.
AL Cy Young
3 of 10
Zach: I'm going to assume we both have Robbie Ray as the AL Cy Young Award winner? It's good enough for me that he paced the Junior Circuit with a 2.84 ERA, 248 strikeouts and 193.1 innings. Another thing that shouldn't be lost in this discussion is that he also had to pitch at not one, not two but three hitter-friendly home ballparks. Good on him for making child's play of them all.
Joel: There's really not a rational argument for anyone besides Ray to take home AL Cy Young, which is wild considering how bad he was a year ago. It's easy to forget he had a 6.62 ERA and 45 walks in 51.2 innings in 2020. Maybe a more compelling question here is what the rest of your hypothetical five-man AL Cy Young ballot would be like.
Mine would be: 1. Ray; 2. Gerrit Cole; 3. Carlos Rodon; 4. Lance Lynn; 5. Frankie Montas
Zach: Definitely an all-time turnaround for Ray. If I must submit a top five, I think I'd go 1. Ray; 2. Cole; 3. Nathan Eovaldi; 4. Lynn; 5. Lucas Giolito
Joel: Hmm...knocking Rodon for disappearing after the All-Star break is probably fair. Good stuff. Let's keep it rolling with our NL Cy Young picks.
.png?w=256)
NL Cy Young
4 of 10
Zach: As for the National League, I figure the big question is whether Corbin Burnes was dominant enough to overcome Zack Wheeler's overall body of work. Part of me screams, "Yes!" Burnes not only led the majors with a 2.43 ERA, but his 2.01 expected ERA also suggests he deserved even better by darn near half a run. To me, that about fits with what Burnes did under the ol' eye test in 2021.
And yet, I just can't not give it to Wheeler. His 2.78 ERA was plenty solid in its own right and backed by league-leading marks with 247 strikeouts and 213.1 innings. That's 46.1 innings more than Burnes pitched, which is far from a small sum.
Joel: What a surprise Phillies homer you're turning out to be!
I'm actually going to take door No. 3 and go with Max Scherzer. He proved he is still downright overpowering by leading all qualified pitchers in WHIP (0.86) and opponents' batting average (.185), and his dominant run with the Dodgers down the stretch was still fresh in the voters' minds when they cast their ballots.
He had a higher strikeout rate (34.1 percent) than Wheeler (29.1 percent), and while Wheeler pitched more innings, Scherzer still ranked in the top 15 in the NL in that category.
Just a quick tip of the cap to Walker Buehler for his 28 quality starts—five more than any other pitcher—in 33 starts. That kind of consistency is tough to quantify.
Zach: I'm not surprised you sided with Scherzer, and honestly, I'm just glad that you mentioned Buehler. Even after shooting himself in the foot with a lousy September, he still ended up with a terrific season.
AL Rookie of the Year
5 of 10
Joel: All right, so AL Rookie of the Year seems like the logical next step in this exercise. Any chance your pick might be a member of the Tampa Bay Rays?
Zach: It's hard to make a case for anyone other than Randy Arozarena after he notched 20 homers and 20 steals with an .815 OPS. Unless you were referring to Wander Franco, who obviously had that incredible 43-game on-base streak. It's a bummer that he didn't even play half a season's worth of games, though, and also that it took him about a month to really start figuring things out.
Joel: The fact that Franco piled up 3.5 WAR and only played in 70 games is ridiculous. The only rookies who provided more value were Adolis Garcia (3.8), Jonathan India (3.9) and Arozarena (4.2), and all of those guys played at least 140 games.
That said, I agree Arozarena has to be the pick. On top of the impressive power/speed production you referenced, he's also a Gold Glove finalist in left field. He clearly hit the ground running after that epic 2020 postseason.
I have a feeling NL Rookie of the Year is not going to be quite as straightforward.
Zach: The NL Rookie of the Year is definitely more of a minefield...
NL Rookie of the Year
6 of 10
Zach: If there is an easy pick, it's Jonathan India. He was outstanding in general and close to elite after he moved into the leadoff spot in June.
However, I'm going to surprise myself and go with Trevor Rogers. To make 25 starts and post an ERA+ north of 150 is rare for a rookie. Maybe more common in the 21st century, sure. But if you go chronologically, the list of the last five rookies to pull that off actually starts with Mark Fidrych in 1976.
Do I win by default simply for name-dropping "The Bird?" Or do you want to make an argument for someone else?
Joel: At the least, 10 bonus points to you for a Fidrych reference. Well played, sir!
For most of the year, Rogers was my pick. But he didn't pitch at all in August, and he was on a short leash when he returned in September. Pitchers are obviously being used differently today, but he also didn't complete six innings in a start after June 15.
India had the more complete season, and he was easily a top-10 second basemen in MLB. He had a 113 OPS+ with 34 doubles, 21 home runs, 12 steals and 98 runs scored in a 3.9 WAR season. If he keeps doing that for the next decade, he'll more than deliver on being the No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 draft.
Zach: All of this is fair, and India frankly does deserve it based on the merits. But pardon me while I die on my Rogers-Fidrych hill anyway.
AL/NL Manager of the Year
7 of 10
Joel: We've covered the big ones. How about a few speed rounds with the lesser awards, starting with the managers?
Zach: I don't always know what to do with Manager of the Year, but there actually are some interesting candidates worth discussing this time around.
My preferred choice in the American League is Alex Cora. I respect what Kevin Cash did with the Rays, but it still boggles my mind that Cora got 92 wins out of such a flawed Red Sox roster. Their pitching was held together by duct tape and paper clips pretty much all season, and their offense bore the brunt of the team's late-season COVID-19 breakout. They overachieved, but I mean that as a compliment to Cora.
In the National League, what happened in the postseason makes me think that Atlanta's Brian Snitker was the league's best manager all along. But strictly in the regular season, I have to hand it to Gabe Kapler. It's not just that the San Francisco Giants won 107 games. It's that they basically never buckled even as they faced all sorts of pressure from the Dodgers in the NL West. Talent had a lot to do with it. But it was Kapler's job to keep everyone focused, and he clearly did.
Joel: We're in agreement on Snitker probably being the NL's best manager and Kapler probably being the NL Manager of the Year winner for the exact reasons you mentioned, but give me Scott Servais as AL Manager of the Year.
The postseason drought lives on in Seattle, but he won 90 games with a young roster that was lacking in star power and pulled all the right strings with one of baseball's best bullpens. The M's gave him a well-deserved extension in September, and I think he's the perfect guy for that job.
AL/NL Comeback Player of the Year
8 of 10
Joel: Speaking of the Seattle Mariners, give me Mitch Haniger for AL Comeback Player of the Year. After missing a big chunk of 2019 and all of 2020 with a gruesome groin injury, he returned with a 122 OPS+ and 39 home runs in the middle of the Seattle lineup.
Trey Mancini was one of the best stories of 2021 as he returned to the field after missing last year with stage 3 colon cancer, but from a strictly statistical standpoint, Haniger had the better season by a decent margin.
Zach: The Comeback Player of the Year in the AL is a tough call. Mancini probably should win it for reasons you mentioned, though I think you made a good case for Haniger as well.
Since I can't just sit here and defer to you, though, I'll make a case of my own for Carlos Rodon. Since September of 2017, he's undergone both shoulder and Tommy John surgery. He also had a 4.58 ERA when he did pitch between 2018 and 2020, including an 8.22 ERA in just four appearances last year. To go from that to one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2021, albeit over just 132.2 innings, is an extraordinary achievement.
In the National League, how about we go ahead and add Comeback Player of the Year to Buster Posey's extensive list of achievements on his way out the door? He seemed finished as a star by 2019 and then opted out of 2020 because of the coronavirus. Which is to say that nobody could have anticipated him going out with a vintage season in which he hit .304 with an .889 OPS. Well done, indeed.
Joel: Posey is my pick as well, though a similar argument could be made for Joey Votto, who appeared to be in decline in 2019 and 2020 before exploding for 36 home runs and a 136 OPS+ in his age-37 season this year.
Zach: I think we should also point out that Joey Votto is still one of the coolest dudes to ever come through Major League Baseball. When he gets there, his Hall of Fame plaque would do well to point that out.
Best Executive of the Year
9 of 10
Joel: Let's go off script a bit to wrap things up and turn our attention to the suits in the front office. The Executive of the Year award was your (excellent) idea, so I'll let you start us off.
Zach: Suits-wise, I mean, knowing what we know now, did anyone have a better year than Alex Anthopoulos? Maybe he didn't win the 2020-21 offseason, but he sure as heck won the 2021 trade deadline even though he didn't make the flashiest moves. Atlanta simply wouldn't have won the World Series without Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario, Adam Duvall and Joc Pederson, and the fact that Anthopoulos went out and got them in spite of a losing record and a deficit in the NL East makes his work even more commendable.
Joel: No question, Anthopoulos won a World Series title with what he did at the deadline, and it largely went under the radar at the time.
I'd like to give some props to Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins.
He rolled the dice on a one-year, $18 million deal for Marcus Semien and convinced him to switch positions in the process, and he got a 7.2 WAR season in return. He also took a chance on bringing Robbie Ray back on a one-year deal, traded for Steven Matz and swung a deal for Jose Berrios at the deadline that is going to benefit the team in 2022. The splashy George Springer signing is somehow like the fourth-best move he made in 2021.
Zach: Good call. Clearly the lesson here is that if you want to be a successful baseball executive, you need to do a stint in the Blue Jays front office. They just do things better up there in Canada.
Worst Executive of the Year
10 of 10
Zach: As for which suit-wearer had the worst season, it's not for nothing that the San Diego fanbase has gone from loving A.J. Preller after 2020 to wondering if he knows what he's even doing after 2021. Yes, the Padres led the majors in injured-list days this season. But that alone doesn't explain their downfall to 79 wins. Preller overpromised and underdelivered at the trade deadline, and his handpicked manager, Jayce Tingler, completely lost control of the team's clubhouse.
It also might not be all Larry Rothschild's fault that the pitching underperformed. At some point, you have to ask whether Preller's leadership has anything to do with the struggles of young pitchers like Chris Paddack, Ryan Weathers and especially MacKenzie Gore, whose stock as a prospect utterly plummeted in 2021.
Joel: All due respect to Adam Frazier, I'm not sure any team had a more disappointing trade deadline than the Padres, who were linked to seemingly everyone in the days leading up to the flurry of activity.
That said, I don't think there's a more inept front office in baseball and perhaps all of professional sports than the Colorado Rockies. Jeff Bridich ran Nolan Arenado out of town before stepping down from his general manager post last offseason, and his replacement, Bill Schmidt, inexplicably failed to manufacture a Trevor Story trade at this year's deadline. His reward? The interim tag was removed in October, and the job is now his.
There's absolutely no reason Story shouldn't have brought back at least a couple of quality prospects, even in the midst of a down year by his standards, and that was one of the biggest failures of 2021.
Zach: Oh, right. The Rockies. I live in Denver, yet even I sometimes forget they're a major league team.
Joel: Good stuff as always, my friend. Here's hoping awards week isn't the last bit of MLB news we have for some time with the collective bargaining agreement talks looming.
Zach: Good stuff indeed, Joel. Fingers crossed with the CBA talks. I think the last thing either of us wants is a second delayed and/or shortened season. Because after 2020, the "Rainy Day Article Ideas" bucket is pretty empty.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.
.png?w=480)
