I will be very upfront and say that some of these picks clearly have biases. As a Red Sox fan, I am blinded right now by the team looking great at Spring Training. I feel they could take on the 1927 Yankees with ease. That being said, the award selections do not have any bias. The picks below are my actual picks, and if I were a betting man, I would put some money on them. But I don’t bet, and neither should you.
You have the wrong blogger if you are looking for a deep analytical breakdown of these picks. These are just gut predictions for me.
Just remember, I was the only member of The Skippers View to pick the 2024 Home Run Derby winner.
Let that sink in.
American League MVP- Mike Trout
I was between Bobby Witt Jr and Mike Trout for this one. Aaron Judge was never really in my brain space. I don’t think he will have as good of a year without Juan Soto on the team.
I think this is probably Mike Trout’s last year to make a splash. He is 33 years old on a team with very low expectations but is starting to emerge as a team that could “be a sleeper.” I Trout could lead the Angels to a respectable record and perhaps have them in the Wild Card hunt towards the end of the season. I believe that, and everyone’s desire for Trout to do great again might fuel voters to lean toward Trout over Bobby Witt Jr. I know this is a very “old school” way of looking at the award, but there is precedent for it in the last few years.
Bryce Harper in 2021 is a good example. He led the league in SLG and OPS, but that was about it. He trailed numerous players in bWAR, including Juan Soto (who many believe deserved the award.) However, Harper was so dominant in the second half that year, and voters got romantic about Harper again. Frankly, the Phillies weren’t even that good. They missed the playoffs and went 82-80. Even with Harper’s second-half surge, they did not make any noise.
That said, I think Trout can win if he has a great year, and the Angels are even somewhat relevant.
National League MVP- Juan Soto
I really don’t want to sound basic, so I chose Shohei Ohtani. Frankly, he will probably win, especially if he accumulates WAR while pitching. There was not anyone close to him in the National League last year.
However, he now has to go up against Juan Soto, who accumulated 7.9 bWAR last season. Even though the Mets made the playoffs last year, I believe that if Soto can lead the team again and accumulate at least 8 bWAR, he will get the votes for MVP.
I do believe in voter fatigue, and the fact that Juan Soto has yet to win an MVP might entice voters to go his way if it is close.
My stat projections can be seen below.
National League Cy Young- Sandy Alcantara
I brought this up in the last episode of The Skippers View Podcast, and Nick quickly pointed out that there is a very good chance Sandy will be traded during the season. While I believe that is true, there is also a good chance he will land with a National League team. If he were to be traded to the American League before the season, he would be my selection for the AL Cy Young.
He has been lights out this Spring Training and looks like the Alcantara of 2021. Put him on a winning team, and he will be a 20-game winner with all the analytics that the young generation drools over.
Editor's Note: Since I started writing this, Gerrit Cole has been injured. There have been some talks about the Yankees potentially taking a look at him. As I said above, if that happens I would just choose Alcantara as my AL Cy Young winner.
American League Cy Young- Cole Ragans
I think a lot of people are looking for Skubal to repeat in 2025, but I think he and Ragans are almost going to reverse roles. By no means do I believe that Skubal is going to have a bad year, but I like the progression of Ragans and believe that he will make another jump this season.
He led the league in K/9 in 2024 but struggled with his control, leading to him having almost double the amounts of walks compared to Skubal. This really showed during the second half of the season, when he was walking batters at a significantly higher rate.
Having a full season of being a starter under his belt, being on a young, exciting team, and having arguably the best strikeout stuff in the league makes him my 2025 AL Cy Young pick.
American League Champion- Red Sox
There comes a point in one’s life where you are blinded by fandom. That is where I am at in my life. Now, I can be realistic. If the Boston Red Sox had the roster of say, the White Sox, I would not be sitting here saying they will do anything. However, the Red Sox were a fun team to watch last year, and you could tell they were a few pieces away from making some noise. Well, they added those pieces (mainly starters and bullpen, but Alex Bregman is nice, too) while other American League teams lost their stars (ahem, Yankees.)
So yeah, I am pretty high on the Red Sox right now. Sue me.
National League Champion- New York Mets
There is definitely a part of me that selfishly wants to see this matchup so I can try to attend World Series games both here in Boston and in New York. But I also don’t think the Dodgers are a shoe-in to return to the WS. The odds are stacked against them, making it two years in a row. Of course, their team is absolutely disgusting, so if it is not the Mets, then it will surely be the Dodgers.
The Mets put up a valiant effort against the Dodgers in the NLCS last season. With the addition of Soto, their offense is right there with Los Angeles. The Mets lack of starting pitching might come back to bite them, but I think they will snag someone near the deadline.
World Series Winner- Boston Red Sox
I will never root against my team this early.
Red Sox in 7.
Game 1: Red Sox 5-3
Game 2: Mets 6-2
Game 3: Mets 4-3
Game 4: Red Sox 7-2
Game 5: Mets 5-4
Game 6: Red Sox 3-1
Game 7: Red Sox 6-5
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