End of Season Awards

Heroes get remembered, legends never die

Accomplishments of such significance like winning Most Valuable Player or Cy Young awards in Major League Baseball make you a legend. We are at that time of the year once again where we get to look back on the past season, and come together to celebrate the peak of individual excellence on and off the field. Some of the notable awards given out at the end of the year in baseball are the Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young and of course MVP Awards. These four awards are given out to both leagues, so we have a total of 8 players/managers we need to take a moment and recognize their brilliance this past season. Let us start with the youngsters.

Rookie of the Year

American League

Gunnar Henderson - 150 GP | .255 AVG | .814 OPS | 100 R | 28 HR | 82 RBI | 10 SB

Henderson looks like he is going to be a staple of this Orioles team for years to come. The 22 year old was fantastic this year as a rookie. If I am a Baltimore fan, I am salivating at the fact that Henderson just won Rookie of the Year. The roster is loaded with youth behind guys Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez and Adley Rutschman. Baltimore is in really good shape going forward and we should see some great October baseball being played in Camden Yards over the next few years! It looks like Henderson will lock down the hot corner long term which will pair very nicely with #1 overall prospect Jackson Holliday once he makes his debut in the next couple of seasons.

National League

Corbin Carroll - 155 GP | .285 AVG | .868 OPS | 116 R | 25 HR | 76 RBI | 54 SB

Carroll was an animal this year. 54 stolen bases and 25 home runs as a rookie? Sheesh. This guy is going to have an incredible career should he stay on track. Imagine if he doesn’t improve at all and stays exactly the same for 10 years. That's 540 stolen bases, 250 home runs, 760 RBI’s, and 1,160 runs scored. The stolen bases alone would put him in the top 30 all-time in the stolen bases category. Needless to say he has the pedigree, the tools and now some experience. Watch out NL West, Carroll is going to be around for awhile. Invest in elite defensive catching now if you want a chance to neutralize this guy on the base paths.

Manager of the Year

American League

Brandon Hyde - 162 G | 101 W | 61 L | .623 Win % | 0-3 Playoffs

So you can apply a lot of what I mentioned about Henderson and apply same to Hyde. The Orioles are loaded and aren’t going anywhere. I guess this actually puts a ton of pressure on Hyde to succeed because no one is going to allow him to continue managing this team if it doesn’t result in playoff wins. Don’t get me wrong this wasn’t the Orioles year, they still need pitching help (clearly). They simply ran into a wagon which is the Texas Rangers who eventually ended up winning the World Series. Hyde as a manager owns a losing record, but is coming out of back to back winning seasons. Wouldn’t be surprised if we see Hyde hoisting a World Series trophy next year if the Orioles get a little aggressive in the offseason.

National League

Skip Schumaker - 162 G | 84 W | 78 L | .519% Win % | 0-2 Playoffs

Is Skip going to be a Skipper for long? Fingers crossed this isn’t a one year wonder for the Marlins manager. The Marlins essentially decided to part ways with General Manager Kim Ng after the season, once they decided they were hiring someone to supersede Ng. This didn’t make a ton of sense with baseball fans as the Marlins made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Miami did end up bringing in Peter Bendix from Tampa so hopefully that works well and Shumaker can field some more winning seasons. 

Most Valuable Player 

American League

Shohei Ohtani 

Hitter - 135 GP | .304 AVG | 1.066 OPS | 102 R | 44 HR | 95 RBI | 20 SB

Pitcher  - 23 GS | 10 W | 3.14 ERA | 1.06 WHIP | 132.0 IP | 167 K

The fact I have to list two different sets of statistics (both of which display elite numbers) says enough. Shohei Ohtani we are not worthy. Any year this guy pitches and hits he will be the favorite to win the MVP. he led the league in WAR (10.1) this past season and for good reason. He mashes at the plate and he shoves from the mound. Enough said. Shohei please heal soon, I’m speaking for everyone here when I say we all want to watch you throw baseballs again.

National League

Ronald Acuna - 159 G | .337 AVG | 1.012 OPS | 149 R | 41 HR | 106 RBI | 73 SB

What did I just witness? Acuna’s season was absolutely absurd. I don’t care about the rule changes with stolen bases. 73 is simply an outrageous number of bags to swipe. Let’s say you ½ the amount of his bases stolen…still 36.5 bags which is elite in this league. In fact he would still be top 10 and just in front of Elly De La Cruz (35) funny enough. Acuna wasn’t only fast around the bases, he mashed all year long. You have to love seeing this for Acuna. There is definitely a chip on his shoulder there from not being able to help them win their World Series a couple years ago as he was rehabbing a torn ACL. What else man I say? 40-70 season with a 1.0 OPS over 159 games? Did I mention batting .337 and hitting in 106 RBI’s? I laugh looking at his stats because they are so unreal.

Cy Young

American League

Gerrit Cole - 33 GS | 15 W | 2.63 ERA | 0.98 WHIP | 209 IP | 222 K 

He has finally done it! Gerrit Cole earned the Cy Young he so much coveted these past few years. There is no doubt now that Gerrit Cole is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. The Yankees knew what they were getting when they signed him to that massive 9 year / $324,000,000 contract back in 2020. Looks like their investment is paying off. Hopefully Cole can lead the way for the Yankees next season in the fight to get back to the playoffs.

National League

Blake Snell - 32 GS | 14 W | 2.25 ERA | 1.19 WHIP | 180 IP | 234 K

My man! Pumped for Snell to win his 2nd Cy Young. Not only did he win the award, but now has joined some elite company becoming the 7th pitcher ever to have won the Cy Young Award in both the American and National League. @SkippsviewDean had his doubts but Blake Snell has other plans. Did he walk a ton of batters? Sure. Are the results repeatable given the walks? Maybe. I don’t know and too many baseball people are worried about next year or following years already. Let’s just focus that Snell was awesome this year and even while leading the league in walks he shoved all year long.