With the MLB Postseason wrapping up in a couple of weeks, it’s time to think about who is going to be winning awards. There are some tight races going on in both the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), but there can only be one winner. I will go over the Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year (ROTY), Cy Young, the MVP and meet the candidates.
For the NL’s Manager of the Year, Pat Murphy, in his second year leading the Milwaukee Brewers, is aiming to repeat. The Brewers had the best record in baseball this year and entered the postseason as one of the hottest teams. Their season was highlighted with two long winning streaks of 14 and 11 games. The only competition from Murphy going back-to-back is the former Brewers manager and current Cubs skipper, Craig Counsell. Since the Brewers not only won the division, but also defeated the Cubs in the playoffs, it seems like an easy choice to go with Murphy.
The Toronto Blue Jays are coming off a last place finish in their division last year. Towards the end of May, the team was sitting around .500 and were multiple games out of the division lead. They went on a 10-game winning streak right before the All-Star break and used that momentum to overtake the New York Yankees at the beginning of July. John Schneider and his team never looked back and won their first division title since 2015. A dark horse contender could be Stephen Vogt after the Cleveland Guardians overcame a 15.5 game deficit to win the division, but Schneider led his team to the #1 seed in the AL.
For the NL Rookie of the Year, it’s really a two man race for rookie of the year: Cade Horton from the Chicago Cubs and Drake Baldwin from the Atlanta Braves. Horton made his debut in May and has pitched in 23 games this year posting a 2.67 earned run average (ERA). He only struck out 97 this year, but was a reliable starter for the Cubs. As for Baldwin, he’s been with the Braves since opening day and batted .274 with 19 home runs and 80 runs batted in (RBIs). The Atlanta catcher has also played some phenomenal defense. Based on a strong combination of hitting and defense, along with being on his team for a longer stint, I think the award goes to Baldwin.
For AL ROTY, Nick Kurtz of the Athletics has this award locked up, putting up an incredible statline for his rookie campaign. Kurtz hit 36 home runs with 86 RBIs while batting .290. The best moment of the season for the rookie was his four homer game against the Houston Astros, going six for six at the plate with eight RBIs. He became the youngest player and only rookie to hit four homers in a game.
For NL Cy Young, Paul Skenes’ 10-10 record in 2025 doesn’t do his historic season justice. Skenes collected 216 strikeouts while maintaining a 1.97 ERA and a 0.95 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP). Skenes made his career ERA at 1.96 which is the lowest for any pitcher through 52 career starts in the Live Ball Era. Pitchers like Freddy Peralta and Cristopher Sánchez had amazing years, but you can’t argue with Skenes’ numbers.
For AL Cy Young it’s Tarik Skubal. The dominant lefty tries to go back-to-back and be the first pitcher to do so since Jacob deGrom did it with the New York Mets in 2018-2019. Skubal also looks to become the first AL pitcher to win consecutive Cy Young awards since 1999-2000, when Pedro Martínez accomplished it. It wasn’t an easy path, as Garrett Crochet posed some challenges along the way. In his first season with the Boston Red Sox, Crochet put up a 2.59 ERA and had 255 strikeouts over 205.1 innings finishing with an 18-5 record. Crochet was favored during the spring, until Skubal reclaimed that title. Skubal silenced the competition finishing with a 2.21 ERA, whiffing 241 batters in the regular season.
The NL MVP is Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is on his way to winning a fourth MVP and proving he still runs the league. This year, Ohtani did it on both sides with spectacular hitting and pitching. He started in 14 games, striking out 62 batters across 47 innings and posting a 2.87 ERA. As a hitter, Ohtani hit 50+ homers for the second straight season while driving in 102 runs and batting .282. His only competition was Kyle Schwarber from the Philadelphia Phillies. Schwarber led the league in RBIs with 132 and smashed 56 homers. An outstanding year for the veteran, but it was no match for the two-way player.
AL MVP is one of the best MVP competitions in recent memories is between Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh. Raleigh, the Seattle Mariners catcher, has been the story of the year for MLB, from winning the Home Run Derby to leading his team to their first division title in 24 years. The Mariners slugger led the league with 60 long balls, batted .247 and had the most RBIs in the AL with 125. On the other hand, Judge is going for his third MVP after having arguably one of the greatest offensive seasons ever. Along with his 53 homers and 114 RBIs, Judge also recorded an MLB best 10.1 fangraphs wins above replacement (fWAR) and a weighted runs created plus (wRC+) of 204. The slash line for Judge this year was .331/ .457/ .688. Many argue that Raleigh being a catcher should play some significance in the decision, but Judge is beating Raleigh in basically every statistic aside from home runs and RBIs. In the tightest race of the year, the MVP should belong to Judge.
Awards will be announced in the middle of November, as the 2025 MLB season is coming to a close.
