MLB Awards Predictions

The 2015 MLB season is just days away, and with that dawning of a new campaign, there is optimism throughout the baseball world. Each team has expectations from the outside, but in the great majority of the 30 clubhouses across the country, the ultimate prize at the end of a six-month grind is a trip to the World Series.

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However, there are still individual considerations to be made, and they come in the form of three major awards annually. It must be noted that there are other honors, including Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, etc., but the holy trio of Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and MVP take the great majority of the attention in baseball circles.

Sometimes, picking the front-runners for each award is easy. The defending champion is usually a “trendy” selection based on the fact that, well, they are pretty good at their craft, or some pundits like to reach well off the radar in search of a lesser-known candidate. Either way, there is plenty of chatter and numerous predictions to sift through in early April.

In this space, we will bring you our preseason choices, filling out a mock “ballot” that identifies the three top players (in order) for both the American League and National League awards. There will almost certainly be some consternation from fans who don’t enjoy the selections, but on the bright side, these choices will be black and white for all to see, and there will likely be ammunition to poke fun at the author in six months.

Without further delay, let’s take a look at the award “winners” in each field, beginning with the NL Rookie of the Year.

Next: NL Rookie of the Year