The 2026 FanSided MLB Awards ballot: Predictions for MVP, Cy Young and more

Another MLB season is officially upon us, 162 games of walk-offs and bat flips and all sorts of drama. Trying to predict all the twists and turns the next six months have in store for us is a fool's errand; imagine telling someone this time last year that the Toronto Blue Jays would win the AL pennant and a rookie in Sacramento was about to hit 36 homers in 117 games.

But lord if that won't stop us from trying anyway. Predictions are too much fun, after all, and so in that spirit members of FanSided's MLB staff came together to vote on who would win each major award in 2026. The results will almost certainly surprise you: Aaron Judge doesn't take home any imaginary hardware, nor do Tarik Skubal or Paul Skenes. Let's dive in.

• Awards ballots were generated by FanSided MLB staff: Adam Weinrib, Chris Landers, Drew Koch, Emma Lingan, Jordan Campbell, Thomas Carranante, Zach Rotman.

AL MVP prediction: SS Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals

Our first surprise comes right off the bat, with Aaron Judge falling just short in his quest to claim a third consecutive AL MVP Award (and fourth in five years). None of which is a criticism of Judge per se: The run he's been on over the past few seasons is quite possibly the greatest we've ever seen from a right-handed hitter (his career OPS+ of 179 is tops all-time by a righty), and if he Xeroxes his 2025 numbers, it's hard to imagine anyone beating him out here.

That said, Judge is about to turn 34 in April, and he's battled injury issues in the past; it's not like there's zero risk involved here, especially considering how the age curve usually goes for players of his size. And if he slips up at all, Witt Jr. figures to be hot on his heels, one of the best defensive shortstops in the sport who also happens to be an elite hitter and is still just entering his prime at age 26. It's entirely possible that he matches or exceeds Judge's production in 2026, which, if it comes with a Royals playoff push, might well be enough.

NL MVP prediction: DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers

Ohtani, too, was nowhere near unanimous. And yet, while Judge is historically great, Ohtani is historically unprecedented — even if he takes a step back at the plate after leading the NL in OPS three years running, the value proposition of his pitching is so singular that it becomes hard to consider anyone else. As boring as it would be to simply hand Ohtani this award every season in which he's healthy ... I mean, an All-Star hitter and frontline starter in one body is impossible to deny.

So the question becomes less "who might give Ohtani a run for his money?" and more "who might step up if Ohtani gets hurt"? I don't think people fully appreciate just how good Soto was in his first season in Queens. A slow start at the plate and general dysfunction around him soaked up all the headlines, but this was vintage stuff, and you could argue that he was actually a bit unlucky; he's clearly the best non-Ohtani hitter in the NL, and if the Mets rebound after an offseason overhaul, he'd be tough to deny.

Of course, so is Acuña Jr.; lest we forget he invented the 40/70 club not too long ago. He just hasn't been able to stay healthy for an extended period of time since, and with two major knee surgeries behind him, you wonder if we'll ever see that free-wheeling version of Acuña again (especially considering that the Braves appear to have built Truist Park on some sort of cursed ancient burial ground).

AL Cy Young prediction: LHP Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox

Another upset in the AL, and another two-time reigning champ goes down.

There's nothing under the hood to suggest that Skubal won't be the best pitcher in the Junior Circuit this season: His command remains elite, his changeup just about unhittable, and he'll be extra motivated to put up a contract year for the ages. If anything, it's just hard to imagine someone winning three straight Cy Young Awards. In fact, it's only been done twice in MLB history, Randy Johnson (four straight at the turn of the millennium) and Greg Maddux in the early 1990s.

In the matter of Skubal against the field, it's hard not to play the averages and go with the latter. And boy, is the field loaded, so much so that for different non-Skubal pitchers earned at least one vote on our ballots. Crochet was breathing down Skubal's neck for much of last season; if he puts up 200 more elite innings, the trophy could be his, although we've seen Cy-level upside in the past from each of Fried, Ragans and Gilbert.

NL Cy Young prediction: RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers

There could also be some voter fatigue happening here, as the only thing that kept Skenes from being the two-time defending NL Cy Young winner was the fact that the Pirates didn't call him up early enough in 2024. Well, it's either that or recency bias — because the last time we saw Yamamoto on a mound, he sure looked like the best pitcher in the world, beating the Blue Jays twice in the World Series before coming back for 2.2 more scoreless innings of relief in Game 7.

Yamamoto couldn't match Skenes in run prevention last year, but his underlying numbers really weren't all that different. There's no reason why he can't bring home the hardware if Skenes' sparkling ERA regresses towards the mean slightly ... that is, except for workload: Yamamoto threw 208.1 innings between the regular and postseason in 2025, and with how crucial he is to the Dodgers' threepeat hopes (and how much pitching depth L.A. has at its disposal), you have to wonder whether they ease off the gas slightly in order to try and keep him fresh for October.

AL Rookie of the Year: INF Kevin McGonigle, Detroit Tigers

This is the closest any category came to being unanimous, and it's not hard to see why: McGonigle is the consensus No. 2 prospect in the sport, and he's seemingly a lock to open the year as Detroit's starting shortstop after posting a .923 OPS (with a .423 OBP!) during spring training. A player with preternatural plate skills and serious pull-side power, set to play the whole year at a premium position for a contending team? That sets a very high bar in the Rookie of the Year chase.

Of course, with how quickly young players are hitting the ground running in the Majors these days, this is still far from a foregone conclusion. Jensen took the league by storm in his cup of coffee last season, slashing .300/.391/.550 with three homers in 20 games and some truly eye-watering batted-ball data. He should open the year as the Royals' every-day DH, and if his 2025 performance is in any way sustainable, we could have another Nick Kurtz on our hands. Oh, and Basallo has some of the best raw power of any prospect in recent memory. It might take 40 homers to unseat McGonigle, but that's not out of the realm of possibility.

NL Rookie of the Year: SS Konnor Griffin, Pittsburgh Pirates

We mentioned that McGonigle is the No. 2 prospect in the sport. No. 1 with a bullet is Griffin, who at age 19 is so physically impressive, so advanced beyond his years, that he nearly convinced the Pirates to make him their Opening Day shortstop. He'll start the season in the Minors after struggling a bit with plate discipline in spring, but make no mistake: Griffin tore through three levels last season, hitting 21 homers and stealing 65 bases in just 122 games; if he does the same at Triple-A, it won't be long before he's in Pittsburgh.

Those numbers give you an idea of just how high his statistical ceiling truly is, and that could make him tough to beat here if the Pirates are in contention for a Wild Card spot down the stretch. Then again, McLean might be the single most important player for a Mets team with eyes on a pennant this season, and he immediately looked like a Cy Young candidate in his first eight MLB starts last year. This could be the most wide-open race of the season.

AL Manager of the Year: Craig Albernaz, Baltimore Orioles; Dan Wilson, Seattle Mariners

Manager of the Year is always a tricky one; because none of us on the outside are really in position to evaluate what that job actually entails and which manager is the best at it, we're mostly left to look for teams we think could outperform expectations. Which, in the wide-open AL, means darn near everybody not named Aaron Boone.

Last year's winner, Cleveland's Stephen Vogt, didn't even earn a single vote this time around. Instead, we're buying breakthrough years for the Orioles, A's and Royals, while both Wilson and Hinch could warrant consideration if they lead Seattle or Detroit to the best record in the league. If Baltimore or the Athletics make the playoffs this year — hardly out of the question, especially for the new-look O's — Albernaz and Kotsay would figure to be hard to deny.

NL Manager of the Year: Don Kelly, Pittsburgh Pirates

The picture is a bit clearer in the NL, if only because there are fewer teams that reasonably project as potential dark horses. (Although part of being a dark horse is that no one really sees you coming.) If you're looking for a previously downtrodden team that could see a big jump in win total in 2026, the obvious choice is the Pirates, who finally revamped their lineup in support of arguably the best young rotation in baseball. Considering that Pittsburgh improved after Kelly took over for Derek Shelton last season, the narrative has already begun if the Bucs can win enough games.

From there, things get murky. First-year managers Clayton McCullough and Tony Vitello could merit real consideration if the Marlins or Giants, respectively, make a push toward a Wild Card spot. Then again, it's hard to see that actually coming to fruition. Both Mendoza and Weiss could make some sense: Both occupy high-pressure jobs, and both of their teams are coming off of disappointing 2025 seasons. If the either New York or Atlanta wins 95 games and runs away with the NL East, they'll have a strong case.