The Milwaukee Brewers keep collecting things. First the franchise's first World Series title, finished in five games over the Tampa Bay Rays. Then two Gold Gloves on Sunday. And on Monday night, when the Baseball Writers' Association of America announced its awards finalists on MLB Network, the champions placed four names on the ballots — more than any storyline this side of Pete Crow-Armstrong's 40-40 season. According to the Associated Press, ace Jacob Misiorowski, second baseman Brice Turang, manager Pat Murphy and closer Trevor Megill are all finalists, headlining a reveal that sets up awards week: Rookie of the Year on November 9, Manager of the Year on November 10, the Cy Young and the brand-new Relief Pitcher of the Year awards on November 11, and the MVPs on November 12.
NL Cy Young: Misiorowski, and then everybody else
Start with the closest thing this ballot has to a lock. Misiorowski went 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA, a 0.80 WHIP and 252 strikeouts in 174.2 innings, according to Sportsnet's finalist rundown — a season that opened with a record 103.5 mph first pitch in the World Series and never really slowed down. The AP calls him a heavy favorite, and the numbers explain why: he led the majors in strikeouts while anchoring the rotation of a 103-win team, then carried that form straight through an 11-2 postseason. His competition is two excellent left-handers — Atlanta's Chris Sale, who posted a 2.16 ERA with 200 strikeouts and reached his ninth career Cy Young finalist nod, and Philadelphia's Cristopher Sanchez, a finalist for the second straight year. With respect to both: this is the Miz's award to lose. You can compare the full pitching lines yourself on the Previously Stats Hub, where Misiorowski's 2026 board sits at the top of the class.
NL MVP: a 40-40 season walks in as the favorite
The NL MVP race has a favorite, and it is not the champion. Chicago's Pete Crow-Armstrong is expected to win, per the AP, after batting .280 with 45 home runs, 107 RBIs and 41 stolen bases — becoming just the seventh member of the 40-40 club in baseball history, with a 10.6 fWAR that led the league's position players, according to Sportsnet. It was the kind of season that rewrites a franchise's expectations in a single summer, and it came with a Gold Glove in center field attached.
The other two finalists could hardly be more different. Shohei Ohtani, already a four-time MVP, put together a season limited by injury on the mound and still absurd by any normal standard: 30 home runs at the plate and a 1.79 ERA with 95 strikeouts across 85.2 innings on it, per Sportsnet. And then there is Turang — the Gold Glove second baseman of the World Series champions, whose hub line (.268, 21 home runs, 100 RBIs, 19 stolen bases) only hints at why Milwaukee people will fight you over this ballot: he was the engine of the best team in baseball, at the position where engines are hardest to find. Turang is not the favorite. He is also not a ceremonial finalist. If the voters decide the award belongs to the best player on the best team, the Brewers' winter gets one more trophy.
AL MVP: Alvarez's career year against the iron man and the cornerstone
In the American League, the AP identifies Houston's Yordan Alvarez as the favorite, and his line backs it up: a .316/.432/.601 slash with 42 home runs and 106 RBIs — career highs in both power categories, according to Sportsnet — from the middle of the Astros' order. Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero is the finalist with the freshest October memories: 42 home runs, 101 RBIs and all 162 games played for the American League champions, a third baseman who carried the Rays to the World Series and very nearly further. Kansas City's Bobby Witt Jr., the Royals' shortstop cornerstone, rounds out the three. It is a ballot with no wrong answer and one likely one: Alvarez's bat was the most feared in the league in 2026, and fear tends to win these votes.
AL Cy Young and the rookie who broke the ballot
The AL Cy Young race is the most interesting argument of the week, because it contains a genuine first. Toronto's Dylan Cease, in his debut season with the Blue Jays, posted a 2.40 ERA with a career-best 34.9% strikeout rate across 169 innings, according to the finalist breakdowns. The Yankees' Cam Schlittler paced the league with a 1.95 ERA. And Cleveland's Parker Messick did something rookies are not supposed to do: a 2.56 ERA with 193 strikeouts in 186.1 innings — the heaviest workload by a rookie starter in years — landing him as a finalist for both AL Cy Young and AL Rookie of the Year.
Messick's Cy Young finish has already paid out before a single winner is announced. His top-three placement earns the Guardians an extra draft pick after the first round of the 2027 amateur draft, per the AP — a prospect-promotion reward that turns an individual honor into a franchise asset. In the Rookie of the Year race itself, Messick is joined by Detroit infielder Kevin McGonigle, whose 5.4 fWAR led AL rookies per Sportsnet, and Boston left-hander Payton Tolle. The NL rookie ballot is a three-way brawl of its own: Mets right fielder Carson Benge (.282, 20 home runs, 22 stolen bases), Reds infielder Sal Stewart, whose 32 home runs and 112 RBIs are the loudest counting stats on either rookie ballot, and Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt, whose 4.6 fWAR was built on doing everything well at once.
Managers, relievers, and a three-peat on the table
Manager of the Year carries its own piece of history. Milwaukee's Pat Murphy, who has won the award in back-to-back seasons, could become the first manager ever to win three consecutive Manager of the Year awards, according to the AP. His challengers are Philadelphia's Don Mattingly and Atlanta's Walt Weiss. In the AL, Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash — who just managed the Rays to a pennant — faces Boston's Chad Tracy and Chicago's Will Venable, whose White Sox turnaround was one of the season's quiet marvels.
And there is a new trophy in the case. Relief Pitcher of the Year debuts as a BBWAA category in both leagues this year. Milwaukee's Trevor Megill — the fourth Brewer finalist — is joined in the NL by Philadelphia closer Jhoan Duran and San Diego closer Mason Miller. The AL finalists are Tampa Bay's Bryan Baker, Cleveland's Cade Smith and Toronto's Louis Varland. Closers have spent decades being told their value could not be measured in awards. As of this week, it officially can.
By the time the MVP winners are announced on November 12, baseball will be five days from the qualifying-offer deadline and less than three weeks from the expiration of the CBA. Awards week is usually the offseason's victory lap. This year it is also a checkpoint in a winter sprint — and the team that just won everything has four more chances to hear its name called. The parade is over. The collecting, apparently, is not.
