With the MLB season over and the Brewers crowned as World Series champions, MLB award season is officially upon us. Here are my choices for the major awards for each league for the 2026 season.
American League MVP: Yordan Alvarez (Houston Astros)
I struggle with the idea of a full-time designated hitter winning the league MVP, but Air Yordan was head and shoulders above the rest of the American league when it came to hitting. Alvarez led the league in batting average (.316), on base percentage (.432), slugging percentage (.601), OPS (1.033), wOBA (.429), and wRC+ (181) and finished second in home runs (42), RBI (106), and fWAR (6.8). There’s no other hitter in the American League who came close to as well rounded of a season that Yordan had at the dish. Junior Caminero and Cam Schlittler would finish out my top three, but neither of those players can quite match the resume that Alvarez built up.
American League CY Young: Cam Schlittler (New York Yankees
The Yankees young right hander was easily the best pitcher in the junior circuit in 2026, really separating himself from Dylan Cease in September, where Schlittler dominated, going 2-0 in 5 starts with 1.20 ERA and 0.633 WHIP, while striking out over 11 batters per 9 innings. For the season Cam Schlittler led the American league in ERA by 45 points with his 1.95 compared to the next closest pitcher (the aforementioned Dylan Cease) and in pitching bWAR and fWAR (7.0 and 6.2 respectively). Schlittler also finished top 3 in WHIP (0.919), hits allowed per 9 (5.9), Ks per 9 (11.1), strikeouts (239), and least importantly, wins (14). Cease was the only other pitcher who had an argument for the American League Cy Young, but faded down the stretch run of the season. I’d be surprised if this wasn’t a unanimous vote for Schlittler.
American League Rookie of the Year: Kevin Mcgonigle (Detroit Tigers)
The highly touted Mcgonigle won the Tigers starting shortstop job immediately out of spring training, and he did not disappoint, leading the entire American League in bWAR with 7.1. Mcgonigle’s counting stats also back up the high war totals, slashing .278/.376/.806, while tallying 18 home runs and 72 RBI, along with 12 stolen bases. The Tigers shortstop wasn’t just elite with the bat either, tallying 1.9 dWAR and 8 defensive runs saved.
Parker Messick also put up an excellent rookie season for the Cleveland Guardians, emerging as the team's number 2 starting pitcher behind Gavin Williams. Messick finished 3rd in the American League in ERA (2.56), which also led all American League rookie starting pitchers, and second in bWAR for all American League pitchers with 6.3.
I don’t think the voters would be wrong to choose either Mcgonigle or Messick, both were outstanding deserving of the award.
American League Reliever of the Year: Louis Varland (Toronto Blue Jays)
Reliever of the year isn’t the most publicized of the individual MLB awards, but in the era where bullpens are more important than ever, I think it’s only right to shine a spotlight on the relievers.
Louis Varland quietly put up one of the most dominant reliever seasons in recent memory as the closer for a Toronto Blue Jays team that failed to live up to expectations all year. Varland led all major league relievers in ERA at 1.27 while converting 35 of 37 save opportunities across 78 innings in 71 appearances. He also managed to rack up 3.6 bWAR, no small feat for a relief pitcher. In those 78 innings, Varland struck out 97 batters, good for 11.2 ks per 9.
The Tampa Bay Rays’ closer Bryan Baker also put up a dominant season, tying for the major league lead in saves with 41 while pitching to a 1.44 ERA. Great in his own right, but simply not as good as Varland. Cade Smith, who also had 41 saves and a 1.95 ERA , is a distant third to Varland and Baker.
NL MVP: Pete Crow-Armstrong (Chicago Cubs)
PCA was the best player in baseball this season, both with the bat and the glove. His 10.6 fWAR and 9.8 bWAR far and away led all of baseball this season. His statistics with the bat were superb, putting up just the 7th ever 40 home run 40 stolen base season, while putting up 107 RBI and leading the NL with a 156 OPS+, but where Crow-Armstrong really separates himself from the pack is with his glove. PCA was far and away the best outfielder in the National League this season. His 25 OAA was 12 more than the next closest NL outfielder, Michael Harris II, and is the second highest total for any Major League outfielder since 2016, only trailing Byron Buxton’s 26 in 2017.
PCA really ran away with the award in August, going on an absolute tear, hitting 14 homers while slashing .280/.366/.703. This combined with Shohei Ohtani’s injury riddled second half sealed PCA’s MVP case.
NL Cy Young: Jacob Misiorowski (Milwaukee Brewers)
No surprise here. The young righty dominated hitters all year with his electric fastball-slider combination to the tune of a 1.80 ERA, the best in the MLB. Misiorowski also led the league in a number of other categories, such as WHIP (0.802), Strikeouts (252), Hits allowed per 9 (4.9), and Strikeouts per 9 (12.9).
Misiorowski was borderline untouchable all year and not much needs to be said for his Cy Young case. This is as clear cut as they come.
NL Rookie of the Year: Sal Stewart (Cincinnati Reds)
This is probably the most hotly contested of the major awards this season. The NL rookie class produced some amazing seasons. My choice for the award is Sal Stewart. His 37 homers and 119 RBI both paced all NL rookies by far and despite his low WAR, in my opinion, did enough to win him the Rookie of the Year.
Other candidates for the award include JJ Wetherholt, with a 4.5 WAR, Carson Benge, with 4.3 WAR a .280 batting average and a 20 home run 20 stolen base season, and TJ Rumfield, who hit .300 with an .843 OPS while tallying 16 home runs.
Sal Stewart did enough to make up for his low WAR with his home run and RBI totals, which is why I gave him the award, although I expect the vote to be very close, and wouldn’t be surprised if another candidate won.
NL Reliever of the Year: Mason Miller (San Diego Padres)
nother runaway award in the National League, Miller established himself as one of the premier closers in baseball this season straight from the outset, not allowing a run for nearly the first month of the season and hardly slowing down after that. He finished the year leading the NL in saves with 38, while racking up an absurd 16.6 strikeouts per 9 innings and an ERA of 1.67. He also racked up 3.1 WAR as a closer, leading all NL relievers. I’m sure this season makes the Padres feel much better about giving up the massive prospect haul it took to get Miller at the 2025 trade deadline, as he looks to be the league's premier reliever for years to come.