Now that all the major MLB awards have been announced, we want to look back at our picks versus the voted winners. Six of our eight picks won the awards as we projected, but the two missed picks are real head scratchers.

To revisit …

  • Rookie of the Year: We picked Houston Astros pitcher Cristian Javier, while the voters picked Seattle Mariners outfielder Kyle Lewis in the American League.
  • Manager of the Year: We nailed both picks.
  • Cy Young Award: We parked both picks.
  • MVP Award: We picked Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, while the voters picked Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman in the National League.

Let’s start with the NL MVP vote: Freeman may have been a nice sentimental choice, since he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and recovered to post great numbers. We get emotional choices; they happen. But it still should not have happened. In a full season, Freeman would have trailed Betts by 1.4 WAR—which is a significant number.

The Braves star also posted -0.3 dWAR in 2020, and giving an MVP Award to a guy who sucks with the glove should be avoided if at all possible. Maybe people figured the Dodgers would have won the NL West without Betts, and that argument makes sense. But we still think Betts was much more deserving of this award than Freeman. History won’t respect this vote at all.

As for the AL ROTY … none of the choices were great ones. It is interesting the voters opted for the middle ground in terms of WAR, while also picking the one finalist who didn’t play for a good team. Plus, Lewis was not the best rookie, nor was he the most valuable. Why he won this award unanimously will be something future fans also question wholeheartedly.

That’s a wrap for 2020 MLB coverage. Hope you enjoyed it!