The 2015 Major League season has come to an end as the Royals took home their second World Series title in franchise history and their first in 30 years. Now that we are heading into the offseason, all of baseball, including team head offices, and the fans are reflecting upon individual achievement during the past season to not only hand out new contracts to free agents, but to also hand out hardware such as the Cy Young Award, MVP and Rookie of the Year for the players that stood out the most.

Rookie of the Year

American League. 

Although there are three candidates for each award, the American League prize seems to be a two-headed race that features two up-and-coming shortstops.

The Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa had an amazing rookie season in which he had a .279 average with 22 home runs, 68 RBI’s and 14 stolen bases in only 99 games! Imagine the offensive numbers he would’ve put up if he was called up earlier in the season and had an extra 45-55 games to play in.

And Correa’s amazing play didn’t stop there, as he made some unbelievable plays at shortstop with a 96.7% fielding percentage, where he only made 13 errors out of 390 total chances. He was a key contributor in sending the Astros to their first postseason since 2005.

Standing in his way, however, is another young and talented shortstop in Francisco Lindor. Lindor’s offensive game started off slow when he was first called up, but turned things around the second half of the season. He finished with a .313 average, 12 home runs, 12 stolen bases and 51 RBI’s in 99 games.

Just like Correa, Lindor is sure-handed in the field as he finished with a 97.4% fielding percentage and will be a key piece for the Indians to build around and make a postseason push in years to come.

Lastly, there’s Miguel Sano of the Minnesota Twins. Sano is more of an offensive player, where he was the designated hitter most of the time, although he came up as a third baseman. Sano posted average power-hitter stats in his rookie year with a .269 average, 18 home runs and 52 RBI’s in just 80 games.

Because two of these candidates’ teams did not make the playoffs and don’t have the best all-around stats, I think Carlos Correa will win the AL Rookie of the Year.

National League. 

The National League situation with rookies is pretty simple. The three candidates are Kris Bryant, Matt Duffy, and Jung Ho Kang. I think most people would go with Bryant right off the bat but overlook the seasons that Duffy and Kang had.

Duffy hit a solid .295 with 12 home runs and 77 RBI’s in 149 games for the Giants in 2015. His defensive stats were also top-notch in a 96.5% fielding percentage.

The Pirates took a gamble in acquiring Jung Ho Kang from overseas in South Korea, but it paid off. Kang showed off his offensive game while hitting .287 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI’s in 126 games for the Pirates in 2015. He was unable to help contribute against the Cubs in the Wild Card game due to an injury suffered late in the season while turning a double play.

 And then there’s what seems to be the unanimous choice in Kris Bryant, who helped the Cubs reach the NLCS for the first time since 2003. Bryant wasn’t called up until a few weeks into the season but had an immediate impact. He hit .275, with 26 home runs and 99 RBI’s. Compared to his offense, his defensive skills could use some work, but I’m sure that will come around for him. But my choice, and most people’s choice for NL ROY, is Kris Bryant.

Cy Young Award

National League.

Imagine that your top two pitchers are competing against each other to win the Cy Young Award. Well, in 2015, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw did just that. The two of them combined for a 35-9 record, and each kept runs to a minimum as Kershaw had a 2.13 ERA while Greinke topped that with a 1.66 ERA.

 If I had to pick one of the two, I would go with Greinke. He had multiple scoreless inning streaks and was more consistent than Kershaw, even though the latter put another phenomenal year under his belt. 

The third candidate had an absolute breakout year and is another key player on the Cubs, Jake Arrieta. Arrieta had won 36 games from 2010-2014. In 2015, he had 22 wins, along with a 1.77 ERA and a .86 WHIP.

He had an amazing performance against the Pirates in the NL Wild Card game to keep the Cubs season alive. He went the distance to toss the complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts. In my opinion, the more impactful pitcher, as well as measuring the intangibles, has to be Jake Arrieta, and I think he will take home the hardware.

American League. 

The American League Cy Young seems to be yet another two-man race. Sonny Gray had a great year despite an inconsistent Oakland team this past season. The two front runners for the AL prize are two southpaws who led their teams to the postseason in David Price and Dallas Keuchel.

Keuchel went 20-8 during the regular season and didn’t lose a single start at home. He had two masterful starts in the playoffs. The first came in the Bronx, where he shut out the Yankees through seven innings in the AL Wild Card game and in game three of the ALDS against the Royals. 

Unfortunately, the Astros couldn’t finish off Kansas City and eventually lost in five games. David Price was dealt over from Detroit to the playoff hungry Blue Jays at the deadline and had a great second half of the season, finishing with an 18-5 record with 225 strikeouts in 220.1 innings pitched. 

However, once October came rolling in, things didn’t go Price’s way. He went 1-2 with a 6.17 ERA. But the numbers tell a little bit of a lie. Price pitched well through most of his innings, but either he or the Toronto bullpen couldn’t hold the opposing offense and ended up getting either a no-decision or a loss.

 I think Keuchel will get the majority of the vote. The Cy Young is really the pitcher’s MVP, and when you go 10-0 at home, and win 20 games, you are the most valuable pitcher–Keuchel has all of the credentials.

MVP

American League.

This year’s AL MVP may be the most debatable winner out of all of the awards. 

Lorenzo Cain isn’t really in this dispute, although he did have an influential year to help the Royals win the World Series. He started in centerfield for the AL in the All-Star Game and finished the season with a .307 average, 16 home runs, 72 RBI’s and 28 stolen bases. And in centerfield, he could run down just about every ball due to his great speed.

But the fight seems to be against Josh Donaldson and the always dangerous Mike Trout. Donaldson seemed to carry the Blue Jays to the playoffs as he hit .297 with an impressive 43 home runs and 123 RBI’s. 

On the other hand, Trout, who seems to get better every year, had a better year than his 2014 MVP campaign. At the age of 24 with an MVP award already under his belt, Trout hit .299 with 41 home runs, 90 RBI’s and 11 stolen bases. Although Trout seemed to have a better year individually, Donaldson’s year helped his team reach the playoffs. So my prediction is that Josh Donaldson will win the AL MVP this year.

National League.

The one thing that all three NL candidates have in common is that they are all from non-playoff teams. 

First, there is Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds. Votto had a great second half and finished with a .314 average, a .459 on-base percentage, 29 home runs and 80 RBI’s. He also is a sure-handed defender at first base.

The next finalist is another first baseman in Paul Goldschmidt. Goldy has already won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger this season and is trying to top it off with an MVP award. He won a Gold Glove with a 99.7% fielding percentage and making highlight reel plays what seems like everyday. He then won a Silver Slugger by hitting .321 with 33 home runs, 110 RBI’s and a .435 on base. 

And then there was the breakout Bryce Harper. Although the Nationals collapsed during the second half, Harper stayed hot all season long. He topped Votto and Goldschmidt in average and home runs (.330 avg and 42 HR’s) and drove in 99 RBI’s. Goldschmidt and Harper have the best bet at winning the award, but Harper was red hot all season long and I think he’ll barely edge Goldschmidt and win.

All of this year’s award winners will be announced this week. I didn’t get in depth with the Manager of the Year Awards, but I think Terry Collins will win in the NL and Jeff Bannister in the AL. Stay tuned on MLB Network or any other sports channel to see who wins!