The WBN writers voted for the MVPs, Cy Youngs, and Rookie of the Year in each league to cap off a truly unforgettable MLB season. For each award, a first-place vote was awarded 20 points, a second-place vote was awarded 10 points, a third-place vote was awarded five points, a fourth-place vote was awarded three points, and a fifth-place vote was awarded one point. Let’s see who our writers have taking home the hardware:
AL MVP
No surprises here: Our writers unanimously agree that Aaron Judge should take home his second American League Most Valuable Player award in three years. Though he didn’t quite top his American League record 62 home-run total of 2022, Judge posted the best all-around offensive season of his career. He set personal bests in average (.322), on-base-percentage (.458), slugging (.701), OPS (1.159), walks (133), and RBI (144), all of which led MLB.
It speaks to just how good Judge’s season was that Bobby Witt Jr. did not receive a first-place vote despite putting together arguably the best single-season performance for a shortstop in MLB history.
He led MLB with a .332 average and 210 hits, totaling 32 home runs and 31 stolen bases, all while playing platinum-glove-level defense. Witt Jr. also played in 161 out of 162 possible games for the playoff-bound Royals, often carrying a lineup with no other regular with an OPS above .800.
In nearly every other year, Witt Jr’s 10.3 WAR would have made him a shoo-in for MVP, but Judge’s dominance likely means he will have to settle for second place.
Judge’s new Yankee teammate Juan Soto comes in at third place after a terrific first season in the Bronx. The 25-year-old outfielder posted his best OPS+ (178) since 2019 and blasted a career-high 41 home runs while playing in 159 games and leading the major leagues with 128 runs scored. Fellow AL East slugger Gunnar Henderson comes in fourth after a breakout campaign that saw him post a 9.0 WAR and 37 home runs, while the ever-consistent Jose Ramirez rounds out the top five following a 38 home run/41 stolen base season.
Though they each put up fantastic individual seasons, the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.323/.396/.544, 30 home runs) and Athletics’ Brent Rooker (.293/.365/.562, 39 home runs) were each hurt by their team’s last-place campaigns. The same can be said about All-Star game MVP Jarren Duran, whose 8.7 WAR season couldn’t quite lead the Red Sox into the playoffs.
Finally, one writer used their fifth-place vote on future Hall-of-Famer Jose Altuve, who played a significant part in the Astros’ resurgence with a .295 average and 20 home runs.
NL MVP
Much like on the AL side, a historic campaign made the NL MVP decision simple. Despite being regulated to solely DH duties due to elbow surgery last September, the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani still managed to put together another unprecedented season.
He became the first member of the 50 home-run/50 stolen-base campaign after a generational 6-for-6 performance last week in Miami, leading the NL in (deep breath) average, on-base-percentage, slugging, home runs, RBI, at-bats, runs, total bases, and OPS+. Among all the other achievements in his one-of-a-kind career, Ohtani proved in 2024 that even at 50%, he is still one of the top two players in baseball.
In another parallel to the AL vote, the second-place finisher in our NL MVP poll was also a shortstop from a surprising wild-card winner. Fransisco Lindor didn’t have nearly the flashy numbers of a Judge, Ohtani, or even Witt Jr., but his wide variety of skills have made him as critical to his teams’ success as any of them.
In 151 games, Lindor blasted 33 home runs, posted a career-high 138 OPS+, converted on 29 of 33 of his stolen base attempts, and totaled a whopping 16 Outs Above Average at shortstop. Though he can’t compete with Ohtani, the Mets star looks like a safe bet for his first top-five MVP finish since 2017.
On the completely opposite side of the defensive spectrum, Braves’ DH Marcell Ozuna comes in at third place after another incredible offensive performance. It has been a remarkable turnaround for Ozuna, who looked like he was on the way out of the league after posting a .675 OPS from 2021-2022. He shocked everyone with a 40-home run campaign in 2023 and has been even better this season, slashing .302/.378/.546 with 39 home runs. In a season where the Braves have had nearly every other regular go down with injury or severely underperform, Ozuna is a big reason why the Braves are returning to the postseason.
For a while, it looked like Ketel Marte might pose a serious challenge to Ohtani. The key cog in the Diamondbacks’ elite offense, Marte posted career-highs with 155 OPS+ and 36 home runs yet was limited to just 137 games because of an ankle injury that sidelined him for a month. Fellow middle-infielder Elly De La Cruz was far more durable with 160 games played, helping him tally an MLB-leading 62 stolen bases. On the other hand, De La Cruz also led the league with 218 strikeouts and his .259/.339/.471 batting line paled in comparison to other MVP contenders.
Bryce Harper also registered seven votes from our writers after another quietly excellent season. The Phillies superstar posted a .285/.373/.525 line with 30 home runs and 87 RBI in his first full season at first base. It won’t result in his third career MVP, but he’ll undoubtedly take the Phillies’ first World Series Championship as a consolation prize.
Braves ace Chris Sale earned the only vote for a pitcher in either league, and it’s easy to see why. With all the injuries in the Braves lineup, it’s difficult to imagine where the team would be without Sale’s 29 dominant starts.
Rounding the voting out is a single point for Padres left-fielder Jurickson Profar. The Padres’ breakout star didn’t have eye-popping numbers. Still, his 158 games played and .380 on-base percentage helped stabilize the Padres lineup that lost Juan Soto in the offseason and missed Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts for multiple weeks.
AL Cy Young
The Tigers are baseball’s best story from 2024, and at the center of it all was Tarik Skubal. Our voters unanimously decided to pick him as the AL Cy Young winner after a Triple Crown campaign in which he led the American League with 18 wins, 2.39 ERA, and 228 strikeouts.
The 27-year-old lefty flashed his potential during 15 starts in 2023, but he took it to another level this season and looks like the game’s next great ace.
The decision for Skubal was clear, but our writers were much more split on who was runner-up. Orioles ace Corbin Burnes barely topped Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase after a solid first season in Baltimore. The four-time All-Star and 2021 Cy Young winner took the ball 30 times and posted a 2.92 ERA, but his pedestrian 8.4 K/9, his lowest since his rookie season, pales compared to Skubal. Clase, on the other hand, pitched 120 fewer innings than Burnes but had an unfathomable 0.61 ERA while leading the majors in saves for the third season in a row.
Like Burnes, Royals starter Seth Lugo exceeded expectations after switching teams this offseason, finishing second in the AL with 206.2 innings pitched and ranking second to Skubal in ERA with a 3.00 ERA. Framber Valdez rounds out the top five after his third straight excellent season. In a season where many Astros pitchers were either ineffective or injured, Valdez was rock-solid with a 2.91 ERA over 28 starts.
Lugo and Valdez were far from the only star pitchers on their team, however, as the Royals’ Cole Ragans (3.14 ERA, 223 strikeouts) and the Astros’ Ronel Blanco (2.80 ERA, 166 strikeouts) and Josh Hader (34 saves, 3.80 ERA) also received votes. Kirby Yates got a third-place tally following a resurgent season in which he posted a 1.19 ERA and saved 33 games, while Logan Gilbert represents the Mariners’ stacked rotation after posting a 3.23 ERA and 220 strikeouts.
NL Cy Young
Sale might not take home the NL MVP, but our writers have (almost) no doubt that his resurgent season will be rewarded with his first-ever Cy Young award. The 35-year-old lefthander bounced back from five straight injury-plagued seasons to put together some of the best numbers of his career. He took home the NL Pitching Triple Crown with 18 wins, a 2.38 ERA, and 225 strikeouts, all of which were his best marks since 2018.
It speaks to how good Sale was this season that Zack Wheeler only received one first-place vote despite a career-best season. The Phillies ace turned in the lowest ERA of his career at 2.57 while eating up 200 innings, the fourth time in the last five non-COVID seasons he has topped 190 innings pitched. While Sale led the league in the traditional Big Three pitching categories, Wheeler topped all NL hurlers with a 0.96 WHIP and a 6.3 H/9.
Rookie fireballer Paul Skenes slots in at the third slot after a mind-blowing opening act, while fellow rookie Shota Imanaga comes in fifth following an effective first season in Chicago (more on them later). Sitting between them is new Padre Dylan Cease, who remained one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball despite changing teams. 2024 marked his fourth straight season, making at least 32 starts and striking out at least 210 batters, and he did it all while allowing a career-low 3.1 BB/9.
Cardinals closer Ryan Helsey earned a surprising fifth-place finish in our rankings thanks to a single second-place vote. To be fair, it was an excellent season for Hesley, who posted a 2.04 ERA and led the league with 49 saves, but it is not every day you see a closer on a non-playoff team get Cy Young consideration. Padres closer Robert Suarez was the only other reliever on our list, registering an eighth-place finish thanks to 36 saves and a 2.66 ERA. It’s also worth noting that reliever-turned-starter Reynaldo Lopez received a single fifth-place vote due to a 2.00 ERA that would have led the NL had he pitched enough innings.
Three more starting pitchers round out our list, although only Giants ace Logan Webb had received Cy Young consideration before. The Phillies’ Christopher Sanchez (3.32 ERA, 3.00 FIP) and the Padres’ Michael King (2.91 ERA, 201 strikeouts) both enjoyed breakout seasons to help lead their teams to the playoffs.
AL ROY
It may have taken five awards, but we finally have a close first-place finish. Colton Cowser, Austin Wells, and Luis Gil all received multiple votes from our writers, with Cowser ultimately finishing five and ten points ahead of the two Yankees.
After Adley Rutschman in 2022 and Gunnar Henderson in 2023, the Orioles once again possessed one of the best rookies in baseball in 2024. The 24-year-old Cowser led all AL rookies with 24 home runs while posting a solid 125 OPS+. He has been especially effective in the second half, as his breakout helped carry an Orioles offense at a team when many of their other hitters were struggling.
Like Cowser, Wells got off to a slow start before adjusting as the season progressed. From June 29 to August 31, Wells batted .307/.392/.567 with ten home runs, which, along with his 96th percentile framing, made him one of the best catchers in baseball. Yet, while Cowser took his game to another level in September, Wells appeared worn down from a full season of catching.
His .118/197/.206 line in September played a big part in Cowser pulling ahead in our ROY tally.
Gil’s season, meanwhile, tells a nearly opposite story of his batterymate. The 24-year-old was dominant over the first three months, posting a 2.03 ERA and 96 strikeouts over his first 14 starts. However, a poor start against Cowser’s Orioles sent Gil spiraling, and his ERA ballooned to 5.81 over his following ten outings. A quick stint on the IL followed, and Gil finished relatively strong with a 4.00 ERA over his final five regular season starts.
To round up the voting, Red Sox outfielder Wilyer Abreu received a third-place vote after a solid debut season. Though platooning and a June IL stint limited his counting numbers, Abreu still posted a 114 OPS+ and 7 Outs Above Average in right field.
NL ROY
The National League rookie class of 2024 is among the best in recent memories. Don’t believe me? Consider that Jackson Chourio, who posted a 20-20 season at age 20, and Shota Imanaga, who led the NL with a 6.21 K/BB ratio, didn’t even receive a first-place vote from our writers despite the fact they would probably win the award in most other seasons.
The issue for them was that there were two rookies in the National League this season who don’t come around very often. The Padres surprised everyone by putting top prospect Jackson Merrill on the Opening Day roster and moving him to center field, but the 21-year-old quickly proved he was up to the challenge. He led all rookie position players with a 4.4 WAR, excelling at the plate (127 OPS+), on the bases (16 for 19 in stolen base attempts), and in the field (10 outs above average).
Despite all that, Merrill received just one vote from our voters because even his season pales compared to Paul Skenes. It was an unprecedented ascension for the Pirates right-hander, who went from the number one overall pick to starting the MLB All-Star game in one year. Though starting the season in the minors and an innings restriction prevented him from qualifying for the ERA title, Skenes was dominant over his 23 starts. He posted a 1.93 ERA with an overpowering 170 strikeouts in 133 innings. Skenes has already collected a career’s worth of accolades over the past 12 months, and if our writers had any say, he will be adding a Rookie of the Year to his collection.
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WBN MLB: https://worldbaseball.com/league/mlb/
WBN’s Daniel Fox, Sidney Smith, Alex Ortiz, Aaliyan Mohammed, Brandon Kramer, and Anthony DiPonio contributed to the voting.
