As MLB awards season draws to a close, here are three things we’ll be watching all day:
1. Tonight’s Player of the Year results announced
The announcement of the final awards for the 2022-23 season is coming tonight, with the AL and NL Most Valuable Player awards announced at 5:00 PM CET. The finalists in the AL are Aaron JudgeAnd the Shuhei OhtaniAnd the Jordan Alvarezwhile the NL finalists are Paul GoldschmidtAnd the Nolan ArenadoAnd the Manny Machado. This year’s AL race was especially special, as historic seasons rivaled one another. Ohtani has arguably improved on his 2021 AL MVP campaign this year, while Judge had perhaps the best offensive season since the days of Barry Bonds. For his part, Alvarez has put up rate numbers that will be stronger in the mix in almost any other year. Despite really special seasons from all three AL finalists, Judge appears to be the favorite after setting a new AL record. In the NL, Goldschmidt flirted with the Triple Crown at one point, but his season ended on a low note, trimming just .245/.333/.383 after the calendar flipped to September. That may have opened the door a bit for Arenado and Machado, who have posted very similar profiles to each other in 2022. Machado’s season streak of .298/.366/.531 is virtually indistinguishable from Arenado’s streak of .293/.358/.533.
2. How Teoscar trading is changing the market
Yesterday, the Mariners and Blue Jays saw action trade to send Teuscar Hernandez To Seattle, it’s likely to shake up the outdoor market in a big way. With Hernandez no longer hitting right field every day, the Blue Jays will now likely seek outfield help, with George SpringerAnd the Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Their only regular players as things are. Both Cavan Biggio And the Whit Merrifield He saw time on the court last year, but with the Blue Jays already rumored to be in the market for another outfielder even before yesterday’s trade, they’ll likely be more aggressive in their pursuit as the season progresses. The other side of the trade has implications for the market as well, as Seattle is now going deeper into outside options. Hernandez will probably get into right field using Julio Rodriguez in the center and Jesse Winker (Assuming he himself isn’t trade) in the left, but the sailors have them Jared KilinickAnd the Kyle LewisAnd the Taylor TrammellAnd the Sam Hagerty Further down on the depth chart, not to mention the forecast Cady Marlowe And the Zach DeLoach, who could be ready for the big league sometime next year. Needless to say, Seattle’s abundance of outfielders could attract commercial interest, and the addition of Hernandez makes it more likely that Jerry Depoto, president of baseball operations, will tackle that depth.
3. Top 50 Talk with Rob Bradford
MLBTR’s List of Top 50 Free Proxies And predictions went down last week, our entries Free agent prediction contest It was due last night — but that doesn’t mean all Top 50-related things are in the rearview mirror just yet. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes and Steve Adams are joined by Audacy Sports’ Rob Bradford and WEEI on Monday “Baseball is not boring” Podcast to discuss the Top 50 roster and the free agent class in general. Could you Hear their appearances hereand you can continue Baseball is not boring And the Follow Rob on Twitter.
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