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MLB Awards: My IBWAA Ballot (part 2)

By Bobby Mueller

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 28: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates with the World Series trophy after winning the 2018 World Series in game five of the 2018 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on October 28, 2018 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 28: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates with the World Series trophy after winning the 2018 World Series in game five of the 2018 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on October 28, 2018 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Mike McGinnis/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
(Photo by Mike McGinnis/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

With the top three players in each MLB Award category being announced by the BBWAA on Monday, here are my picks for Cy Young and MVP.

On Monday, the BBWAA announced the three finalists for the 2018 MLB Awards. While the BBWAA votes for the official award winners, members of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) hold their own vote with the same guidelines. The IBWAA includes baseball insiders such as Ken Rosenthal, Jim Bowden and Jon Heyman, along with writers at many of your favorite online sites, including Call to the Pen.

The IBWAA was created in 2009 as a digital alternative to the BBWAA. The organization exists to promote online baseball media. Whereas at one time baseball fans generally read about baseball in local newspapers, they now regularly get their baseball news and analysis online. The IBWAA allows online baseball writers an opportunity to come together as a group and vote for the end-of-season awards.

Along with the awards mentioned above, the IBWAA includes a category for the Rollie Fingers American League Relief Pitcher of the Year and the Hoyt Wilhelm National League Relief Pitcher of the Year. In December, IBWAA writers vote on players for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

One week after Monday’s announcement by the BBWAA of the three finalists, the winners of the awards will be announced, beginning with the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award on Monday, November 12. The Manager of the Year Award will follow on Tuesday, the Cy Young Award on Wednesday and award week will culminate with the announcement of the MVP Award winners for each league on Thursday, November 15.

I previously wrote about my picks for Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year. My top three for AL Rookie of the year, in order, were Shohei Ohtani, Joey Wendle and Gleyber Torres. In that previous article, I wrote that Miguel Andujar would likely be in the top three on the BBWAA ballot and this proved to be true. The BBWAA three finalists (not in order) were Andujar, Ohtani and Torres. My top three in the NL were the same as the BBWAA top three: Ronald Acuńa, Jr., Juan Soto and Walker Buehler.

My top three finishers for the AL and NL Manager of the Year Award were also the same as the BBWAA. In the American League, the three finalists are Kevin Cash, Alex Cora and Bob Melvin. In the National League, the finalists are Bud Black, Craig Counsell and Brian Snitker. While we wait until next week to learn the ultimate winners, here are my picks for the Cy Young and MVP of each league.

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