The 2026 season is over, and the debriefing shall commence. My preferred way to begin is by handing out awards to some of the players who made the season what it was.
From 40 To 35
Last year I started with 40 awards. That felt pretentious, so this year the count dropped to 35. I can’t monopolize people’s time like that anymore. There are no more lineups to set. No more pickups to make. Any time I take up here is time better spent watching playoff baseball or even YouTube.
Standard Picks First
Before the fun begins, I’ll share the MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year picks. These are the boring ones, the official choices that most readers already know.
| Award | League | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| AL MVP | Yordan Alvarez, OF | HOU |
| NL MVP | Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF | CHC |
| AL CY | Cam Schlittler, SP | NYY |
| NL CY | Jacob Misiorowski, SP | MIL |
| AL ROY | Kevin McGonigle, 3B/SS | DET |
| NL ROY | Sal Stewart, 1B/3B | CIN |
I call them boring. That is the whole point.
The Good Stuff
My real picks start after the standard awards. These are the serious business and the silly ones mixed together, all final and all meant to represent the principal actors from this season.
Why The Count Shrank
The drop from 40 to 35 was not an accident. Last year’s 40 awards felt excessive, and the decision to cut them was deliberate. The reasoning is simple: I don’t set lineups anymore, and I don’t make pickups. The time I spend here now is time better spent watching playoff baseball or even YouTube.
The Boring Picks
The standard awards are not the story. They are the setup. The MVP picks are straightforward:
- Alvarez in the American League
- Crow-Armstrong in the National
The Cy Young awards follow the same pattern, with Schlittler taking the American League and Misiorowski the National. The Rookie of the Year picks round out the set, with McGonigle in the American League and Stewart in the National.
My own judgment is that none of it is particularly interesting. That is the joke.
The Real Picks
My real picks start after the standard awards. These are the serious business and the silly ones mixed together, all final and all meant to represent the principal actors from this season.
Categories And Finality
Some of the picks are serious business. Others are a bit silly. All are final, so if you have any complaints, bring them to your mother. That is a light-hearted way of saying the list is complete and not open to negotiation.
It is also a way of inviting disagreement. I have made a judgment, and you are free to disagree with it.
What We Make Of It
My method is simple: admit the pretension, cut the list, and move on. The result is a debriefing that is personal, funny, and oddly generous toward the players it celebrates.
The 35 picks are a compromise between wanting to say everything and wanting to say it quickly. My own admission of pretension is the most honest part of the whole exercise. The list exists because I care enough to make it, and you are free to take it or leave it.
You get the official record first, then my own take on what actually mattered.
The 2026 season is over, and the debriefing has begun. I have done the work, and now you get to enjoy the results.
See the a run of 521 images at CBS Sports.
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