Baseball Awards Time! Plus: Will There Be a Kate Upton Dance?

US Preswire

The Baseball Writers Association of American released Wednesday night finalists for its 2012 postseason awards. I'm told it's the first time ever the writers have let us in on who the candidates are. Thanks, fellas.

Anyway, beginning Monday with the rookies of the year honors, each award will be announced live on the MLB Network. (Totally awesome!) Honors week (my phrase, not theirs) concludes Thursday with the announcement of American League and National League MVPs.

Voting for the awards was conducted at the end of the regular season, so postseason performances do not come into play. If you're rooting for Nationals' pitcher Gio Gonzalez to win the NL Cy Young, you can rest assured his deer-in-the-headlights performance in Game 5 of the National League Division Series had no affect on the voting.

Below is the schedule for each awards announcement and a list of the finalist. My predictions, don't laugh, are in bold.

Monday, November 12: Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year

American League:

Yoenis Cespedes, A's
Yu Darvish, Rangers
Mike Trout, Angels (Who else?)

National League:

Todd Frazier, Reds
Bryce Harper, Nationals (Wishful thinking?)
Wade Miley, Diamondbacks

Tuesday, November 13: Manager of the Year

American League:
Bob Melvin, A's
Buck Showalter, Orioles
Robin Ventura, White Sox

National League:
Dusty Baker, Reds
Bruce Bochy, Giants
Davey Johnson, Nationals

Wednesday, November 14: Cy Young

American League:
David Price, Rays
Justin Verlander, Tigers ( I wonder if Kate Upton has a Cy Young dance prepared.)
Jered Weaver, Angels

National League:
R.A. Dickey, Mets
Gio Gonzalez, Nationals
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers

Thursday, November 15: Most Valuable Player
American League:
Adrian Beltre, Rangers
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers (That's my prediction, not who I think should win.)
Robinson Cano, Yankees
Josh Hamilton, Rangers
Mike Trout, Angels

National League:

Ryan Braun, Brewers
Chase Headley, Padres
Andrew McCutchen, Pirates
Yadier Molina, Cardinals
Buster Posey, Giants

Are you a little surprised Ryan Braun, following last year's positive PED test, made it into the top five? I am a little surprised, but you have to believe there's no way the writers will pick him as their MVP.

The only race I really care about is the National League Cy Young. I'm rooting for R.A. Dickey because 1.) he had a terrific season and deserves the award and 2.) I love knuckleball pitchers. I sincerely hope none of the writers put a lot of weight into things like "I really like knuckleballers" when they cast their votes.

Ok, there's the list and my humble guesses predictions. Give me your criticisms. Say what you will. I'm no Nate Silver, but I did have a fair amount of success with the MLB preseason picks I made back in late March. Have a look:

American League

East: Yankees

Central: Tigers

West: Rangers

Wild Cards: Angels, Rays

American League Champion: Tigers

National League

East: Braves

Central: Reds

West: Giants

Wild Cards: Nationals, Cardinals

National League Champion: Giants

World Series: Tigers over Giants

"How it actually turned out."

American League

East: Yankees

Central: Tigers

West: A's  (Rangers had the lead all season and lost it to the A's on the last day.)

Wild Cards: Orioles (Yes, the Orioles) and Rangers

American League Champion: Tigers over Yankees

 National League

East: Nationals! (Can you believe that? And they had the best record in baseball: 98 wins!)

Central: Reds

West: Giants

Wild Cards: Braves, Cardinals

National League Champion: Giants

World Series: Giants over the Tigers (I had the two teams, but picked the wrong winner.)