2023 season is upon us and that brings us to predictions that may or may not come true. But with different metrics of data and from last season as well as feelings of intuition will give us a good estimate on who might breakout and take home the gold or lead their team to the championship. Alas lets get into it.

National League

MVP

The National League has a lot of prominent stars that it is hard to pick just one that will be the most valuable in the league. It’s the 2020s so even if there is a sure fire pick with stats to back it up the league won’t always jump to awarding this player. With so many to chose from I can’t pick just one so I’ll decide on two players. Two players who I think are destined on pace for first ballot hall of fame.

Though many will pick Juan Soto but I think he is a year away from collecting his first MVP, though not Soto I believe this award seems favorable to go to his teammate across the field; Manny Machado. Manny is a phenom slugger and a leader who has consistently shown improvements over the years. Since the massive additions of ‘Slam Diego’ arriving in 2020, Machado has had offensive security supplement around him and has become a top 5 MVP candidate every year. His dedication is supplemental with the success he has shown on the field. In 4 years with San Diego, Machado has accumulated 600 hits and over 100 home runs, exploding over the past two years with an OPS+ on average of 145. He came close last only finishing out to Paul Goldschmidt. He will lead the Padres to their inevitable first World Series win, it’s time we start respecting Machado and the impact he has on this team.

Nolan Arenado is my other pick for MVP. Adding that to his resume with another golden glove award will truly cement him as one of the best top 5 3B ever in all of baseball. His 11th golden glove will have him at the top of the list of consecutive golden gloves won, beating out Ichiro. He constantly is a 35hr and 100+ Rbi hitter and this is the year he takes home his biggest award yet. He finished right behind Machado and Goldschmidt for the MVP, accumulating the most FWAR and DWAR out of any player not named Ohtani or Judge. He is more than capable of taking home the trophy. Luckily playoffs won’t count as Machado will take out Arenado in the National League Champion series.

Winner: Machado or Arenado

ROY

Minor league excellence does not always indicate the same success in the major leagues, the stress of living up to expectations can get into prospects heads and hurt themselves from showing their true success. But for this year I see only one true victor: Corbin Carroll. Corbin Caroll is one of the fastest players in the league, having a sprint speed of 30.7 feet per second. With the new rules in place pitchers are only allowed two pickoff attempts for runners, so we will see a staggering high in baserunners and stolen bases for this year. As well as the bases being bigger by 3 inches we should expect a 45-50 stolen base season out of Carroll. In his 3 years of minor league service he accumulated 52 stolen bases and was only caught 7 times. He hit over .300 and had 24 home runs last year in the minors. So as much as he is hyped up I believe he will live up to the hype and take out Jordan Walker as the 2023 ROY.

Winner: Corbin Carroll

CY Young

So much talent with the national league pitchers, it’s juiced with talent that it’s hard to pick just one but I feel it’s time we give more praise to pitching machine: Zac Gallen. He had a historical season breaking two huge records set by previous Diamondbacks. Gallen was pitcher of the month for August, going 12-4 with a 2.54 on the season and arguably better than the other CY Young candidates. He truly set the tone for ace status in Arizona by breaking the historic scoreless streak held by previous Diamondbacks 2007 CY Young winner; Brandon Webb who held batters scoreless for 42 innings of perfect pitching. Gallen barely beat out the record by recording 44.1 scoreless innings. Gallen went over a full month of pitching without giving up a run! From July to August he had a 1.71 ERA, holding batters to a .186 batting average, which broke the record previous held by Randy Johnson who held batters to .197 batting average in 2004. This is the year of the Milk Man!

Winner: Zac Gallen

MOTY

Maybe Im drinking too much of the Diamondbacks kool-aid, but what they are doing in Arizona just shows they are almost there to contender in the scary NL West, and who better to lead this young staff than Torey Lovullo who will prove the Diamondbacks won’t be stepped on from the rest of the league. The Diamondbacks have the potential CY Young and ROY winner on their team, with less interdivisional games to play against the Padres and Dodgers, the Diamondbacks are posed for success this year. The Diamondbacks were 5-14 against the Dodgers and 5-14 against the Padres but 4 games over .500 against the rest of the league. They are a young and hungry team with many stars on the team ranging from slugging first baseman Christian Walker, a surge of power infused Outfielders; the versatile Alek Thomas, speedsters Corbin Carroll and Jake McCarthy, catching superstar Gabriel Moreno and a good surge of veteran presence in Evan Longoria and Gurriel Jr. It’s the year of the snakes and no other better than Torey Lovullo who will transform them to an above .500 team contending for the final wild card.

Winner: Torey Lovullo

CBPOTY

Sometimes it’s all about the ballpark you play in and it is certainly the case for Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jesse Winker who will turn things around in a season before hitting free agency. Last year wasn’t pretty for Winker who was the prized possession last year in the Reds Mariners trade that sent Eugeino Suarez and Jesse Winker to the Mariners for a package of unknown players. Jesse Winker coming off an Allstar season in 2021 that had him with a .949 OPS had him shutter eyed barely hitting above league average with a flat 100 hits with a career high in games played (136) Luckily its time for redemption and the best team for a turn around is the Brewers, who have been known to turn around average players into superstar players seen with the production with Willy Adames. In 4 seasons with the Reds Jesse Winker has owned Miller park; batting well over .300 in 40 games with 18 home runs played at Miller park. It’s a treat now the Brewers don’t have to worry about the talent Winker produces, he’ll be on their side this time.

Winner: Jesse Winker

American League

MVP

Is it really a question? Sure we can do dark horse picks but that assumes this player has a remarkable historical season like Aaron Judge did last year with a record breaking 62 home runs. No one is beating the Sho-Show, he’ll collect his 2nd MVP before leaving for free agency. Since 2021 he has had one of the better opponent bating averages and ERA. A combined 2.77 era and 188 strikeouts and a FIP just below 3 over the past two years as well as his monster offense he brings to the table. Pitching and offense is elite, putting him in a class of his own. Averaging 36 home runs a year and 100RBIs he is the for sure fire pick for MVP, no doubt.

Winner Shohei Ohtani

ROY

It’s time for the Orioles to prove righteous once again with a pool of youngsters awaiting the door to the majors. For years the Orioles have built up their farm system to be one of the leading best, finishing with the #1 farm system in all of baseball for four years in a row, and now is the time the talent and production comes through the major league doors. Last year was Adley’s turn at the throne and his ability to turn the Orioles into a winning ball club and now it is Gunnar Henderson’s turn for action. In 112 games in the minor leagues last year Gunnar accumulated over 100 runs, 121 hits, 76RBIs and a batting average just below .300. Its time we start giving the Orioles more respect for their effort at creating a young ball team and the effect it has paid off. Years of living in the dark is over, with Gunnar going in for the battle of the riches for AL ROY and taking the crown in the end. Shows the absolute filth the Orioles have on deck with the loaded farm system and young talent they have in store.

Winner: Gunnar Henderson

CY Young

From one team passing the accolade to the next teammate, just like the Orioles passing the torch of ROY excellence from Adley to Gunnar, it is the same path for the Astros. From the ageless wonder Justin Verlander who took home the AL CY Young with a stat line of 18-4, 1.75 ERA in 175 innings at the ripe age of 39, shows the extreme dominance the Astros always have with pitching. This is the year of another hot headed CY Young race and it’s not Framber at the realm who had 25+ consecutive quality starts the year prior, it’s his teammate Christian Javier who will be the one to take home the CY and lead his team to another hefty playoff run leading to a another World Series matchup. Christian Javier was a superstar last year, going 30 games with a 2.54 ERA, a smidge under 200 strikeouts leading to an ERA+ 50% better than the average pitcher. He is filth and is underrated to the extremes. He threw two no hitters last year both against the Yankees! He threw a combined no hitter in the playoffs in the ALCS against the Yankees game 4. I think this is the year where he goes to an elite level and delivers another rockstar season for the Astros. There is no worry about loosing 2022 CY Young winner Justin Verlander when you have the eventual 2023 winner amongst your hands.

Winner: Christian Javier

MOTY

The AL west is going to be one of the more competitive divisions in the league with last year WS winner at the helm of the division followed by three massive superstar teams racing for the final three wild card teams Though I don’t see this team reaching the playoffs I see major improvements in the team caliber from the year prior, and it all starts with the managing the team has. The Texas Rangers have dedicated over 800 million dollars in payroll to superstar phenoms Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Jon Gray, Jacob Degrom, Andrew Heaney, Nathan Eovaldi and Martin Perez. With Chris Woodward out the door it’s time for a real playoff prone manager to step up to the throne.

Call in Bruce Bochy who currently is one of three teams in baseball with a perfect record of 3-0. Bochy has plenty of playoff experience winning 3 World Series titles with the Giants back in the 2010s. The experience is there for sure, it’s just about if it can translate to a new ball club, with so much youth coming up they need a veteran manager to guide them through the season and Bochy is perfect for this role for the Rangers.

Winner: Bruce Bochy

CBPOTY

Playing in New York can be a whirlwind of emotions, especially playing for the New York Yankees. A self conceited fan base who brutally attacks their players confidence and egos when they struggle shows exactly why not all players do well under extreme pressure in the big apple. Joey Gallo is a victim of this, as he struggled horribly in his year and a half he spent in pinstripes. An imminent power hitter who spent all his time with the Texas Rangers, hitting on average 22 home runs and 75 RBIs. His time with the Yankees was a bit different as all his power was commanded to a minuscule .162 batting average and an OPS+ far below league average at 83+ It was a year to forget for Gallo but there is a bright side as his time with the Yankees is in the past. Now its time for redemption with the Minnesota Twins.

Speaking with intuition, Gallo always had his best career numbers with odd numbered years. So I expect big numbers out of him this year with the Twins. In 2021, splitting time with the Yankees and Rangers he had 111BB, 77 RBIs and almost 40 home runs. At Target Field he has hit over .286 in 5 years playing there as the visiting team. Expect big things out of the power slugging left fielder. No more Yankee ‘Bleecher Demons’ yelling in his face anymore, he can finally breathe and show the league who Joey Gallo really is.

Winner: Joey Gallo

It’s hard to predict the winners for each of the 5 awards for the National League and American League, but its good to have some estimate to determine the work and success these players might have. Is it intuition? Yes it is, but that’s baseball, things are changing rapidly and one year doesn’t automatically prove another year to be a downfall for one player. Anything can change and with new rules among us we are in for one eventful season.