Here are three things we’ll be looking at around the world of baseball today:
1. MVP winners will be announced:
Awards season will wrap up at 5pm CT tonight with the unveiling of the MVP results for both leagues. There isn’t much doubt about the winner in either league, since the AL saw the Yankees outfielder Aaron is the judge made himself a huge favorite with a breakout season leading into his 2022 campaign (when he set a new AL record for home runs in a season) in both wRC+ (218) and fWAR (11.2). Shortstop for the Royals Bobby Witt Jr. and a high-profile free agent Juan Soto had their best seasons to earn their spots as finalists, but Judge’s .322/.458/.701 hitting, 58 home runs, 122 runs scored and 144 runs batted in will likely be tough to beat.
At the time, the NL field was considered crowded for most of the season, but Shohei Ohtani he began to pull away from the pocket late in the year as he became the first player in history to post a 50-50 season and eventually finished with 54 homers and 59 stolen bases – all while hitting .310/.390/.646. If you think Ohtani wins his fellow finalists Francisco Lindor again Ketel Marte (his offense was languished on the injured list), he would become the first full-time DH to win the award in MLB history.
2. Are more early deals around the corner?
With the non-tender deadline looming tomorrow, the A’s and first baseman/outfielder Seth Brown I started with the kind of agreement that will be seen again and again throughout baseball in the next day and a half by avoiding arbitration. “Pre-tender” deals like these often see a player sign for less than expected settlement value in order to protect a roster spot, knowing that the alternative is to not tender in a crowded free agency. Brown, who was delisted from the A’s in June but returned to the majors, agreed to a one-year, $2.7MM deal that did not meet the $3.8MM salary projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s algorithm. Several other deals along these lines could happen between now and tomorrow afternoon’s deadline.
3. Which players are non-tenders this year?
Ahead of tomorrow’s non-tender deadline, MLBTR will be publishing a list of potential non-tenders later today. While it may not be the case that every player on the list is untendered (and it’s unlikely that even many of them will be tendered), the list shows a broad group of players that make sense to be tendered given their arbitration price. and a combination of factors including their expected production, injury status, and/or financial status of their team. Other players on the list could look to sign a pre-tender agreement with their club or even be traded before the deadline. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco took a look at eligible draft picks who could be trade candidates ahead of tomorrow’s deadline in yesterday’s Front Office Subscriber post.
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