MLB announces award finalists

Major League Baseball announced Tuesday the three finalists for the sport's most prestigious awards.  

The award winners, as voted on by the BBWAA, will be announced throughout next week. 

The 2014 finalists: 

NL Rookie of the Year

New York Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom, Cincinnati Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton and St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong are the three award finalists for the National League Rookie of the Year. 

deGrom, the lone pitcher among the candidates, posted a 2.69 ERA and struck out 9.24 batters per nine innings over 140 1/3 frames. He had the best ERA among rookies who threw a minimum of 100 innings.

Hamilton placed second in the NL with 56 stolen bases and provided the Reds with strong defense, while Wong hit .249/.292/.388 with 12 homers and 20 stolen bases. 

AL Rookie of the Year

Chicago White Sox power-hitter Jose Abreu, and pitchers Dellin Betances of the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels' Matt Shoemaker are the three award finalists for the American League Rookie of the Year. 

Abreu is the clear favorite after hitting 36 homers and leading the majors with a .581 slugging percentage. Shoemaker gave the Angels a big boost, going 16-4 with a 3.04 ERA and 5.17 K/BB rate, while Betances had a 1.40 ERA, struck out 13.50 batters per nine innings and led all AL relievers with 90 innings pitched.

NL Manager of the Year

Matt Williams, who led the Washington Nationals to an NL East crown, Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates' Clint Hurdle are the three award finalists for NL Manager of the Year.  

Bochy's Giants faced Hurdle's Pirates in the NL wild-card game, while Williams' Nationals won a league-best 96 games. 

AL Manager of the Year 

Baltimore Orioles skipper Buck Showalter, the Kansas City Royals' Ned Yost and Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels are the three award finalists for AL Manager of the Year. 

Showalter helped lead the Orioles to their first division title since 1997, while Scioscia guided the Angels to a 98-win season and the best record in baseball. Yost, meanwhile, was the skipper for the surprising Royals, who made it to the World Series after slipping into the playoffs with an 89-win year. 

AL Cy Young 

Seattle Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez, Chris Sale of the White Sox and the Cleveland Indians' Corey Kluber are the three award finalists for AL Cy Young. 

Kluber followed up a strong 2013 season by morphing into one of the game's most dominant arms and has a legitimate shot to take home his first Cy Young Award. It appears to be a two-man race with Hernandez, as Sale's smaller workload will likely work against him. 

NL Cy Young

Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw Clayton Kershaw, Johnny Cueto of the Reds and the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright are the three award finalists for NL Cy Young. 

Kershaw is a slam dunk to win the award after putting together one of the most historic seasons in recent memory. The left-hander led all major league starters in ERA, FIP, WHIP (0.86) and strikeout rate (31.9%). Cueto and Wainwright would have had strong cases in any other year. 

AL MVP

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley, Detroit Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez and Angels center fielder Mike Trout are the three award finalists for AL MVP. 

Trout had the worst season of his career - which is saying something - but remains the odds on favorite to win after finishing runner-up to the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera in consecutive seasons. The 23-year-old Trout led all major leaguers in runs (115), FanGraphs' WAR, and had an AL-best 111 RBIs. 

Brantley turned in one of the best all-around performances of the season, chipping in 23 stolen bases to go with his elite hitting numbers, while Martinez had a major league-best .974 OPS to accompany an AL leading .409 on-base percentage. 

NL MVP

Kershaw, Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen and right fielder Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins are the three award finalists for NL MVP.

McCutchen, the 2013 MVP, and Stanton were the top offensive players in the NL, according to FanGraphs' park and league-adjusted runs created statistic, but they might be left fighting for second place. Kershaw's season was that good, and voters didn't shy away from giving a pitcher the MVP award in 2011 when the Tigers' Justin Verlander took home the hardware.