Mike Trout, Corey Kluber, and Corey Seager. These names and more could be in record books by November’s end.

These names belong to candidates for Baseball Writers Association of America awards (BBWAA) that the Major League Baseball (MLB) gives out every year. These awards include MVP (Most Valuable Player), Cy Young award (best pitcher), Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year. These awards are given out during the month of November weeks after the World series is over.

Most Valuable Player

The MVP awards are often the most anticipated of the four awards. The main candidates for the American league MVP are Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, and Jose Altuve.

Trout, an outfielder, plays for the Los Angeles Angels and his first season was in 2012. Trout hasn’t been lower than second in the MVP voting in every year since. This year, Trout lead the league in runs scored, OPS+ (which is on-base percentage added to slugging percentage and then park adjusted), and on base percentage. He also had a Wins above Replacement (WAR) of 10.6; anything more than 8 is considered MVP level.

Betts, an outfielder plays for the Boston Red Sox, and his first year was in 2014. He led the league in total bases, and he also had the most at-bats in the league. Betts had a WAR of 9.6 and has more home runs, runs batted in (RBI), and a higher batting average than Trout,. However, unlike Trout, Bett’s team won their division. The voters, baseball writers, often vote for players who were on winning teams.

Jose Altuve, a second baseman, plays for the Houston Astros. He lead the American league in hits for the third consecutive season with 216 hits. He also lead the league with a batting average of .338 and had 30 stolen bases this year. Altuve had a career high OPS+ of 154. This is largely due to the fact that his On Base Percentage went from .353 to .396 this season. He also had a sudden power surge, as he hit 24 home runs and 96 RBI this season, compared to his previous career high of 15 home runs and 66 RBI.

Even though his offensive numbers aren’t as impressive as the other two candidates, the award should go to Trout. Trout led the league in WAR, which means that he gave his team more wins than a replacement level player than any other player. Trout also reached base 44% of the time, which is 4% more than any other American league player and 8% higher than Betts.

The three main candidates for the National League MVP are Corey Seager, Kris Bryant, and Daniel Murphy.

Corey Seager, a shortstop, plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he is one of the a candidates for the National League Rookie of the Year. At just 22 years old, Seager had an all-star season while posting one of the highest offensive WAR ratings of the year. He also hit 40 doubles, 105 runs scored, 157 games played, and 193 hits, which are all in the top ten in the league.

Kris Bryant, a third baseman, plays for the Chicago Cubs, who won the 2016 World Series. Bryant hit 39 home runs and had 102 RBI. He also led the National League in runs scored with 121. Bryant also already won the National League Hank Aaron award which establishes him as being the best hitter in the National League this year.

Daniel Murphy, a second baseman, plays for the Washington Nationals. Murphy led the National League in doubles with 47 total, slugging percentage with 595% and OPS with .985%. He also was among the league leaders in batting average with an average of .347 and he had an OPS+ of 157.

Overall, Kris Bryant deserves the honor. He led his team to their first World Series appearance in 71 years. Bryant’s winning of the Hank Aaron award shows that he is the best hitter in the National League. His WAR was 7.7, which is much higher than Daniel Murphy’s (which was lowered to 4.6 by his subpar defensive performance), and Seager’s 6.1. Bryant also made the historic last out of the season to secure the Cubs’ World Series title.

Cy Young Award

The Cy Young award is given to the best pitcher in each league. In the American League, three candidates for the award are Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, and Corey Kluber.

Verlander, like all of the pitching nominees, is a starting pitcher. Verlander plays for the Detroit Tigers, and he is one of the few pitchers to have won an MVP award. Verlander also won the pitcher of the month award. He led the American League in strikeouts, walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP), which means he allows the fewest baserunners per inning in the league. He also led the league in WAR with a 6.6.

Kluber plays for the Cleveland Indians, who won the American League pennant. Kluber led the league in shutouts, Earned Run Average+ (ERA+), and Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP). This means that he is the best at not allowing runs, and he is also the best at not relying on his team to field for him. Kluber’s WAR was only .2% behind Verlander.

Rick Porcello plays for the Boston Red Sox. Porcello led the league in wins with 22, and he only had 4 losses, which gave him an impressive winning percentage of .846. Porcello’s strikeouts per nine average is only 7.6, but it is made up for by the mere 32 walks he allowed in 2016. This allowed him to lead the league in strikeouts per walk with a 5.91.

After 18 wins in 32 starts, Kluber should join hall of famers such as Bob Gibson and Tom Glavine as a player with two Cy Young awards. Kluber won the awards in 2014 and deserves the honor again this year. He dominated with 9.5 strikeouts per 9 innings (only .5 behind Verlander) and threw two more shutouts than the other two contenders combined, who didn’t even throw any.

The National League is known for better pitching than the American League. Three contenders for this award are Max Scherzer, Kyle Hendricks, and Jon Lester.

Max Scherzer plays for the Washington Nationals. Scherzer became the fourth pitcher in history to record 20 strikeouts in a 9 inning game. He led the league in strikeouts, innings pitched, and wins. He also showed control while leading the league in strikeouts per walk and dominance in leading the league WHIP.

Kyle Hendricks plays for the Chicago Cubs. This was Hendricks’ second season as a full time starter, and his WAR improved by nearly 200%. He led the major leagues in ERA and ERA+ (his ERA+ was 24% higher than the next player).

Jon Lester also plays for the Chicago Cubs. Lester led the league in winning percentage with a 19-5 record. This year, Lester won National League Championship Series (NLCS) MVP, and he won the pitcher of the month award in June and September.

In just his second year as a full time starting pitcher, Hendricks should win his first Cy Young award. Even though Hendricks didn’t have the power numbers like Scherzer (8.1 strikeouts per 9 innings instead of 11.2), Scherzer allowed more home runs than any other pitcher. In addition, Lester’s ERA and ERA+ were both second in the league to Hendricks.

Francona is the manager for the Cleveland Indians. In 2015, the Indians were 81-80 and missed the playoffs by 4.5 games. This year, the team made it to their first World Series since 1997, but in both series, they lost in the 7th game.

Jeff Banister is the manager for the Texas Rangers. The Rangers won the American League East division with a 95-67 record in 2016. This was their second consecutive division title. Banister was able to lead the team to the playoffs after star player Prince Fielder suffered a career ending injury and Shin-Soo Choo being out for the majority of the year.

Manager of the Year

Manager of the year often is based on the success of the team. Terry Francona, Jeff Banister, and Buck Showalter are the main candidates for the American League award.

Francona is the manager for the Cleveland Indians. In 2015, the Indians were 81-80 and missed the playoffs by 4.5 games. This year, the team made it to their first World Series since 1997, but in both series, they lost in the 7th game.

Jeff Banister is the manager for the Texas Rangers. The Rangers won the American League East division with a 95-67 record in 2016. This was their second consecutive division title. Banister was able to lead the team to the playoffs after star player Prince Fielder suffered a career ending injury and Shin-Soo Choo being out for the majority of the year.

Buck Showalter is the manager of the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles had a record of 89-73 in 2016, and he earned the second wild card. Showalter led his team to the playoffs in a division that had all but one team over a .500 winning percentage. Showalter had to strategically manage a pitching staff that had only two starting pitchers that had an ERA below five and only one that had a winning record.

The Indians haven’t made it to the World Series in nearly 20 years (they lost the 1997 World Series in 7 games, similar to this year), and since Francona ended that drought, he should be the Manager of the year. Showalter took a last place team to the playoffs, but this is a team that lost the only playoff game they played. In addition, the Texas Rangers couldn’t get by the first round of the playoffs, and their world series drought is only 5 years.

The main candidates for the National League Manager of the Year are Dusty Baker, Dave Roberts, and Joe Madden.

Baker is the manager for the Washington Nationals. The Washington Nationals were the favorite of many to win the World Series in 2015, since they had four all-star starting pitchers. However, they didn’t make the playoffs. They had a record of 83-79 and were 7 games behind the New York Mets. In 2015, they won the National League East division with a record of 95-67.

Roberts is the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers, unlike the other candidates’ teams, weren’t disappointments in 2015. They had a record of 91-71. Despite being Dave Roberts’s first year as the Dodger’s manager, he led the team to a division title and the NLCS.

Maddon is the manager of the Chicago Cubs. He helped lead them to their first World Series title in 108 years. In 2015, the Clubs had a 97-65 record and made it to the NLCS, but in that whole series, they didn’t have the lead in a game once. This year, they came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series.

Roberts and Baker may have been good this year, but Maddon was historic. He broke the longest championship drought in sports history, and the others either took a good team and made them great, or made great team equally great.

Rookie of the Year (ROY)

The Rookie of the Year award is awarded to the best player in each league in their first year of full time playing. The three candidates for the American League Rookie of the Year are Michael Fulmer, Gary Sanchez, and Tyler Naquin.

Michael Fulmer plays for the Detroit Tigers. He had an ERA of 3.06, which is among the league leaders. His ERA+ was 135, which is 35% above league average. HIs WAR was 4.9, which means he was a pivotal part in keeping the Tigers in the Playoff race until the season’s end.

Gary Sanchez, a catcher, plays for the New York Yankees. Sanchez didn’t play full time until this August, but since he began, he has broken the record for quickest ever to get 18 and 19 home runs. He finished the season with 20 home runs and had an OPS+ of 168.

Tyler Naquin, an outfielder, plays for the Cleveland Indians. He had a batting average of .296, and he hit 14 home runs while getting 43 RBI’s. Naquin is the only one of the three candidates to play in the playoffs.

Even though Naquin and Fulmer were consistent for the majority of the year, Sanchez made history for two months, and he therefore should be awarded the Rookie of the Year. Naquin’s offensive numbers don’t compare to Sanchez’s despite the fact that he played over twice as much. Additionally, Fulmer didn’t dominate on the level that other pitchers did, as he only had 132 strikeouts on the year when the league leader had over 280.  

The National League Rookie of the Year candidates are Corey Seager, Kenta Maeda, and Trea Turner.

The Dodgers (who have 2 ROY candidates this season) also have the most Rookie of the Year awards of any franchise. Seager is one of their candidates from the 2016 season. Seager hit 26 home runs this year while keeping a batting average of .308. He had an OPS+ of 137 and he played the entire season. Seager also was able to hit 40 doubles and get almost 200 hits.

Maeda also plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Maeda had 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings which means he strikes out a batter every inning and he posted an ERA of 3.48. He had a win total of 16 and a winning percentage of almost .600. In a year where Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw sustained brutal injuries, Maeda helped guide the Dodgers to the postseason.

Turner, a shortstop, plays for the Washington Nationals. He had a batting average of .342, and he hit 13 home runs while playing 73 games in 2016. In less than half of a season, Turner had 105 hits, and also scored 53 runs in addition to having an OPS+ of 144.

Seager’s exceptional season has made him the heavy favorite for this award. Maeda’s season didn’t have the eye-catching numbers that the other candidates (his ERA+ was only 12% above average). Turner had an impressive season, but Seager had an equally impressive season and played twice as much as Turner.

The awards will be announced on the 14h (Rookie of the Year), 15th (Manager of the Year), 16th (Cy Young), and 17th (MVP) of November.