The 2026 MLB regular season is almost over and what a wild ride it's been. A few playoff races are left to be sorted out this weekend, then it's into the postseason. Will Cubs breakout star Pete Crow-Armstrong finally take the mantle from Shohei Ohtani and win National League MVP?
Has Yankees youngster Cam Schlittler proven worthy of the American Cy Young award? Can anyone compete with Kevin McGonigle for Rookie of the Year? The official awards won't be handed out until November, but your CBS Sports MLB experts are here with their votes in September: Axisa: I'm not super duper convinced the MVP is Yordan and I strongly considered Junior Caminero and Cam Schlittler.
Their performances are more or less on par with each other, but I don't think there's any chance whatsoever the Astros would be in the AL West race (as feeble as that race is) without Alvarez. The Rays and Yankees are probably postseason teams without Caminero and Schlittler. The Astros are at best mediocre.
Alvarez is the tide lifting that boat, so he's my MVP. Dylan Cease's fade over the last few weeks made this an easy call. Schlittler will go into his final start just behind Michael Wacha for AL innings lead and his 1.94 ERA is almost half a run better than the next best guy.
The under-the-hood numbers (FIP, expected ERA, etc.) are all in his favor as well. Parker Messick has made this a very interesting race and he would be third on my hypothetical Cy Young ballot behind Schlittler and Cease. McGonigle is the Rookie of the Year to me because he's been a top 10 position player in the sport.
He's top 10 in WAR and top 15 in on-base percentage, and he's played splendid defense while bouncing between shortstop and third base. I won't argue with anyone who prefers Messick. He'd be my winner most years.
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