2026 MLB Awards: Alvarez and Crow-Armstrong Win Unanimous MVPs as BBWAA Crowns Historic Class

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The Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) put an exclamation point on a historic 2026 Major League Baseball season Thursday night, crowning Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros and Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs as unanimous Most Valuable Players.

Alvarez and Crow-Armstrong capped off an unforgettable awards week that featured six unanimous winners across the major categories, the inaugural BBWAA Reliever of the Year honors, a rare dual-league Cy Young sweep, and an unprecedented managerial three-peat in Milwaukee.

Award Category	American League Winner	Team	National League Winner	Team
MVP	Yordan Alvarez (Unanimous)	Houston Astros	Pete Crow-Armstrong (Unanimous)	Chicago Cubs
Cy Young	Cam Schlittler (Unanimous)	New York Yankees	Jacob Misiorowski (Unanimous)	Milwaukee Brewers
Reliever of the Year	Louis Varland	Toronto Blue Jays	Mason Miller (Unanimous)	San Diego Padres
Rookie of the Year	Kevin McGonigle	Detroit Tigers	Sal Stewart	Cincinnati Reds
Manager of the Year	Will Venable	Chicago White Sox	Pat Murphy (3-Peat)	Milwaukee Brewers

Most Valuable Player: Yordan Alvarez and Pete Crow-Armstrong Sweep First-Place Votes

For the second time in four years, both leagues produced unanimous MVP winners as Alvarez and Crow-Armstrong each collected all 30 first-place ballots.

In the American League, Yordan Alvarez authored the finest offensive season of his career at age 29, capturing his first career batting title while pacing all qualified MLB hitters in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. Alvarez slashed .316/.432/.601 with 42 home runs, 105 runs scored, and 106 RBIs across 692 plate appearances. Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero finished second with 27 second-place votes after matching Alvarez with 42 homers, while Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. placed third.

In the National League, 24-year-old Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong became just the seventh player in MLB history—and the lone player in 2026—to join the 40-homer, 40-stolen-base club. Crow-Armstrong tied Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead with 45 home runs while swiping 41 bases, slashing .280/.372/.570 with 119 runs, 107 RBIs, and Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field. Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani finished second in the balloting, followed by Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang in third.

Cy Young Award: Cam Schlittler and Jacob Misiorowski Make History

Wednesday night belonged to triple-digit velocity as New York Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler and Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski won their respective Cy Young Awards unanimously—marking just the third time in baseball history (alongside 1968 and 2022) that both leagues produced unanimous Cy Young winners.

AL Winner — Cam Schlittler (Yankees): Schlittler dominated the Junior Circuit with a 14-6 record, a 1.95 ERA (the lowest by a Yankees starter since Ron Guidry in 1978), 239 strikeouts, and a 0.92 WHIP across 193.2 innings (33 starts). He finished with the maximum 210 voting points ahead of Toronto Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease (22 second-place votes, 110 points), Cleveland Guardians left-hander Parker Messick (84 points), and Tampa Bay Rays starter Drew Rasmussen (72 points).
NL Winner — Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers): Regularly eclipsing 100 mph with his four-seam fastball, Misiorowski went 16-5 with an MLB-best 1.80 ERA, 252 strikeouts, a 0.80 WHIP, and an all-time single-season record low .157 opponents’ batting average across 174.2 innings before helping pitch Milwaukee to its first World Series championship. Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez finished second, and Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale finished third.

Reliever of the Year: Louis Varland and Mason Miller Claim Inaugural BBWAA Honors

In the first year of the BBWAA officially voting on the Reliever of the Year Award, Louis Varland of the Toronto Blue Jays and Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres claimed the inaugural hardware.

In the AL, Louis Varland posted a microscopic 1.27 ERA out of Toronto’s bullpen, earning 16 first-place votes and 146 total points to edge Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith (seven first-place votes, 133 points) and Tampa Bay Rays closer Bryan Baker (six first-place votes, 111 points; 41 saves, 1.44 ERA). In the NL, Mason Miller swept all 30 first-place votes after going 5-2 with a 1.67 ERA, 38 saves, 129 strikeouts, a 0.90 WHIP, and a .152 opponents’ batting average across 70.0 innings (66 appearances).

Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year: Kevin McGonigle and Sal Stewart Shine

Monday’s Rookie of the Year announcements spotlighted two All-Star cornerstones who powered their clubs from Opening Day through September.

Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle captured 28 of 30 first-place votes (with Guardians left-hander Parker Messick collecting the other two) to become the first Detroit position player to win Rookie of the Year since Lou Whitaker in 1978. The 21-year-old slashed .278/.376/.430 (.806 OPS) with 18 home runs, 28 doubles, 97 runs, 72 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, and 7.1 WAR over 156 games.

In the NL, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart delivered a throwback slugging campaign, becoming the first Reds rookie—and just the 14th rookie in MLB history—to record a 30-homer, 100-RBI season. Stewart joined Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (1956) as the only Reds rookies to reach 30 home runs while finishing second in the National League with 112 RBIs, trailing only Alec Burleson’s 116.

Manager of the Year: Pat Murphy’s Historic Three-Peat and Will Venable’s South Side Surge

Tuesday’s managerial voting delivered both dynastic consistency and one of baseball’s greatest turnarounds.

Milwaukee Brewers skipper Pat Murphy became the first manager in MLB history to win the Manager of the Year Award in three consecutive seasons, securing 20 of 30 first-place votes (124 points) ahead of Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss (86 points) and Philadelphia Phillies manager Don Mattingly (25 points) after guiding Milwaukee to a franchise-record 103-59 regular season and a fourth consecutive NL Central title.

In the AL, Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable collected 15 first-place votes (111 points) to narrowly edge Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash (12 first-place votes, 98 points) and Boston Red Sox skipper Chad Tracy (47 points). Venable engineered an 84-78 playoff-bound revival on the South Side just two years removed from a 100-loss season, becoming the first White Sox manager to win the honor since Ozzie Guillen in 2005.