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MLB Network unveiled the top three finalists for each of the BBWAA awards on Tuesday night. Calling them finalists is misleading, because the results are already known. They are the top three finishers and we don't know the order. The Orioles were represented with Chris Davis popping up in the top three for American League Most Valuable Player, along with Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout.
With much of the conversation for AL MVP going towards a rematch between Cabrera and Trout, this probably means Davis finished in third place in the voting. That tops the sixth place finish for Adam Jones from last season, and is the best placement for an Orioles player since Cal Ripken won his second MVP award in 1991. The full results will be announced on November 14.
There is always the chance that enough dinosaurs will vote Davis in second place ahead of Trout, which would be exciting as an Orioles fan but disappointing as a baseball writer who would like awards to reflect performance.
Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, and Cy Young voting did not find any Orioles in the top three. This is not much of a surprise. The Orioles' best young player, Manny Machado, used up his rookie eligibility in 2012 when he came up and helped propel the team into the postseason for the first time since 1997, but he didn't get enough MLB time to win last year's ROY and got too much to win this year's. So it goes.
Finalists are Chris Archer, Jose Iglesias, and Wil Myers. Machado had a better season than all of those guys. The ROY winners will be announced on November 11.
The finalists for manager of the year are John Farrell, Terry Francona, and Bob Melvin. That winner will be announced on November 12.
Max Scherzer, Yu Darvish, and Hisashi Iwakuma are the finalists for the Cy Young, which will be revealed on November 13. Iwakuma getting recognition from the mainstream writers is a pleasant surprise, as he quietly put together a great season on a terrible team with a terrible defense.
National League award finalists were also announced, but they play in a league that intentionally walked Pete Kozma eight times, so who cares?