It is time to make pre-season predictions for Major League Baseball's post-season awards.
This past Friday MassLive.com ran its first American League Power Rankings for 2013. There will be a weekly power rankings feature published every Monday morning this season.
Today, rather than power rankings, I'll run down my predictions for the postseason awards.
American League MVP: 1. Mike Trout, 2. Miguel Cabrera, 3. Justin Verlander
I know that lots of players who have amazing rookie years experience a drop-off in their sophomore seasons. Mike Trout is not "a lot of players."
He's the real deal, he's going to be an exceptional player for a long time, and in 2013 he's going to be the American League MVP.
Look for Tigers' teammates Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander to split some votes and finish second and third in the voting.
National League MVP: 1. Joey Votto, 2. Jason Heyward, 3. Matt Kemp
If you're of the opinion that barring an injury, Joey Votto probably would have won the National League MVP award last year, then it seems fairly logical that he will win it this season. Votto played in only 111 games last year, but he still managed to lead the National League in walks with 94 free passes.
The Reds seem poised to win their division. Votto will lead the way and take home his second MVP award.
Before there was Bryce Harper or Mike Trout, way back in the year 2010 there was a highly-touted 20-year old Atlanta Braves rookie named Jason Heyward. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting and appeared headed for superstardom.
His last two seasons have been encouraging, but this season with more offense surrounding him in the lineup he will finally put it all together. The Braves will be one of the National League's best teams in 2013, and Heyward will be their best player.
Matt Kemp seems destined to win an MVP award. He'll be very, very good this season, but not as good as Votto and Heyward.
American League Cy Young: 1. Justin Verlander, 2. David Price, 3. Felix Hernandez
It seems boring, doesn't it? The same three pitchers listed above have won the last three Cy Young awards.
Boring or not, they are the three best pitchers in the American League. Verlander's 2012 was a near replica of the 2011 season that netted him both the Cy Young and the MVP award. The main difference was the number of wins. Don't expect a drop-off from Verlander in 2013, and this season he'll win enough games to take home his second Cy Young award.
David Price won the Cy Young in 2012, he will be great once again, but not quite as good as Verlander. Felix Hernandez won't get as many wins playing for Seattle as his peers Price and Verlander will on their respective teams. There's no logical reason that stat should hold too much weight with voters, but history has proven that it does.
Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw will win his second Cy Young Award this season.
National League Cy Young: 1. Clayton Kershaw, 2. Johnny Cueto, 3. Matt Cain
If you had to pick one pitcher to build a team around, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw would be the natural choice. The 25-year-old lefty has a resume almost as impressive as Justin Verlander, but at the age of 25 he's four years younger.
Kershaw followed up his 2011 Cy Young campaign with a 2012 that was nearly as good. The most glaring statistical difference was that he won 21 games in 2011, and only 14 in 2012.
All Kershaw has to do in 2013 is replicate his 2011 and 2012 numbers and get about 18 wins. That seems reasonable, and so does his second career Cy Young award.
The Cincinnati Reds Johnny Cueto and the San Francisco Giants' Matt Cain are both fantastic pitchers, but Kershaw has the edge here.
Red Sox rookie Jackie Bradley will enjoy a nice debut season, but will it be good enough to win the Rookie of the Year Award?
American League Rookie of The Year: 1. Aaron Hicks, 2. Jackie Bradley Jr., 3. Wil Myers
Red Sox fans probably think Jackie Bradley Jr. has this locked up already. Think again, the problem for Bradley is that once David Ortiz is healthy he might not have a starting position.
Aaron Hicks doesn't have that problem. The 23-year old, former first-round draft pick won the Twins starting center field job this spring. Hicks doesn't hit for much power, but he can run the bases, spray extra base hits all over the field, and field his position well.
The Twins are not going to be good, but their offense won't be the biggest weakness and hitting in a lineup with Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau won't hurt Hicks.
Jackie Bradley Jr. does look like a future every day player for the Red Sox. The question is whether or not that future is this season, or next year?
Maybe Bradley is so good to start the season that the Red Sox make a trade? If not he might not have consistent playing time, that will impact his Rookie of The Year campaign shapes up.
Wil Myers is the reason that James Shields is now pitching in Kansas City. The Tampa Bay Rays lost Carl Crawford to free agency prior to the 2011 season. Then last winter B.J. Upton left Tampa for a lucrative deal to play in Atlanta.
Tampa has plenty of pitching, but they need to add some offense, and Myers will be a key offensive addition for years to come.
National League Rookie of The Year: 1. Julio Teheran, 2. Jedd Gyroko, 3. Jose Fernandez
If the Atlanta Braves have a highly-touted, talented, young rookie pitcher, should anyone be shocked if he wins Rookie of The Year?
The Braves have made a habit of producing great arms and Teheran is no exception. The 22-year old phenom is coming off a great spring and seems poised for a fantastic season.
He's got a great offense to give him run support, he's surrounded by talented starters such as Tim Hudson, Kris Medlen and Matt Minor, and he's got a great bullpen behind him as well.
Rookie second baseman Jedd Gyorko looks like he could be a real find for the San Diego Padres. The 24-year old already has the position locked down and he could flash enough power to give Teheran a run for his money for the award.
Sunday morning the Miami Marlins announced that their top pitching prospect Jose Fernandez is going to be moved up to the majors. He's slated to start his first big-league game next Sunday against the New York Mets.
The 20-year old, former first round pick has eye-popping minor league numbers. He won't get any gaudy win number playing on what looks to be a pretty bad Marlins team,but he'll strikeout enough major league hitters to get noticed in the Rookie of The Year voting.
American League Comeback Player of The Year: Victor Martinez
Martinez is a professional hitter, coming off a bad knee injury. He's also returning to a team that no longer needs him to play the grueling catcher position and he'll be hitting in a lineup that features the likes of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder.
It's hard to see Martinez not taking home the hardware.
National League Comeback Player of The Year: Tim Lincecum
It was pretty much a fairly tale season for the San Francisco Giants in 2012.
Matt Cain pitched a perfect game, Buster Posey won the MVP award, and the team won its' second World Series in the last three years.
There was one glaring black mark and that was the career worst season that former Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum endured. Lincecum wasn't just not as good as usual. He was positively terrible.
His record was 10-15, he had a league worst ERA of 5.18, and he led the National League in earned runs allowed with 107.
Lincecum can't be that bad again, can he?
No, he won't be. Look for Lincecum to bounce back nicely. Maybe he won't get back to the level he was at when he won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 2008 and 2009, but he'll be good enough to win the Comeback award.
American League Manager of The Year: Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers
Last season everyone expected great things of the Tigers. The team was very good, but they didn't start to play their best baseball until late in the regular season. Teams that win 88 regular season games don't usually net their managers awards.
This season Detroit will win a lot more than 88 games and Leyland will take home his fourth Manager of The Year award.
National League Manager of The Year: Fredi Gonzalez, Atlanta Braves
Fredi Gonzalez doesn't have the career resume that Jim Leyland has, but his 2013 Braves team is going to be very good.
The National League East was a division the Braves ruled for years under former manager Bobby Cox. For the last six seasons the Philles and Nationals have won the division.
In 2013 the Braves will retake the division crown, and Gonzalez will be rewarded for that accomplishment.