NEW YORK — Two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels is a finalist for American League MVP in voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
The BBWAA revealed finalists for AL and NL MVPs, Cy Young Awards, Rookies of the Year and Managers of the Year on Monday night. The winners – decided on ballots sent at the end of the regular season – will be revealed next week.
Ohtani is in the final three of AL voting along with two Toronto players, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien.
The 27-year-old Ohtani hit .257 with 46 homers, 100 RBI and a .965 OPS as the Angels’ full-time designated hitter, while also going 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 23 starts on the mound. It was his first full season in both roles – he won Rookie of the Year in 2018 even after an elbow injury shut him down as a pitcher after 10 starts.
Ex-St. Louis Cardinals skipper Mike Shildt was nominated for NL Manager of the Year less than a month after he was fired. The other finalists are Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell and San Francisco’s Gabe Kapler.
The Cardinals won 17 straight games down the stretch and made the postseason for the third time in four years under Shildt, but the 2018 Manager of the Year was cut loose because of what GM John Mozeliak termed “philosophical differences.” Oliver Marmol was promoted from bench coach to replace Shildt.
The NL MVP race is down to Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper, Washington’s Juan Soto and San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. Harper is the only former MVP of that trio, earning the honor in 2015 with the Nationals.
Max Scherzer is a finalist for a fourth Cy Young Award after splitting the season between the Nationals and Dodgers, but all the other finalists would be first-time winners.
Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes and Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler are finalists in the NL, while the AL honor is down to the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole, the White Sox’s Lance Lynn and the Blue Jays’ Robbie Ray, who is now a free agent.
Postseason star Randy Arozarena and teammate Wander Franco of the Tampa Bay Rays are finalists for AL Rookie of the Year along with Astros right-hander Luis Garcia. Franco appeared in just 70 games but still got attention after reaching base in 43 consecutive games, matching Frank Robinson’s record from 1956 for longest by a player age 20 or younger.
Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson, Reds second baseman Jonathan India and Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers are finalists for NL Rookie of the Year.
ASTROS: Third baseman Alex Bregman had surgery on his right wrist Monday, less than a week after ending the World Series in a prolonged slump.
The team said the two-time All-Star is expected to resume baseball activities in January and should be OK to begin spring training.
Bregman hit just .095 (2 for 21) in Houston’s six-game loss to Atlanta. He was dropped from third in the batting order to seventh for the last two games.
Bregman batted 6 for 53 (.113) during the last 14 games of the regular season and hit a combined .217 (13 for 60) in the postseason with one home run.
The 27-year-old said his right hand was feeling weak during the World Series.
Bregman missed two months during the season because of a strained quadriceps. He finished at .270 with 12 homers and 55 RBI.
TWINS: Former San Diego Padres Manager Jayce Tingler was hired as bench coach of the Minnesota Twins, who also picked David Popkins as their new hitting coach.
Tingler went 116-106 over two seasons with the Padres, who made the playoffs in 2020 but collapsed down the stretch this year, resulting in his dismissal.
Prior to his time in San Diego, Tingler spent 13 seasons in a variety of roles with the Texas Rangers. The 40-year-old Tingler was drafted as an outfielder by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2003 and played parts of four seasons in the minor leagues before turning to coaching.
DODGERS: The Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to an $8.5 million, one-year contract with free agent left-hander Andrew Heaney, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
The 30-year-old Heaney split 2021 between the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees, going 8-9 with a 5.83 ERA. The Angels traded him to New York on July 30 for two minor leaguers, and he was 2-2 with a 7.32 ERA in 12 games, including five starts, after the swap.
Heaney refused an outright minor league assignment from the Yankees on Oct. 7 and became a free agent. He made $6.75 million last season.
CARDINALS: Left-handed reliever T.J. McFarland became the first of this year’s major league free agents to reach an agreement, getting a one-year contract to stay with the St. Louis Cardinals.
McFarland stabilized the Cardinals’ bullpen down the stretch after signing as a free agent July 1 for a deal that paid $1 million while in the major leagues and $200,000 while in the minors.
The 32-year-old was 4-1 with a 2.56 ERA in 38 games and 38 2/3 innings.
The nine-year major league veteran began 2021 at Triple-A with Washington but was granted his release June 29.
St. Louis’ 3.47 bullpen ERA in the second half of the season ranked eighth in the majors. With McFarland back, free agent lefty Andrew Miller is the only critical piece from that group not lined up to return in 2022.
OBIT: Former New York Mets reliever Pedro Feliciano, who pitched so often he earned the nickname “Perpetual Pedro,” has died. He was 45.
Friends and former teammates told the Mets that Feliciano was found dead in his sleep Monday at home in Puerto Rico.
The left-hander led the majors in appearances for three straight years, pitching 86 games in 2008, 88 in 2009 and a whopping 92 times in 2010.
Feliciano was 22-21 with four saves and a 3.33 ERA, all with the Mets, in a nine-year career that stretched from 2002-13. He pitched 484 games overall, second most on the Mets’ list behind John Franco’s 695, and worked a total of 383 2/3 innings.
After going 3-6 with a 3.30 ERA in 2010, Feliciano signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the New York Yankees. But he never pitched in the majors for the Yankees because of shoulder trouble.
Feliciano returned to the Mets in 2013 and said in spring training that doctors had found a small hole in the exterior of his heart. He was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called left ventricular noncompaction, caused by the failure of myocardial development from birth.
Feliciano wore a heart monitor when he began pitching in exhibition games later that spring. He went 0-2 with a 3.97 ERA over 25 games in his final big league season.
A 31st-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995, he later pitched in the minors for Cincinnati. He was traded to the Mets in August 2002 in a deal that sent pitcher Shawn Estes to the Reds.
Feliciano played in Japan in 2005 and rejoined the Mets the next season. In 2014, he pitched in the minors for St. Louis and in the Puerto Rican winter league.
GOLD GLOVES: St. Louis became the first team with five Gold Glove winners when first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, second baseman Tommy Edman, third baseman Nolan Arenado, center fielder Harrison Bader and left fielder Tyler O’Neill earned the NL fielding honor Sunday.
Arenado won his ninth Gold Glove, his first since he was traded last winter by Colorado. Goldschmidt won his fourth and first since 2017 with Arizona. O’Neill won his second in a row.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Dallas Keuchel won his fifth Gold Glove, and San Francisco shortstop Brandon Crawford won his fourth.
Atlanta pitcher Max Fried, who got the win last week in the World Series finale, won his second in a row. Adam Duvall, traded to the Braves in July from Miami, won in right.
Pittsburgh’s Jacob Stallings won at catcher.
Houston’s Yuli Gurriel won at first to go along with his AL batting title, and Astros teammate Carlos Correa won at shortstop. Oakland’s Matt Chapman won at third and Sean Murphy at catcher, and Toronto’s Marcus Semien at second after signing with the Blue Jays and moving from shortstop.
Kansas City center fielder Michael A. Taylor and left fielder Andrew Benintendi won their first Gold Gloves. Right fielder Joey Gallo, traded by Texas to the New York Yankees in July, won his second straight.
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