Two unanimous repeat winners!
With the announcement of the 2024 MVP winners, there may have been no surprises, but there was also a historical moment made. Aaron Judge got his second MVP award, while Shohei Ohtani collected his third, and their unanimous wins put them in rarified company, and certainly put them in the conversation to be considered some of baseball’s greats.
Of course this was a week full of awards (we’ll wrap them up below) which means we’re really wrapping up the 2024 season and looking ahead to the new year. With that, there is a lot to consider: will the Rays’ stadium get repaired? Where will Juan Soto sign? Will the A’s move to Vegas? Will Robot Umpires be coming to MLB? We’ve got (some) of those answers in today’s links.
So let’s jump into it.
- A quick overview of all the season award winners, by Bradford Doolittle.
- Jim Bowden keeps us updated on the Juan Soto news and where he’s likely to land (and for how much.) (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Davy Andrews looks at the trade that sent Jose Siri from Tampa Bay to the Mets.
- Will Leitch wants us to pause to appreciate how lucky we are to be watching our MVP talent.
- Juan Toribio shares the incredible fact that Shohei Ohtani has now one three unanimous MVP awards.
- Judge and Ohtani are in rarified air with their unanimous MVP wins. Story by Tom Verducci.
- Ohtani also joins Frank Robinson as a member of the Both League MVP Club. Story by Bill Ladson.
- Eric Longenhagen takes a look at all the players added to various 40-man rosters.
- Patrick Andres looks at the likely bill for the Rays to repair their stadium.
- But not so fast, as the city then reversed the decision to repair the stadium, leaving the future of the Rays in Tampa Bay very up in the air. (AP)
- Mark Feinsand breaks all the available free agents into tiers (with no surprises who comes out on top).
- Jeff Passan explains the Fair Play Act looking to add protections for minor league players.
- You can say goodbye to MLB games in Mexico and Puerto Rico as MLB has canceled plans for those events. (AP)
- There is a new foreign partnership though, as the American Association of Professional Baseball is partnering with the Australian Baseball League.
- Davy Andrews has a fun piece over at FanGraphs that keeps track of all the teams that didn’t quite get to sign those big-name players.
- Rob Manfred announced that robot umpires will be tested in Spring Training, and could debut at the MLB level in 2026. Story by Karl Rasmussen.
- Manfred also spoke about the A’s move to Las Vegas in an attempt to subdue rumors of difficulties. Story by Tom Dierberger.
- Here’s a look at which teams are meeting with Blake Snell. (MLB)
- Roki Sasaki’s agent doesn’t approve of rumors that suggest his client has signed. Story by Tim Capurso.
- Jay Jaffe makes a Hall of Fame case for John Donaldson.
- MLB has some long-term media plans for all 30 MLB teams. Story by Jorge Castillo.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.