Opening Day may be just a few days away, but it's never too early for some awards predictions.
We asked 59 MLB.com experts to predict who will win the 2025 Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards for MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year in each league.
Here are the results.
Most Valuable Player
American League: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals
Witt was the runaway winner in this vote. Actually, that's underselling it -- he received nearly six times as many votes as anyone else. But maybe we shouldn't be surprised. After a batting title, a second straight 30-30 season and a second-place finish in last season's AL MVP vote, the 24-year-old Witt is perhaps the player best positioned to definitively claim this honor in 2025.
Witt's .332 average and 211 hits both led the Majors last season, and his 9.4 bWAR was second only to unanimous AL MVP Aaron Judge. He's gotten significantly better each year in the bigs -- consider that his OPS climbed by 164 percentage points from 2023 (.813) to 2024 (.977) -- which means a continuation of that trend could potentially produce a historically great season.
Others receiving votes: Gunnar Henderson, Judge, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez, Alex Bregman, Julio Rodr¨ªguez, Riley Greene, Adley Rutschman
National League: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
Though he didn't have as dominant a showing in the vote as Witt, Ohtani was still the overwhelming choice in the NL, receiving more than twice as many votes as any other player. But as with Witt, this really shouldn't come as a shock to anyone.
Ohtani will be back on the mound in 2025, which means he wouldn't necessarily need to replicate or even come close to last year's historic 50-50 season to win his fourth MVP Award. Though it's not clear how Ohtani will fare as a pitcher after a year rehabbing from right elbow surgery, pairing his career offensive averages with even a league-average performance on the hill would make it hard to argue that he isn't the most valuable player in the league.
Others receiving votes: Juan Soto, Elly De La Cruz, Fernando Tatis Jr., Corbin Carroll, Francisco Lindor
Cy Young
American League: Tarik Skubal, Tigers
Skubal's breakout 2024 campaign -- 18-4 record; 2.39 ERA; 228 strikeouts -- resulted in a pitching Triple Crown and a unanimous AL Cy Young Award, so it makes sense that he's the favorite here.
The lefty's 6.4 bWAR last season led all MLB pitchers, and he was a major reason why the Tigers reached the postseason for the first time in a decade. His ERA has declined significantly each season since 2021, so improving on last season's 2.39 ERA would certainly boost his case to repeat as the AL Cy Young winner.
Skubal's performance last season was so dominant that a similar outing from him in 2025 could require an even more dominant performance from someone else to wrest this season's award from his hands.
Others receiving votes: Garrett Crochet, Cole Ragans, Jacob deGrom, Logan Gilbert, Max Fried
National League: Paul Skenes, Pirates
This almost feels inevitable after Skenes' NL Rookie of the Year performance in 2024. In fact, Skenes was so dominant last season that he finished third in the NL Cy Young vote despite making just 23 starts. That's also why he dominated in this prediction, receiving more than twice the votes of anyone else.
Just consider: He debuted May 11, then went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 133 innings. That ERA and his K/9 of 11.5 both would've led all MLB starters if he'd pitched enough innings to qualify. And, oh yeah, he became the first rookie pitcher to start an All-Star Game in nearly two decades. Skenes having a full season to potentially improve on everything is surely a scary thought for MLB hitters.
Others receiving votes: Zack Wheeler, Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Michael King, Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, Justin Steele, Logan Webb
Rookie of the Year
American League: Jackson Jobe, Tigers
Jobe, the No. 5 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline, has pitched well enough in Spring Training to earn a spot in Detroit's rotation, with the 22-year-old righty making a case that his high-90s fastball and exceptional secondary pitches are ready to get big league hitters out with regularity.
He held MLB hitters to an .071 average during his brief callup last season and has pitched to a 3.65 ERA this spring. Anything approaching those numbers in the 2025 regular season would put him well on his way to capturing this award. But there could be strong competition from two Red Sox prospects -- infielder Kristian Campbell and outfielder Roman Anthony -- who finished a close second and third, respectively, in this vote.
Others receiving votes: Campbell, Anthony, Jasson Dom¨ªnguez, Jacob Wilson, Jac Caglianone, Coby Mayo, Colson Montgomery, Kumar Rocker, Cam Smith, Tomoyuki Sugano
National League: Roki Sasaki, Dodgers
Sasaki's MLB career is the most anticipated by a Japanese pitcher since ... teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto last season. But because of an absolutely filthy repertoire that includes a triple-digit fastball and world-class splitter, not to mention the show Sasaki put on in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, the buzz around him has been on another level -- which is why he was the runaway winner here.
Sasaki, 23, has seen limited action this spring, but has yet to allow a run in seven innings of exhibition action. His MLB debut for the Dodgers in Tokyo wasn't quite as flawless -- he walked five and allowed a run in three innings -- but most observers believe he'll give MLB hitters plenty of fits over the full season.
Others receiving votes: Dylan Crews, Matt Shaw, Drake Baldwin, Bubba Chandler, Dalton Rushing, AJ Smith-Shawver
Manager of the Year
American League: Alex Cora, Red Sox
MLB.com colleague Mike Petriello has the Red Sox in the "better than you might think they'll be" tier of teams for 2025. After an 81-81 record last season, that designation would seem to open the door for a range of positive outcomes for Boston this season. This is especially true after the additions of ace lefty Garrett Crochet, righty Walker Buehler and third baseman Alex Bregman, and the eventual arrival of exciting prospects Anthony, Campbell and Marcelo Mayer.
Presiding over it all will be Cora, who has led the team to triumph before, including the 2018 World Series title. After three straight disappointing seasons, the Sox could be a team that surprises -- with Cora getting a lot of the credit.
Others receiving votes: A.J. Hinch, Mark Kotsay, Matt Quatraro, Kevin Cash, Dan Wilson, Stephen Vogt, Rocco Baldelli, Bruce Bochy, Joe Espada, Brandon Hyde
National League: Terry Francona, Reds
Winning just seems to follow Francona, which may bode well for the Reds in 2025. Cincinnati last reached the postseason in 2020, but has finished with a winning record in three of the past five seasons. And when Francona's personality and managerial pedigree are combined with young talents such as Elly De La Cruz and some offseason roster tweaks, the ingredients may be there for a postseason run in 2025 after a fourth-place finish last season.
There's actually precedent for Francona taking over a fourth-place team in Ohio and turning it into a playoff squad the next year: When Francona took over in Cleveland in 2013, the team made the postseason as a Wild Card with a 92-70 record after winning just 68 games in 2012. The Reds won 77 games last season. Under Francona's leadership, it's quite possible that total rises significantly in 2025.
Others receiving votes: Craig Counsell, Torey Lovullo, Carlos Mendoza, Dave Roberts, Pat Murphy, Derek Shelton, Brian Snitker, Oliver Marmol, Clayton McCullough, Bob Melvin, Mike Shildt, Rob Thomson