Machado is finalist for 2020 Hank Aaron Award.
The Padres believed they had three legitimate MVP candidates: Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Wil Myers.
Perhaps their finalist for the 2020 Hank Aaron Award provides some insight on who has the inside track for top consideration among those candidates in the MVP discussion.
Major League Baseball on Wednesday announced Machado was among seven finalists for this year’s NL Hank Aaron Award, which recognizes the most outstanding regular season offensive performer in each league.
Each team nominated one player to be considered for the award. A panel of MLB.com writers determined Machado would join the Braves’ Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers’ Corey Seager, the Mets’ Dominic Smith, the
Phillies’ Bryce Harper, the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt and the Nationals’ Juan Soto.
Machado finished one homer shy of Tatis’ team-leading 17 homers but paced the Padres with 47 RBIs. His best year in San Diego to date also included team-bests in batting average (.304) and onbase percentage (.370), while only Myers (.606) topped Machado’s .580 slugging percentage.
The American League candidates: Jose Abreu (White Sox), Jose Ramirez (Indians), Mike Trout (Angels), Nelson Cruz (Twins), DJ LeMahieu (Yankees), Brandon Lowe (Rays) and Teoscar Hernandez (Blue Jays).
A panel of Hall of Famers will spearhead a final phase of determination that will include a fan vote at MLB.com through Oct. 18.
Trout and the Brewers’ Christian Yelich won the AL and NL Awards in 2019.
The annual MVP awards, as voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America, are announced after the World Series.
Players’ choices
Other Padres announced as finalists for postseason awards include Jake Cronenworth as a finalist for the Players Choice Outstanding Rookie and Myers as the Players Choice Comeback Player Award.
Cronenworth is a finalist alongside Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm and Brewers reliever Devin Williams. This award is separate from the NL Rookie of the Year, as voted on by members of the BBWAA.
As for Myers, he pushed his OPS from .739 last year to a career-best .959. He is competing with Rockies righthander Daniel Bard, who saved seven games after a seven-year hiatus from the majors, and Braves outfielder Adam Duvall, who hit 16 homers in 57 games after playing just 41 in 2020.
The Players Choice Awards will be announced Oct. 22.
Bochy back in dugout?
Bruce Bochy has three World Series rings, more than 2,000 regular-season victories and a quarter-century of managerial experience.
The legendary former Padres and Giants manager sounds interested in adding even more to his résumé.
During a radio interview on KNBR on Tuesday, Bochy discussed the possibility of returning to a major league dugout and indicated he’d be open to authoring a new chapter of his career.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it, especially watching the postseason,” Bochy said. “It’s exciting times. I could see it happening to be honest, but it’s not something right now I’m pushing. But when you’ve been in the game as long as I have and managed as long as I did, you’re going to miss it. And now especially watching these postseason games, so we’ll see what happens.”
Three teams — the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox — are looking to hire new managers.
La Russa to interview
The Los Angeles Angels granted the Chicago White Sox permission to interview Hall of Famer Tony La Russa for their managing job, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
A three-time World Series-winning manager, the 76year-old La Russa joined the Angels prior to this season as senior adviser of baseball operations.
Yanks update
Not much is wrong with the Yankees in the view of manager Aaron Boone and General Manager Brian Cashman.
While stung by a fivegame loss to the Rays in the AL Division Series, Yankees leadership says it does not appear to anticipate largescale changes for 2021.
Catcher Gary Sanchez’s job could be in danger after a third straight down season, but Gleyber Torres’ hold on shortstop is solid despite shaky defense. Starting pitching will be a focus for improvement.