Less than two weeks remain in Major League Baseball's 2023 season, and it has objectively been a great year. Surprising teams. Unexpected collapses. Incredible individual performances. And arguments aplenty over deserving award winners.
As wonderful as the MVP and Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards are, there seemed to be plenty of room for a complementary set. Some, like the Shohei Ohtani Award for Best Player, didn't work, because Shohei Ohtani getting the Shohei Ohtani Award would be weird. But plenty of others stuck, and thus we are proud to present the First Annual Passan Awards. They'll serve as your guide through the 2023 season and cover all the important stories to catch you up before the postseason starts Oct. 3.
And they begin with a twist on the quarrel that has dominated baseball rhetoric for the past month.