Who has been more valuable for the Dodgers so far, Mookie Betts or Shohei Ohtani? Who has the leg up between the Yankees' dynamic one-two punch of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto? Just who is leading the Royals' surprise early run to playoff contention? Have Bobby Witt Jr. and Seth Lugo really been that good?
The races for baseball's postseason awards change on a near-daily basis during the opening weeks of the season, with our perception of them heavily influenced by what we anticipated coming into the season. However, by the time we hit Memorial Day, just as the league standings start to project an air of legitimacy, so too do we begin to get a sense of who is in contention for those coveted honors.
More than ever, the conclusions of the voters and the fans who follow such things closely are shaped by the most prominent bottom-line metrics -- i.e., the versions of wins above replacement at Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. However, these aren't the only factors in play. The eventual balloting is not -- and never should be -- a regurgitation of the WAR leaderboard.
Also crucial are contextual factors, such as how well a player performed in clutch situations, which can help separate players close in more comprehensive measures. Also important is this question: To what did the player contribute? While a player from a last-place club can contend for the MVP or Cy Young awards, if his performance is similar to that of a key player on a first-place team, we might view the production of those players a little differently.
With all this in mind, today we take our first snapshot of the most important awards races around baseball. These races will evolve, but the jockeying for position has already begun. Let's see where things stand.