MLB candidates who could win the first MVP, Cy Young in 2027

The four winners of the Cy Young and MVP Awards honored this week had one thing in common: It was the first time for each of them. It was a big change from a year ago, when Tarik Skubal (AL Cy), Aaron Judge (AL MVP) and Shohei Ohtani (NL MVP) repeated from 2024, when the two MVPs won for the third and fourth time, respectively.

But maybe now a tide has turned. So that begs the question: who’s next? Who are the players who will follow in the footsteps of Cam Schlittler, Jacob Misiorowski, Yordan Alvarez and Pete Crow-Armstrong and win their first Cy Young or MVP award in 2027?

Here are the top five candidates for each to this point.

Best finish: 2nd in 2022 (AL), ’26 (AL)

A lot of things went wrong for the Jays in 2026, but the signing of his suspension wasn’t a sure thing. He was spectacular from the get-go with his new club, posting a 2.40 ERA in 29 starts and shutting down the rotation, the team’s obvious strength. His peripheral numbers were better. Stop the AL selection leading in each of the following: FIP (2.56, tied with Schlittler), strikeout rate (34.9%) and both hits per nine innings (5.8) and homers (0.59).

Cease has now finished in the top five in Cy Young voting three times, including finishing second twice. (He’s also behind Justin Verlander in 2022.) It may be time for the next leap.

Best finish: 2nd in 2025 (NL), ’26 (NL)

That’s easy: He finished second two years in a row, also finishing behind Paul Skenes in 2025. Both years, Sanchez led the Majors in Baseball-Reference’s pitching version of WAR with 8.1. In 2026, he won 18 games for a team more desperate for a win than any other in the sport.

Sánchez is slightly older than the likes of Skenes and Misiorowski, but a year younger than Cease, who turns 30 on December 12. Something of a late bloomer, he’s in his prime right now. If he does, it could be 2027.

Best finish: 2nd (2022 NL)

He will start to feel lonely as a Yankees starter doesn’t There’s the Cy Young Award. Not only does he share a rotation with Schlittler, but Gerrit Cole, which serves to further obscure just how good Fried is. He hasn’t had an ERA over 3.25 since 2019, and his 2.82 ERA over the last seven seasons is the lowest in the Majors (minimum 700 innings). Fried also remains as good as anyone in baseball at keeping the ball in the ball park — he’s allowed just four homers in 112 2/3 innings this season — which is especially impressive given his current home ballpark.

The problem for Fried is injury proneness. A left elbow problem sidelined him twice in 2026, holding him to 20 starts and leading to offseason surgery to remove a bone spur. Fried topped 175 innings twice (2022 and ’25), finishing in the top four in Cy voting. Another full, healthy season with the Yankees could finally reveal his true greatness.

Best finish: Did not receive a vote

If you’re looking for a young starter to make a splash like Misiorowski or Schlittler in 2027, maybe it’s McLean? The 25-year-old certainly doesn’t throw as hard as Miz, but no one does. But he was nearly as effective in the second half, posting a 2.61 ERA over 12 starts for the Mets after the All-Star break, better than anyone realized. (Indeed, McLean was excellent all year outside of May, when he had a 6.10 ERA.)

It remains to be seen if the Mets will acquire Tarik Skubal this offseason, but for now, McLean is the clear ace of this lineup. Even if Skubal comes to Queens, McLean will be the player the Mets build around for years to come, and for good reason.

Best finish: Did not receive a vote

How big Burns is in 2026 hasn’t been fully appreciated, in part because the Reds limited his usage in September when he threw just nine hits in three starts, leaving him with 154 1/3 innings in his first full MLB season. Still, Burns struck out 185 batters, and he was old-school good, going 15-3, a classic baseball card record, for a team that finished last in the NL Central.

Burns was 11-1 with a 2.54 ERA at the break, which speaks volumes for the obvious Cy Young potential here. It’s been a frustrating year for the Reds, but with Burns, 23, Ellie De La Cruz and NL Rookie of the Year Sal Stewart, they have plenty of foundations to build on.

Best finish: 2nd (2026 AL)

An obvious candidate, he finished second in MVP voting this year and ninth in 2025. Caminero is the star of a team that just made it to the World Series, he continues to improve year after year (His OBP is up almost 50 points this year), and he’s putting up eye-popping baseball card numbers.

50 homers seem to be part of his future very, very soon. If Caminero reaches that number, he continues to get on base and Is it a signature part of Rice’s success? When that happens, he won’t take second place.

Best finish: 2nd (2024 AL)

Witt’s 2024 was absolutely incredible: He hit .332 with a 174 OPS+, combined for 32 homers with 31 steals and played a strong shortstop, finishing with a 9.6 bWAR. That would have earned him the MVP in almost any year — but not in the 2024 AL, as the umpire had the best season of his career and one of the best of all time.

Witt’s totals are down two years in a row now…which means he’s still MVP-level. He’s only 26 years old, has a Gold Glove and has stolen just 45 bases. If Witt can find his power again — he just hit a career-low 18 homers — he’ll remain the whole package.

Best finish: 2nd (2021 NL)

Yes: Soto yet he won none. He’s still so young – he turned 28 at the end of October – that you forget he’s playing his game. 10 year in the big leagues. Although he didn’t receive any MVP votes in 2026, he finished in the top 10 in six seasons, adding a pair of third-place finishes (2024 and ’25) to a second-place finish in 2021 behind former teammate Bryce Harper.

Given that he is under contract with the Mets through 2039, Soto will obviously have more opportunities. He needs to stay healthy for a full season, but the scary part is that he’s entering his prime right now.

Best finish: 3rd (2021 NL)

Remember earlier this season when we were all worried that he wasn’t hitting any home runs? Well, he finished with 25, as in 2025, to go along with a career high in stolen bases (38), and he was an absolute monster, putting up a .996 OPS in the second half after the All-Star break.

Tatis’ offensive numbers are starting to resemble the numbers he put up before his suspension in 2022, and he’s becoming one of the best defensive players in the sport. And he is still only 27 years old. The peak year is coming and it could be 2027.

Best finish: 16th (2026 NL)

There’s always someone who takes that big step to establish themselves as a perennial MVP candidate, and Wood did just that in 2026. Wood was a great hitter in 2025, but he was better. everything In 2026, he improved both his strikeout rate and his walk rate, hitting the ball even harder and adding 38 OBP (.388) and 28 SLG (.503).

Wood won’t turn 25 until next September, and he’s improving at an alarming rate in a very short amount of time. Now he just has to hang on to the finish line after two years of seeing his numbers drop. A 40 homer season seems inevitable. MVP season could be coming soon.