With a sense of duty, honor and tradition -- and with the knowledge that their choices will be subject to scrutiny and, sometimes, the subject of controversy -- the members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) cast their votes at the end of the regular season for four of the game's highest individual accolades.
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Here are the winners for each of these prestigious honors:
AL MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Mookie Betts, OF, Red Sox: With a .346 average, 32 homers and 30 stolen bases, Betts became the first 30-30 batting champ in history, and he also led the Majors in slugging percentage (.640) and runs scored (129). He had the Major League-leading Wins Above Replacement mark in both the FanGraphs (10.4) and Baseball Reference (10.9) calculations.

NL MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Christian Yelich, OF, Brewers: The NL Hank Aaron Award winner led the league in the FanGraphs (7.6) and Baseball Reference (7.6) WAR calculations, batting average (.326), OPS (1.000) and total bases (343). A September surge in which he slashed .370/.508/.804 while the Brewers stormed to the top of the NL Central sealed this award for him.

AL CY YOUNG AWARD WINNER
Blake Snell, LHP, Rays: Snell led the AL with 21 wins and a 1.89 ERA in winning a close vote to become the second Rays pitcher to win the award (David Price, 2012). The left-hander pitched the fewest innings ever for a starter who won the Cy Young, 180 2/3.

NL CY YOUNG AWARD WINNER
Jacob deGrom, RHP Mets: deGrom won only 10 games, the fewest ever by a starter to win the award, but his ERA of 1.70 was the lowest in baseball among qualified starters and sixth-lowest since MLB lowered the mound to its current height in 1969.

AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER
Bob Melvin, A's: The A's were the first team on record to reach the postseason despite beginning the year with the lowest payroll in MLB. Melvin has already won a Manager of the Year Award in both leagues (with the D-backs in 2007 and the A's in '12), but this might have been his finest work yet. More >

NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER
Brian Snitker, Braves: The longtime organizational guy proved to be the right person to take the Braves to the next level. Atlanta took over the top spot in the NL East ahead of schedule and hung tough in the second half. More >

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR WINNER
Shohei Ohtani, RHP/DH, Angels: Billed as the "Japanese Babe Ruth," Ohtani delivered, becoming the first player since Ruth with 10 pitching appearances and 20 homers in a season. Though a right elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery prevented him from pitching in the second half, he was above average both in 51 2/3 innings pitched (126 ERA+) and in 367 plate appearances (152 OPS+). More >

NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR WINNER
Ronald Acuna Jr., OF, Braves: The 20-year-old had the third-highest OPS of any player in baseball in the second half (1.028) and finished with 26 homers, 16 steals and a .552 slugging percentage. His ascension to the leadoff spot after the All-Star break sparked the Braves in the NL East race. More >