Were there an award for Least Accurate Predictions, I would be an annual recipient.

But I take no shame in being among the many who can’t foresee what this wacky sport has cooking in a given year, and so here goes another swing -- and likely, miss -- at guessing who will take home the next batch of Baseball Writers’ Association of America honors.

Here’s a way-too-early look at the 2024 honorees:

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

AL: Juan Soto, OF, Yankees

Now that Shohei Ohtani is in the NL and Mike Trout is consistently having trouble staying on the field, the AL MVP field is more open than it’s been in some time. So if you’re listening, Corey Seager, Adolis García, Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Julio Rodríguez, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Carlos Correa, José Ramírez, Bobby Witt Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (to name just a few), the floor is yours!

But Soto had been a perennially popular pick in the NL ever since he broke out for the 2019 World Series champion Nationals, and now things might be lining up perfectly for him in the AL.

This is a platform year for the guy who turned down $440 million from the Nats, and he’ll be hitting in front of Aaron Judge in a home ballpark that probably won’t help him as much as so many assume but certainly won’t hurt him. Soto has endured some ugly stretches over the past few seasons, but he certainly settled in with San Diego (.290/.418/.548 slash in his last 133 games), and with the fifth-highest OPS+ (157) in history for a player before his age-25 season, he’s on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

All we’re ultimately doing here is guessing, but it’s not that hard to draw up a narrative scenario in which the oft-injured Judge and/or Giancarlo Stanton miss some time, the Yankees make the playoffs anyway, and Soto’s contributions are seen as a definitive difference-maker.

NL: Bryce Harper, 1B, Phillies

Here’s where my head is at: The Dodgers’ fearsome threesome of Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman eats itself in the MVP voting (i.e., they all have great seasons for a great team, with none of the three distinguishing himself as the clear MVP). And Ronald Acuña Jr. is so worn out from playing winter ball, hitting 40 homers, stealing 70 bags and playing winter ball (again) that he merely plays at a great and not MVP level in 2024 (repeat MVPs are quite rare, anyway).

It’s not hard to imagine another MVP-caliber year from Matt Olson or Corbin Carroll taking the next step, Fernando Tatis Jr. crafting a campaign of awesome atonement or some other scenario. But I’m having a hard time shaking the fact that Harper came back from Tommy John surgery in just 160 days, slashed .293/.401/.499 over 126 games, capably took on a new position at first base and then posted a 1.097 OPS in October.

This dude is just on another level. And while he’s more consistently reached that level in the postseason than the regular season (maybe he just needs more people “attaboy”-ing him along the way), I like his chances of earning his third MVP Award and further cementing his Cooperstown case.

• All-time MVP winners

CY YOUNG

AL: Pablo López, RHP, Twins

Now that he’s finally won a Cy Young, can Gerrit Cole win another? He can! But it’s more fun and interesting to identify other candidates, and I whittled my choices down to two: López and the Mariners’ Luis Castillo. The latter would be an excellent choice, given that he’s a durable pitcher with an electric four-seamer and legit slider and changeup. But Castillo also has those Astros and Rangers lineups within the division, while López … does not.

So Pablo’s my pick.

López proved himself a true ace in his age-27 season after the trade from Miami to Minnesota. He upped his innings to a career-high 194, had an ERA+ that was 17% better than league average, improved his K/BB ratio (striking out 234 batters) and was awesome in October (one earned run in 12 2/3 innings over two starts against the Blue Jays and Astros). He might have only scratched the surface, because now that he’s added a sweeper that held opponents to a .173 average and .287 slugging percentage, he has a genuine five-pitch mix that could even improve in effectiveness as he gets more comfortable utilizing it. López has the command to do so. If he does, he’s a Cy winner waiting to happen.

NL: Walker Buehler, RHP, Dodgers

Last year’s Cy field was complicated. While we don’t yet know where reigning winner Blake Snell will land, any of the others who received votes -- the Giants’ Logan Webb, the D-backs’ Zac Gallen, the Braves’ Spencer Strider, the Cubs’ Justin Steele, the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler, the Mets’ Kodai Senga and the Brewers’ (for now) Corbin Burnes -- are really good candidates to finish first in 2024.

But I have not forgotten you, Walker Buehler! He was my pick prior to 2021, when he wound up with a 2.47 ERA and Major League-best 171 ERA+ in 207 2/3 innings yet somehow finished fourth. And he was my pick prior to 2022, when he blew out his elbow. Now, he presumably will be back from Tommy John surgery. The Dodgers will be careful with him, especially early, but Snell’s two wins are evidence of how workload has been devalued in this voting.

Ultimately, I think Buehler, in a contract year and with an arsenal that includes fastballs, cutters and sliders he can throw for strikes, stands a good chance of having ridiculous enough rate stats to earn this honor. Justin Verlander’s 2022 win has taught me not to be fearful of the Tommy John returnee in this category, so let’s be bold and go with Buehler.

• All-time Cy Young winners

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

AL: Wyatt Langford, OF, Rangers

There are safer selections to be made here. Heck, this isn’t even the safest rookie pick on the Rangers, given that outfielder Evan Carter posted 1.6 bWAR in only 23 games in the 2023 regular season and then was an October hero in pursuit of the franchise’s first World Series title. But I’m here to root for good stories, and Langford rising up to the big leagues within a year of being selected with the fourth overall pick in the Draft and raking his way to Rookie of the Year would be a great one.

Texas thought highly enough of Langford to accelerate him through four Minor League levels in the span of only 44 games last year, and he rocked them all with his power and wheels (.360/.480/.677 slash with 10 homers, 17 doubles and 12 steals in 200 plate appearances). The Rangers gave some consideration to promoting him to the bigs from Triple-A Round Rock in September. So there’s a good chance he’ll have an opportunity in 2024, and, though the outfield is crowded, the DH spot is available to ensure, one way or another, that he gets enough at-bats to seriously contend for this prize.

NL: Paul Skenes, RHP, Pirates

The Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be a popular preseason pick for this prize, and for good reason. But it’s also probably misleading that we label established stars who come over from high-level foreign professional leagues as “rookies,” even if that is the way it has always been done. So just to veer off that well-traveled course, I’ll take Skenes. There’s a lot of risk baked into this pick, because who knows when, exactly, the Pirates will promote the No. 1 overall pick from the 2023 Draft. And you know how it is with pitchers, in general.

But man, if you watched that incredible LSU team last year, Skenes sure looked ready for the big stage, didn’t he? Big dude, big fastball, silly slider, confounding changeup, solid mustache. This is not your average pitching prospect. He’s probably the best pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg, who made his debut one year to the day after the Nationals drafted him (against the Pirates, coincidentally).

Strasburg didn’t factor into the NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2010 (some guy named Buster Posey ran away with that one), but I think Skenes could be up early enough to log meaningful innings for the Pirates and seriously vie for this prize.

• All-time Rookie of the Year winners

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

AL: A.J. Hinch, Tigers

By now, you are familiar with the formula: If a team shocks the world with advancement to October, its manager wins this award. I have absolutely no idea if the Tigers can shock the world. But the AL Central is the most obvious place for a team to rise from sub-.500 standing to a division crown in 2024.

As I wrote elsewhere, the Guardians are perhaps the safest pick, only because they are recent division champs and have established pitching pedigree. The Royals have also made themselves very interesting with their aggressive upgrading of a 106-loss team. But the Tigers finished second in the Central last year, had some good developmental gains from the likes of Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson and have brought in some veteran backbone in the form of Mark Canha and Kenta Maeda. Mostly, I like the idea of a redemptive storyline for Hinch, a good guy and good manager who paid his dues for not putting a stop to the Astros’ sign-stealing shenanigans and can guide the Tigers to the top of this winnable division.

NL: David Bell, Reds

Basically, I think the Reds can win the NL Central next season. And if they do, Bell will probably be the Manager of the Year. Granted, much more will be expected of the Reds in 2024 than in 2023. But probably not to the level where they are such obvious favorites to win the division that Bell would be “penalized” in the voting. As of now, it would appear Bell’s biggest challenge will be rotating pieces in the Reds’ crowded infield picture to ensure the lineup is consistently productive and guys remain engaged.

But there are plenty of other possibilities here: Last season’s disappointments -- the Cardinals (Oliver Marmol), Mets (rookie manager Carlos Mendoza) and Padres (new manager Mike Shildt) -- could provide next season’s Manager of the Year, if any of those clubs bounce back. Craig Counsell would be in contention for his first (yes, first) Manager of the Year honor if the Cubs make it. If the Brewers were to take the Central again, Pat Murphy could be the rare manager rewarded with this honor on a repeat division champ, given the unusual circumstances.

• All-time Manager of the Year winners