As someone who has never won a Pulitzer Prize (not even for my article on All-Stars with mustaches), I have a special place in my heart for the awardless.

We hand out a ton of awards in MLB. And yet somehow, there are always excellent seasons that slip through the cracks and/or simply get usurped by someone doing something historic.

That’s why each year, once they’re done handing out all the real hardware, I provide some hearty virtual pats on the back to players who got shut out of the following honors:

BBWAA Awards (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year)
All-MLB Team
Hank Aaron Awards
Roberto Clemente Award
Gold Glove Awards
Silver Slugger Awards
LCS and World Series MVP Awards
Outstanding DH Award
Comeback Players of the Year
Relievers of the Year
Players Choice Awards (Player of the Year, Outstanding Player, Outstanding Pitcher, Outstanding Rookie, Comeback Player)

So let’s dim the lights, cue the orchestra and award the awardless!

Catcher: Yainer Diaz, Astros
The 26-year-old Diaz took over the full-time catching duties for the Astros and flourished at the plate. His 117 weighted runs created plus (17% better than league average) tied the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh (a Gold Glove winner) for second best (behind the Brewers’ William Contreras, the NL Silver Slugger) among qualified catchers. Diaz belted 16 homers and 29 doubles and drove in 84 runs.

First base: Pete Alonso, Mets
Was this the Polar Bear’s best season? Absolutely not. Was it a good season? Absolutely. He was fourth among qualified first basemen in wRC+ (122) while hitting 30-plus homers (34) for the fourth straight season, a career-high 31 doubles and 88 RBIs. He also had one of the biggest home runs of the postseason, taking Devin Williams deep to give the Mets the go-ahead run in their NL Wild Card Series clincher. Note that the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman wasn’t feted with any awards for his regular season, but considering he was the World Series MVP, it didn’t really make sense to honor him with our fake award.

Second base: Luis García Jr., Nationals
This was a really nice season with surprising power from the Nats’ 24-year-old second baseman, who proved himself a legit building block as they try to turn the corner. García (who for the record is the son of onetime Tigers infielder Luis García and not the son of Astros pitcher Luis García, as the latter is mathematically impossible) slashed .282/.318/.444 with 18 homers and 25 doubles. His slugging percentage was a 59-point jump from last year.

Shortstop: Gunnar Henderson, Orioles
I had to double- and triple-check to make sure Henderson was not an award winner, because it was so hard to believe. But ultimately, this was a bad year to be a shortstop in the same league as Bobby Witt Jr. Technically, Henderson did win his club’s Heart & Hustle Award, but Witt won the national honor there, too. So Henderson still qualifies for this list and is an easy choice given his outstanding .281/.364/.529 slash line, 37 homers, 31 doubles, seven triples, 92 RBIs and 118 runs. He finished fourth in the AL MVP voting.

Third base: Rafael Devers, Red Sox
This was the first full season since 2018 that Devers didn’t get down-ballot MVP support, but it was a typically impactful season for the Red Sox’s centerpiece. He slashed .272/.354/.516 with 28 homers, 34 doubles and a 139 OPS+, and he was an All-Star for the third time.

Left field: Riley Greene, Tigers
There was a lot of talk about the “pitching chaos” that got the Tigers to the postseason, but don’t ignore the steady, non-chaotic production Greene provided a lineup in need. Greene was one of Detroit's top prospects and had shown potential, but also battled injuries in 2022-23. This year, he posted for 137 games and showed out in a big way, with a .262/.348/.479 slash line, 24 homers, 27 doubles and 5.4 bWAR. He was a first-time All-Star. (Like Henderson, Greene was an individual club Heart & Hustle Award winner, but I hope we can all agree that does not violate the spirit of this important presentation.)

Center field: JJ Bleday, Athletics
A guy like Bleday is why this fake awards team exists, because his excellent season is too easily lost in the shuffle. Bleday was the fourth overall pick in the 2019 Draft by the Marlins, for whom he made his big league debut in July 2022 before getting dealt to the A’s in February 2023. Prior to 2024, he had not panned out as hoped. But in his age-26 season, he broke through with 20 homers, 43 doubles and four triples. Only 16 players had more extra-base hits than Bleday’s 67. And because there wasn’t a ton of opportunity for him in that A’s lineup, he only drove in 60 runs. Interestingly, it marked only the 34th time since the RBI became a stat in 1920 that a player had 60 or more extra-base hits and 60 or fewer RBIs. Now you know why you didn’t hear a ton about him.

Right field: Seiya Suzuki, Cubs
This might be the last place Suzuki is listed as a right fielder, because he became a full-time DH in mid-August. But his defensive struggles notwithstanding, he produced enough at the plate to make our team. For the season, Suzuki slashed .283/.366/.482 in 132 games. His 138 OPS+ tied for seventh in the NL with MVP runner-up Francisco Lindor and was sixth among all outfielders in MLB. His 21 homers were his best since coming over to MLB in 2022, as were his 16 steals and 3.2 bWAR.

Designated hitter: Marcell Ozuna, Braves
This is the second straight year Ozuna has been named the All-Awardless DH. So ... congrats? Obviously, there was only one Shohei Ohtani at DH in the NL (and the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez deservedly was the other All-MLB representative at the DH spot), but Ozuna had his second straight season with an OPS over .900. He provided a ton of power, falling one homer shy (39) of last year’s career high, while setting a new career high in doubles (31). But it wasn’t just that. The 34-year-old Ozuna also batted over .300 for the first time in a full season since 2017, and his .378 on-base percentage was a new career best for a full season.

Starting pitcher: Cole Ragans, Royals
Though he was overshadowed by teammate and second-place finisher Seth Lugo in the AL Cy Young voting, Ragans did finish fourth by building on his 2023 breakout in a meaningful way. Ragans had come to K.C. from the Rangers in the midseason trade in ’23 that sent Aroldis Chapman to Texas. Since then, he is 16-11 with a 3.00 ERA and a 143 ERA+ (43% better than league average) in 44 starts. This season, only nine qualified pitchers had a higher ERA+ than Ragans’ 135 mark, including NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale (174), AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (170) and NL runner-up (and All-MLB first teamer) Zack Wheeler (158). So Ragans clearly belonged on the All-MLB Team, but some would say getting mentioned here is a bigger deal. (OK, nobody’s really saying that.)

Relief pitcher: Cade Smith, Guardians
Smith had a really strong argument for AL Rookie of the Year (he finished fifth), because his 2.95 Win Probability Added was the highest of any rookie whose team reached the postseason. His bullpen mate Emmanuel Clase was deservedly named AL Reliever of the Year, but for a first-year player who grabbed the last spot on the Opening Day roster, Smith was incredible. In the regular season, Smith had a 1.91 ERA, a 0.90 WHIP and a 6.06 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 75 1/3 innings across 74 appearances. And in pitching all five games of the ALDS against the Tigers -- and only allowing one run in 6 1/3 innings, with appearances anywhere from the third through the seventh innings -- he was a major reason why the Guardians advanced to the ALCS.