Predictions for BBWAA awards, some of which are very tight races

Pitcher Jake Arrieta dominated in the season's second half, posting a 0.75 ERA and finishing with 22 wins and a 1.77 ERA for the Cubs. The Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw had a 2.13 ERA and led the National League with 301 strikeouts.

So Arrieta and Kershaw are the top candidates for the NL Cy Young Award?

Think again.

The numbers for Arrieta and Kershaw are impressive, but they are overshadowed by the Dodgers' Zack Greinke, who had 19 wins and won the NL ERA title with a 1.66 ERA.

That's why the NL Cy Young vote is the most intriguing race in the Baseball Writers' Association of America's eight postseason awards that will be announced next week.

Check out the pitchers' WHIP: Greinke was at 0.84, Arrieta at 0.86 and Kershaw at 0.88.

All three are finalists. The award comes down to Greinke's consistency versus Arrieta's unbelievable second half or Kershaw's league-leading innings and strikeout totals. Prediction: Greinke.

The BBWAA ballots are due on the final day of the regular season, so the playoffs don't figure into the voting. Here are the other races:

AL Cy Young: There's a virtual dead heat between two lefties, David Price, who pitched for Detroit and Toronto, and Houston's Dallas Keuchel. The other finalist is Oakland's Sonny Gray. Should it be Keuchel, who had 20 wins, a 2.48 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP, or Price, who pitched for Detroit and Toronto, getting 18 wins, a 2.45 ERA and 1.08 WHIP? Both pitched for contending teams. Prediction: Keuchel.

AL MVP: Another compelling race with the Angels' Mike Trout once again having a chance to win. Trout hit .299 with a .402 on-base percentage, 41 home runs and 90 RBIs. Toronto's Josh Donaldson hit .297 with a .371 on-base percentage with 41 home runs and a 123 RBIs. Could it get any closer? Donaldson was the best hitter in the most-feared lineup in baseball. Trout's bat kept the struggling Angels in the American League race. The other finalist is Kansas City's Lorenzo Cain. Also, the Orioles' Chris Davis, with 47 home runs, the AL leader, should get votes and it is reasonable to ask if he'll make the top five. Prediction: Donaldson.

NL MVP: Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper should run away with the NL award after hitting .330 with 42 home runs and a .460 on-base percentage. Never mind that the Nationals faded in the second half, Harper's strong September - he hit .341 with 10 home runs and 19 RBIs - cemented the award at a time when the voters could have looked at two others - the Mets' Yoenis Cespedes and the Cubs' Anthony Rizzo - sparking contending teams. The other finalists are Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt and Cincinnati's Joey Votto. Prediction: Harper.

NL Rookie of the Year: The Cubs' Kris Bryant will win considering he played in 151 games and hit .275 with 26 home runs and 99 RBI. The other finalists are Pittsburgh's Jung Ho Kang, who was the Pirates' second-best hitter at .278 with 15 home runs until he was injured, and San Francisco's third baseman Matt Duffy, who faded. No drama here. Prediction: Bryant.

AL Rookie of the Year: The three finalists are two shortstops - Houston's Carlos Correa and Cleveland's Francisco Lindor - and Twins designated hitter Miguel Sano. The general consensus is that Correa, who hit .279 with 22 home runs in 99 games for the playoff Astros, should win easily, but don't forget about Lindor: He played 99 games for the Indians and hit .313 with 12 home runs. Plus, Lindor had 122 hits to Correa's 108 and was the better defensive player. Prediction: Lindor.

NL Manager of the Year: The three finalists are the Cubs' Joe Maddon, the Mets' Terry Collins and the Cardinals' Mike Matheny. Despite injuries to key regulars, along with seven injuries and two PED suspensions in the bullpen, Collins was able to knock off the favored Nationals in the NL East. Maddon led a young team, not expected to contend, into the postseason as a wild card. Matheny led the Cardinals to 100 wins and the NL Central title, despite a list of injuries, including their best pitcher (Adam Wainwright) and two of their best hitters (Matt Adams and Matt Holliday) for good chunks of the season. Prediction: Maddon (though Collins should win).

AL Manager of the Year: This is an unusual race given that there are plenty of candidates with the three finalists being the Astros' A.J. Hinch, the Twins' Paul Molitor and the Rangers' Jeff Banister. Two others that should be considered are the Yankees' Joe Girardi and the Blue Jays' John Gibbons. Hinch and Molitor led turnarounds in small-market cities where 90-loss seasons were the norm, and Molitor did it with injuries to key pitchers. Banister led the Rangers to the AL West title, but the Rangers had a losing record until management stepped in at the end of July and traded for starter Cole Hamels and two relief pitchers, Jake Diekman and Sam Dyson, that started the Rangers' roll. Gibbons led the Blue Jays to the AL East title with a thin rotation and an inexperienced bullpen, although they had the strongest offense in baseball. Girardi had to deal with the distraction of Alex Rodriguez's return, bad play in the middle infield, an injury to his best hitter (Mark Teixeira), an aging and injured rotation, and a two-man bullpen that eventually wore out at the end. Still, the Yankees were around in the postseason. Prediction: Hinch.

What will BBWAA members decide? Let the debate begin.