Showalter finalist for BBWAA award, Britton excluded for Cy Young

The Cy Young Award in the American League won't go to a reliever this year. It won't reach closer Zach Britton's hands.

Britton didn't receive enough support from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, which favored the Indians' Corey Kluber, the Red Sox's Rick Porcello and the Tigers' Justin Verlander. The announcement came tonight on MLB Network.

The Orioles' Buck Showalter is a finalist for Manager of the Year and will attempt to win it for the fourth time in his career. He's the only member of the organization to make the final three, with third baseman Manny Machado excluded from consideration for Most Valuable Player.

Britton is thrust into the middle of a heated debate over relievers being candidates for the award. Not everyone agrees that they belong in the discussion. The dissenters had the loudest voices.

Harold Reynolds on MLB Network said, "This may be the worst omission I've seen ever."

There's no disputing that Britton went 47-for-47 in save opportunities, posted a 0.54 ERA and 0.836 WHIP and ranked first among relievers in groundball/fly ball ratio (9.77) and in groundball percentage (79.4).

Britton's 0.54 ERA, achieved when he allowed four earned runs in 67 innings, led major league relievers and was the lowest in history among pitchers with at least 50 innings.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only two other pitchers have registered an ERA below 1.00 in a season with at least 40 saves - Dennis Eckersley in 1990 (0.61, 48 saves) and Fernando Rodney in 2012 (0.60, 48 saves).

No reliever has won the award since the Dodgers' Eric Gagne in 2003.

Showalter has been named Manager of the Year in 1994 with the Yankees, 2004 with the Rangers and 2014 with the Orioles. He placed second to the Athletics' Bob Melvin in 2012.

Showalter and Tony La Russa are the only managers to win the award with three different teams. Showalter is competing this year against the Rangers' Jeff Banister and the Indians' Terry Francona.

Francona is viewed as the favorite, but let's not overlook how the Orioles were picked to finish in last place by anyone with a pulse and qualified for the second wild card.

Machado will receive MVP votes. Just not enough to become a finalist.

Machado made his third All-Star team this year and batted .294/.343/.533 with 40 doubles, 37 home runs, 96 RBIs and a 6.7 WAR over 157 games. He's a finalist for the Gold Glove Award at third base.

Machado placed ninth in MVP voting in 2013 and fourth last year.

The BBWAA will reveal the Rookies of the Year on Nov. 14, Managers of the Year on Nov. 15, Cy Young winners on Nov. 16 and Most Valuable Players on Nov. 17. Votes were collected before the playoffs.

Here are the finalists:

Rookie of the Year
AL: Tyler Naquin (Indians), Gary Sanchez (Yankees), Michael Fulmer (Tigers)
NL: Kenta Maeda (Dodgers), Trea Turner (Nationals), Corey Seager (Dodgers)

Manager of the Year
AL: Buck Showalter (Orioles), Jeff Banister (Rangers), Terry Francona (Indians)
NL: Dusty Baker (Nationals), Joe Maddon (Cubs), Dave Roberts (Dodgers)

Cy Young Award
AL: Corey Kluber (Indians), Rick Porcell (Red Sox), Justin Verlander (Tigers)
NL: Kyle Hendricks (Cubs), Jon Lester (Cubs), Max Scherzer (Nationals)

Most Valuable Player
AL: Jose Altuve (Astros), Mookie Betts (Red Sox), Mike Trout (Angels)
NL: Kris Bryant (Cubs), Daniel Murphy (Nationals), Corey Seager (Dodgers)