Major League Baseball Players Announce Finalists for 26th Annual Players Choice Awards

NEW YORK, October 10, 2017 /3BL Media/ - Major League baseball players today announced the finalists for their highest honors – the Players Choice Awards – in which the players themselves recognize excellence on and off the field.  Vying for top honor as 2017 Player of the Year are José Altuve of the Houston Astros, Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies and Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins.

For the seventh consecutive year, Players Choice Award winners will be announced exclusively on MLB Network on Wednesday, November 8, from 8 PM – 9:30 PM ET.  MLB Network’s local channel listings are available at www.FindMLBNetwork.com.

The Players Choice Awards on MLB Network benefit the Major League Baseball Players Trust, the charitable foundation created and run by the players themselves.  2017 Players Choice Award winners in all categories will designate charities to receive grants totaling $260,000 from the Players Trust. [Note: The eight League winners receive $20,000 grants each and the two overall winners receive $50,000 grants each.)   

Leading the voting for the Marvin Miller Man of the Year award, named in honor of the MLBPA’s first executive director and given annually to the player who inspires others through his on-field performances and contributions to his community, are Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants, Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs and David Robertson of the New York Yankees.  Posey’s philanthropic focus is The Buster and Kristen Posey Fund. The fund provides grants to research hospitals and charitable organizations that support children diagnosed with pediatric cancer. Rizzo’s mission this year was to use his on-field success as a springboard for the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, which he founded in 2012 to provide funding for cancer research. Robertson and his wife, Erin, created High Socks for Hope in 2011 after a tornado devastated his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Ala., to help those affected by natural disasters as well as homeless veterans. High Socks has helped thousands of families regroup and furnish homes.

Now in its 26^th year, the Players Choice Awards program has been honoring the game’s best-of-the-best since 1992, when Major Leaguers selected Dennis Eckersley and Barry Bonds as the AL & NL Outstanding Players, respectively. Today, the players annually honor the outstanding player, rookie, pitcher and comeback player in each league, while the Player of the Year and Man of the Year awards bestow top honors without regard to league.  Balloting for the 2017 Players Choice Awards was conducted in all Major League clubhouses on September 19, under the supervision of accounting firm KPMG.

The Players Trust raises funds and attention for issues affecting the needy and promotes community involvement, and it has recognized the outstanding on-field and off-field performances of Players Choice Awards winners by contributing more than $4 million to charities around the world. For additional information, please visit  http://playerstrust.org/programs/players-choice-awards/.

Majestic Athletic is a proud sponsor of the 2017 Players Choice Awards on MLB Network.

Below please find the complete list of 2017 Players Choice Awards finalists.

2017 Players Choice Awards Finalists:
 

American League:

Outstanding Player:  José Altuve (Houston Astros); Aaron Judge (New York Yankees); José Ramírez (Cleveland Indians)

Outstanding Pitcher: Corey Kluber (Cleveland Indians); Chris Sale (Boston Red Sox); Luis Severino (New York Yankees)

Outstanding Rookie: Andrew Benintendi (Boston Red Sox); Aaron Judge (NY Yankees); Trey Mancini (Baltimore Orioles)

Comeback Player: Mike Moustakas (Kansas City Royals); Justin Smoak (Toronto Blue Jays); Jason Vargas (Kansas City Royals)
 

National League:

Outstanding Player: Nolan Arenado (Colorado Rockies); Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies); Giancarlo Stanton (Miami Marlins)

Outstanding Pitcher: Zack Greinke (Arizona Diamondbacks); Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers); Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals)

Outstanding Rookie: Josh Bell (Pittsburgh Pirates); Cody Bellinger (Los Angeles Dodgers); Paul DeJong (St. Louis Cardinals)

Comeback Player: Greg Holland (Colorado Rockies); Eric Thames (Milwaukee Brewers); Ryan Zimmerman (Washington Nationals)
 

Either League:

Player of Year: José Altuve (Houston Astros); Nolan Arenado (Colorado Rockies); Giancarlo Stanton (Miami Marlins)

Man of the Year: Buster Posey (San Francisco Giants); Anthony Rizzo (Chicago Cubs); David Robertson (New York Yankees)

For the complete list of previous winners, please click here:

http://playerstrust.org/cms-page/playerschoiceawards/

About MLBPA
The Major League Baseball Players Association (www.MLBPLAYERS.com ) is the collective bargaining representative for all professional baseball players of the thirty Major League Baseball teams and serves as the exclusive group licensing agent for commercial and licensing activities involving active Major League baseball players. On behalf of its members, it operates the Players Choice licensing program and the Players Choice Awards, which benefit the needy through the Major League Baseball Players Trust (www.PlayersTrust.org), a charitable foundation established and run entirely by Major League baseball players. In 2017, the MLBPA launched Infield Chatter, an innovative social media app created by the Players for the fans and available in the App Store and Google Play.  Follow: @MLB_Players; @MLBPAClubhouse; @MLBPlayersTrust

About MLB Network:
MLB Network is the ultimate television destination for baseball fans, featuring the multiple Emmy Award-winning MLB Tonight, live regular season and Postseason game telecasts, original programming, highlights, and insights and analysis from the best in the business, including Bob Costas, Peter Gammons, Jim Kaat, Al Leiter and Harold Reynolds. MLB Network debuted on January 1, 2009 in a record-setting 50 million homes and is currently distributed in approximately 70 million homes throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, and is available for live, authenticated streaming via MLB.com At Bat and MLBNetwork.com. For more information and to find MLB Network in your area, go to www.MLBNetwork.com.