WBSC alumni -- players who have starred for their country's national team -- have been nominated for some of Major League Baseball's top 2020 honours, with Canadian Tyler O'Neill (2015 WBSC Premier12 and 2013 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup) and Cuban MLB American League Rookie of the Year (ROY) candidate Luis Robert (2015 WBSC U-18 World Cup) among recent Gold Glove award winners.
José Abreu, who represented Cuba at the WBSC (IBAF) Baseball World Cup 2011, is one of the three finalists for the American League (AL) MVP Award. The National League (NL) finalists include 2006 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup player Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves) and the Padres' Manny Machado, who played for USA Baseball at the 2009 Pan-Am U-18 Championship/Qualifier for the 2010 WBSC U-18 World Cup. The winner will be announced on the MLB Network on 12 November.
Former Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) MVP and All-Star Kenta Maeda represented Japan at the WBSC Premier12 2015 and is one of the finalists for the MLB AL Cy Young Award.
Other AL nominees include Hyun Jin Ryu (Toronto Blue Jays) and Shane Bieber (Cleveland Indians). Ryu was the hero of the gold medal Korea at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
The NL Cy Young finalists include Yu Darvish (Chicago Cubs), who played for Japan at the 2004 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup and the 2008 Olympics. Darvish also helped his National Team win the 2009 World Baseball Classic 2009.
The Cy Young Awards go to the best pitchers of each league. They will be announced on 11 November.
Alec Bohm (Philadelphia Phillies), Jake Cronenworth (San Diego Padres) and Devin Williams (Milwaukee Brewers) are the finalists for the NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year (ROY) Award.
Bohm and Cronenworth played together on the US National Team in last year's WBSC Premier12 2019.
The AL ROY finalists include Gold Glover Robert (Chicago White Sox).
Robert, in his first year, was awarded the AL Gold Glove Award as a center fielder.
ROY Winners will be announced on 9 November on the MLB Network.
Other notables include Gold Glove winners Javier Baez (PUR), Nolan Arenado (USA) and Anthony Rizzo (ITA), who all played for their National Teams in past WBSC-sanctioned World Baseball Classics.
For the complete list of award winners and nominees, visit mlb.com.
