The Baseball Writers’ Association of America rolled out its first awards last night and Orioles outfielder Dylan Beavers unexpectedly received a fifth-place vote for American League Rookie of the Year.

Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle was first in balloting with 28 of 30 first-place votes and 204 total points. No surprise there.

Guardians pitcher Parker Messick received the other two and was runner-up with 122 points, followed by Red Sox pitcher Payton Tolle (54), White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami (39), Royals catcher Carter Jensen (31), Guardians outfielder Chase DeLauter (23), Blue Jays infielder Kazuma Okamoto (17), White Sox’s outfielder Tristan Peters (12), White Sox outfielder Sam Antonacci (two), Guardians infielder Travis Bazzana (two), Angels pitcher Walbert Ureña (two), Beavers (one) and Athletics outfielder Henry Bolte (one).

Only five players fit on a ballot and I chose McGonigle, Messick, Tolle, DeLauter and Okamoto. I wrestled with the last two spots, writing and erasing Murakami and Jensen. It was a deep field in 2026.

No Orioles received a vote last year, but Beavers got one from Seattle-based Associated Press reporter Andrew Destin after batting .228/.307/.373/ with 20 doubles, nine homers, 44 RBIs and a minus-0.5 bWAR in 104 games.

Catcher Samuel Basallo hit .222/.291/.406 with 10 doubles, a triple, 18 homers, 54 RBIs and a 1.6 bWAR in 112 games. I didn’t expect anyone on the club to appear on a ballot but thought he’d stand the best chance if it happened.

Seven Orioles have been chosen Rookie of the Year, beginning with Ron Hansen in 1960. Curt Blefary followed in 1965, Al Bumbry in 1973, Eddie Murray in 1977, Cal Ripken Jr. in 1982 and Gregg Olson in 1989.

A dry spell ensued until Gunnar Henderson finished first in 2023.

Henderson was a unanimous selection after batting .255/.325/.489 with 29 doubles, nine triples, 28 home runs, 82 RBIs and a 6.1 bWAR in 150 games. He also won a Silver Slugger Award and came in eighth in Most Valuable Player voting.

The 2024 season was highlighted by Henderson’s selection to the All-Star Game and his fourth-place finish in MVP balloting. He hit .281/.364/.529 with 31 doubles, seven triples, 37 homers, 92 RBIs, 21 stolen bases in 25 attempts and an 8.8 bWAR in 159 games.

A star was born.

Is it a falling star?

Henderson’s home run total dipped to 17 and his RBI total to 68 in 154 games in 2025, and he batted .225/.309/.403 with 59 RBIs in 158 games this year. Perhaps the shoulder impingement in ’25 and sore wrist this year factored into it. Everyone seems to have a theory, including too much chase and not enough confidence or barreling of pitches. What’s needed is a solution.

The GM Meetings are being held this week in Las Vegas and the industry is trying to ascertain whether Henderson could be available in a trade. It was unfathomable in the past but maybe not as much now after president of baseball operations Mike Elias traded catcher Adley Rutschman to the Red Sox at the deadline.

Henderson is under team control through 2028, a year longer than Rutschman. The Orioles will try again to make it back to the playoffs, giving them another reason to hold onto Henderson. They won’t disclose whether they’ve engaged in contract extension talks or made any progress with agent Scott Boras, who’s expected to speak with the media on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the industry is filling with people who view Henderson as one of its top players and are convinced that he’ll begin performing like it again. I wouldn’t give up on him. 

“I have no doubt he’ll get back to it,” said one executive. “He ran into some hard luck and I think it started to get to him mentally. He kept working at it to try to get it back, because that’s who he is. It didn’t quite play out the way he wanted to, but what you always forget with him is that he’s really young. Some of the things he hasn’t experienced, and this will make him a better player.

“I thought defensively he had a really good year, and that’s gonna keep getting better and better. So I think he’ll return to form. I fully expect him to be the All-Star shortstop that he has shown in the past.”

Seems like a good reason for the Orioles to keep him. Make another run at the postseason, see whether new general manager Jared Banner can be impactful with his background in player development, and reconsider if 2027 goes as poorly as the past two years.

*The BBWAA will announce the Manager of the Year tonight. Frank Robinson won it in 1989, Davey Johnson in 1997, Buck Showalter in 2014 and Brandon Hyde in 2023.

Robinson was fired in May 1991, Johnson resigned via fax on the same day that he won the award, Showalter was dismissed after the 2018 season and Hyde was let go in May 2025.

“I wrestled with the decision for two weeks,” Johnson said after owner Peter Angelos accepted his resignation following a wire-to-wire season and appearance in the Championship Series. “I was thinking it would be resolved and worked out and I’d get the support I needed to win a championship in Baltimore. It wasn’t forthcoming. I was giving him the opportunity to make a change and he took it.”

Meanwhile, Angelos appeared on WBAL Radio and said he was going to fire Johnson if the manager didn’t resign first.

Now you know why there’s confusion over resigned or fired in this soap opera.

*The Arizona Fall League’s Future Stars Game was played Sunday night in Scottsdale and it featured four Orioles minor leaguers.

In case you missed it, Ike Irish played right field and had an RBI single and a walk in the American League’s 7-4 loss. Vance Honeycutt played center field and went 0-for-2 with a walk and two strikeouts.

Patrick Reilly started for the AL and allowed a run in the first inning with no hits, three walks and two strikeouts. Braxton Bragg retired all three batters in the third inning and struck out two.