MLB cards for major awards' finalists
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Major League Baseball announced the three finalists for their major awards, MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year. Market trends show that card values get at least a small bump up after the announcement, and with the advent of the MVP Buyback and the Red Rookie Redemption programs, collector's have extra incentives to pay attention to the winners.
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National League MVP
Shohei Ohtani , DH/P (Dodgers), Kyle Schwarber, DH (Phillies), Juan Soto, OF (Mets)
This award has not much mystery. Shohei Ohtani has been the odds on favorite for the winner of this award for months. Which is why his Topps Chrome base cards have been flying off of the digital shelves. Once he is undoubtably named as the winner, the Topps MVP buyback program kicks in and those base cards will be worth at the bare minimum $20 in trade in value.
American League MVP
Aaron Judge, OF (Yankees), Cal Raleigh, C (Mariners), Jose Ramirez, 3B (Guardians)
The American League MVP is one of the closest race in recent memories. And while Jose Ramirez had a great season (finishing with 30 home runs, 44 stolen bases and a .283/.360/.503 slash (137 OPS+)) over 158 games for the Guardians), the race is between Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge. At one point odds were dead even, but as the announcement inches closer the Vegas Insider shows Judge at -325 and Raleigh at +310.
Even if Judge wins the award, Raleigh had the more talked about season. Breaking out with 60 home runs and a league-leading 125 runs batted in. His card value reflected it. His 2019 Bowman Chrome 1st autographed card, graded PSA GEM MT 10 last sold for $9,151.22 on October 2, 2025. A far cry from $1,200 on January 8, 2025, according to Card Ladder.
If he does win MVP, you'll have to wait until Topps Chrome Update to collect his cards for the MVP Buyback program, he was not included in the 2025 Chrome.
National League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year
Drake Baldwin, C (Braves), Caleb Durbin, 3B (Brewers), Cade Horton, P (Cubs)
This year's finalist for National League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year include three players from all facets of the field. A third baseman, a pitcher and a catcher. The odds say Horton will win, and with the season it's hard not to take that bet. He went 11-4 with a sub 3.0 earned run average with 97 strikeouts on a Cubs team that made the playoffs for the first time since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Fanatics unveiled a new program for rookies, similar to the MVP Buyback, called the Bowman Red Rookie Redemptions, where red rookie logoed Bowman cards have an initial Fanatics Cash value of $100, and more if you hold the card and they continue to win awards.
American League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year
Roman Anthony, OF (Red Sox), Nick Kurtz, 1B (Athletics), Jacob Wilson, SS (Athletics)
Roman Anthony had a great rookie season, but the race really comes down to Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson, with Kurtz having the edge after a short stint on the injured list for Wilson. Kurtz had a great season that was capped by a six-hit, four home run game on July 25, 2025. In just 117 games Kurtz hit 36 home runs.
Since he's been a favorite for the rookie award for some weeks, these Bowman Red Rookie Redemption program eligible cards have been going from anywhere between $50 and $70, according to eBay sold listings.
National League Cy Young
Cristopher Sanchez (Phillies), Paul Skenes (Pirates), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers)
This has been Paul Skenes' award to lose for quite sometime, and it never really got that interesting. After finishing his rookie campaign with an All-star game start and the rookie of the year last year, Skenes has pitched to a sub 2.0 earned run average, the first to do that since Justin Verlander in 2022.
One of Skenes' top cards includes his Bowman Draft Chrome Autographed orange refractor, graded a PSA 10. Last sale of this, according to Card Ladder, was February 24, 2025 when it went for $19,500.
American League Cy Young
Hunter Brown (Astros), Garrett Crochet (Red Sox), Tarik Skubal (Tigers)
Tarik Skubal of the Tigers is about to win his second consecutive Cy Young award. After some mediocre performances to start his career, he burst onto the stardom scene last season and hasn't shied from the limelight. His statistics across the board improved, and he brought his Tigers back to the playoffs.
Skubal's cards have done nothing but climb the past two years. His base rookie autographed, graded PSA 10 from 2021 Topps Finest went for $350, according to eBay sold listings on November 3, 2025.
After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2008, Cole worked as an advertising copywriter until shifting to print journalism a few years later. Managing three weekly newspapers in the Dakotas, Cole won numerous awards from the North Dakota Newspaper Association including Best of the Dakotas and, their top award, General Excellence. He returned to collecting in 2021 and has since combined his passion for writing with his love of cards. Cole also writes for the Sports Cards Nonsense newsletter and has made guest appearances on multiple sports card collecting podcasts including Sports Cards Nonsense, and the Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast. IG: coleryan411 X: @colebenz