Sal Stewart named 2026 Players Choice Awards NL Outstanding Rookie
· Yahoo Sports
The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) is going to be front and center in the news all offseason given the December 1st expiration date of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between it and Major League Baseball itself. The MLBPA, repping the players themselves, is a labor union that wields a lot of power in brokering the future of the game on behalf of those that get on the field and play it, but there’s a whole lot more to it than just signing documents.
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It’s a participatory organization. The players from all 30 franchises – both major and minor league – are a very, very active part of said group. Part of that includes putting their voices together to determine their Players Choice Awards at the end of every regular season, something they’ve done every year since 1992.
They announced their award winners on Wednesday morning, and Cincinnati Reds rookie Sal Stewart was tabbed the ‘Outstanding Rookie’ for the National League on the back of his 32 homer, 111 RBI breakout campaign in 2026.
Since 1992, the Players Choice Awards have celebrated excellence across Major League Baseball, recognizing performance, leadership, perseverance, and impact on and off the field. The awards are especially meaningful to players, because they’re determined through a vote of their… pic.twitter.com/J3PjBkP9AP
— MLBPA (@MLBPA) October 28, 2026
It’s the second significant RoY award taken home by Sal, who was also named the 2026 Sporting News National League Rookie of the Year last week. This one, though, holds a little bit more prestige and personality given that it was voted on by the players themselves. Nothing like being celebrated by a jury of one’s peers!
This award, though, doesn’t come with any tangible compensation. That’s reserved for the BBWAA Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award, and that will be announced on November 9th. Keep in mind that if Sal takes home that one, the Reds will be comped with an extra draft pick at the end of the 1st round in next summer’s draft (as well as the overall draft bonus pool bonus money bump that comes with it).
Either way, congrats to Sal who is stacking up a pretty impressive amount of hardware after his first full season in the big leagues.