It's time to cast award votes.

• Position: Sports

Balloting for the four Baseball Writers Association of America Awards must be done before the first game of the postseason, so there is about a week left for voters to make their decisions.

This year, this correspondent is not voting, having stepped down as chairman of the Boston Chapter of the BBWAA. That means I won't have a chance to vote for Mike Trout as American League Most Valuable Player, which I would have if I had a ballot, and did not last year.

Although Trout's average is down from last year, he is such an offensive force and such a defensive stalwart at such a key position that he is arguably the best player in baseball. He was last year, too, but since the Angels were lousy, he wasn't valuable.

The Angels are good this year. That makes Trout valuable and he is the likely winner of the American League MVP Award.

Victor Martinez of Detroit will get some consideration, but there may be some Tigers fatigue among voters considering that the last three MVPs have been from Detroit. Josh Donaldson may be hurt by the A's late-season skid. Miguel Cabrera won't win it again but should get some lower-tier votes. The Indians' Michael Brantley will get a vote or two and so will Robinson Cano of the Mariners.

The National League presents an interesting dilemma since only six of its 15 teams are above .500. That means a player can be on a mediocre, or lousy team, and still be with a contender, so have some value.

Clayton Kershaw might win in the National League MVP and if he's a candidate, how about Adam Wainwright? This voter figures that starting pitchers don't appear in enough games to be as valuable as a good position player, and relievers are JV pitchers anyway, so let's look at regular position players.

It's a slim crop, considering that the Giancarlo Stantons of the NL are on lousy teams. Andrew McCutchen could repeat for the Pirates and -- yikes! -- Adrian Gonzalez has to be in the running from the Dodgers. Both the Giants' Buster Posey and Milwaukee's Jonathan Lucroy are fine offensive players at critical defensive positions, and Lucroy has the edge in the Wins Above Replacement stat.

McCutchen is not the player he was three years ago, but he's the heart and soul of the Pirates. Gonzalez, Sox fans recall, has no heart or soul, so this theoretical ballot would have McCutchen on top.

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