I usually don’t put too much emphasis on postseason awards in professional sports.

Especially Major League Baseball, where pitchers get far too much credit for the amount of wins they pile up and Most Valuable Player Awards are given to the dudes with the best stats, not to those who really were most valuable.

What good are these awards, really?

This year’s round of MLB awards are intriguing because the voters may actually blow the lid off popular conventions.

Here are my picks for these awards and the reasons behind their unorthodox nature.

American League MVP

Who will win: Miguel Cabrera. Who should win: Mike Trout.

Whoa! What? Huh?

A month ago, I thought it would have been preposterous for a Triple Crown winner like Cabrera to miss out on an MVP award, but upon further review, it isn’t all that zany.

Sure, Cabrera led the league in batting average, home runs and RBIs. But Trout arguably meant more to the Angels than Cabrera meant to the Tigers with his base stealing and defensive skill in the outfield, as well as his fantastic offensive numbers.

Isn’t that what most valuable means?

AL Cy Young

Who will win: David Price. Who should win: Justin Verlander.

Both had exceptional years, but Price “won” 20 games while Verlander “only” had 17. Usually, that’s enough to sway voters to Price.

Verlander, though, was just as dominant as he was in 2011 when he won the Cy Young and the MVP.

National League MVP

Who will win: Buster Posey. Who should win: Andrew McCutchen.

Who was really the most valuable? McCutchen was, hands down.

When he was on fire during the dog days of the summer, the Pirates were threatening to win the division. When he cooled off, the Bucs tanked.

McCutchen means more to the Pirates than any player means to his team in baseball.

NL Cy Young

Who will win: R.A. Dickey. Who should win: Craig Kimbrel.

Sadly, Kimbrel, the Atlanta Braves’ closer, isn’t even a finalist for the award, but the right-hander had perhaps the most dominating pitching season ever.

Kimbrel struck out 116 of the 231 batters he faced and walked only 14. Opposing batters hit .186 and slugged .172 against him. He gave up only 27 hits all season. His WHIP was 0.65.

But he was never going to get honest consideration for the award.

Too much weight is given to starting pitchers for the Cy Young. In this day and age, closers have more far-reaching impact on the success (or failures) of a team.

It’s time to rethink who is truly deserving of these postseason awards.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.