Louis Varland Is the AL Reliever of the Year

On Wednesday night, the Baseball Writers' Association of America revealed the recipients of their very first Reliever of the Year Awards. Mason Miller of the Padres claimed the prize in the National League, while the Blue Jays' own Louis Varland was the American League winner. 

Varland narrowly beat Cade Smith of the Guardians, with 146 vote points to Smith's 133. Funnily enough, Smith was named on more ballots (he was the only pitcher named on all 30), but Varland received 16 first-place votes to Smith's seven. In total, Varland was named on 27 ballots, with four second-place votes, five third-place votes, one fourth-place vote, and one fifth-place vote. 

To call this honour well-deserved would be an understatement. Varland pitched to a 1.27 ERA and 3.1 fWAR in 78 innings. He saved 35 games in 37 chances, and he added five holds before he secured the full-time closer's role. The 28-year-old was dominant in every way, slicing up lefties and righties alike and prevailing in even the highest-leverage spots. He racked up strikeouts, prevented hard contact, and generated groundballs at equally impressive rates. It was hard to believe he was closing for the first time in his career.

Smith gave Varland a run for his money, leading AL relievers in saves, strikeouts, and Win Probability Added. Yet, Varland's ERA was two-thirds of a run lower, and he outperformed Smith in both fWAR and bWAR. Bryan Baker of the Rays, who finished third, also put up a heck of a fight. He tied Smith for the lead in saves and finished close to Varland in ERA. However, he threw significantly fewer innings than Varland or Smith, and his underlying metrics weren't as dominant. Nonetheless, he did beat both of them out for the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year (an older, separate award for relief pitchers).

Astros closer Josh Hader was the fourth and final pitcher to receive a first-place vote from the BBWAA. The six-time All-Star produced a remarkable 1.01 ERA in 2026, but he only threw 44.2 innings – 33.1 fewer than Varland.

Further down the ballot, Blue Jays setup man Tyler Rogers received a fourth-place vote, while rookie Spencer Miles garnered a couple of fifth-place votes. It was a pleasant surprise to see both of them rewarded for their excellent seasons. Rogers pitched to a 1.77 ERA with 33 holds in 74 games. Miles thrived in just about every role possible, putting up a 2.73 ERA in 95.2 innings of work. 

In other awards news from last night, Dylan Cease was announced as the runner-up for the AL Cy Young. Unsurprisingly, the Yankees' Cam Schlittler was the unanimous choice. Cease finished in second (for the second time in his career), earning 22 second-place votes, six third-place votes, and two fourth-place votes. He is the fourth pitcher in Blue Jays history to finish as a Cy Young runner-up.

Varland and Cease were also named to the All-MLB First Team. 

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