BBWAA to announce MVP, Cy Young, ROY finalists

And the finalists are ...

The baseball world will know how that teaser ends for each of the four Baseball Writers' Association of America awards tonight, when the finalists for those prestigious annual honors are announced during a one-hour special at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network.

For the fourth year, the BBWAA Award Finalists Show will let everyone in on the final three candidates for the Most Valuable Player Award, the Cy Young Award, the Rookie of the Year Award and the Manager of the Year Award for each league. The awards will roll out next week, so there will be plenty of time for discussion and speculation once the finalists are revealed.

The awards are determined by balloting from two BBWAA members per each league city, submitted prior to postseason play. Those who win them forever have their names on the list of the very best in Major League history.

Last year, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw pulled off a rare double by taking both the National League MVP Award and the NL Cy Young Award -- just the 11th player to do it. When the finalists for both leagues are announced tonight, we'll know whether an MVP-Cy Young double is still in play for 2015. It will be if the short list of MVP candidates includes a pitcher such as the Cubs' Jake Arrieta, the Dodgers' Zack Greinke or Kershaw in the NL, or the Astros' Dallas Keuchel in the AL. But with a number of strong position-player MVP candidates in both leagues, that double could be tough this year -- and any pitcher cracking the top three isn't a certainty.

Narrowing the field to three finalists will bring some clarity as to which of the impressive crop of 2015 rookies will walk away with the hardware this year, and it'll provide a sharper picture of which managers made their mark the most this year.

It'll all be on the table come tonight. All but three of the candidates for each of the awards will be eliminated, and those fortunate trios will be elevated to the proverbial podium, waiting to see which one wins the big prize.

Next week, it'll be down to handing out the awards. The schedule for those announcements, all on MLB Network:

Rookie of the Year Awards
Monday, Nov. 16, 6 p.m. ET

Manager of the Year Awards
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 6 p.m. ET

Cy Young Awards
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 6 p.m. ET

Most Valuable Player Awards
Thursday, Nov. 19, 6 p.m. ET