The This Year in Baseball Awards, now called the "Esurance MLB Awards", were initiated by Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2002.
[1] They are honors given annually to the most extraordinary baseball performances, players, managers, and executives, as voted on by fans, media, team front-office personnel, former players, and the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
Several new awards were added, including some that are based on social media.
[3][2][4][5] Each winner is selected by a vote of fans, MLB alumni, each team's front-office personnel, members of the media,[6] and SABR.
[2] Fans cast their votes via the online-voting system on MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball.
[8] In 2012, two new categories were added: MLB MVP and Storyline of the Year.
[10] In 2014, the name of every award—except two (Most Valuable Major Leaguer and Postseason MVP)—was changed from "of the Year" to "Best," as in "Best Rookie.
[3] Eight categories were added: Social Media Personality, Social Media Post, Celebrity Fan, MLB Interview, Call (TV), Call (Radio), Video Board Moment, and Trending Topic.
[3] In 2016, five categories were dropped: Breakout Player, Bounceback Player, Celebrity Fan, MLB Interview, and Video Board Moment.