Renteria, Ross, Abreu, Darvish, Robert finalists for awards

Collectively, the White Sox and Cubs had disappointing ends to fairly successful seasons.

The Sox were the first team in the American League to clinch a playoff spot, but they went 2-8 the rest of the way and lost to the Athletics in the first round.

The collapse cost Rick Renteria his job, opening the unlikely door for Tony La Russa to return as White Sox manager 34 years after he was fired.

The Cubs roared out to a 13-3 start under rookie manager David Ross and finished first in the AL Central.

Much like seasons past, however, the offense disappeared late in the year, and the Cubs also made an early exit in the playoffs.

Individually, some Sox and Cubs are still in the game - at least most of them.

Finalists were announced Monday night for baseball's major award categories, and Renteria and Ross made the Top 3 for Manager of the Year honors as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Even though he was fired after the season, Renteria guided the White Sox (35-25) to their first winning record since 2012 and their first playoff appearance since 2008. He joins the Rays' Kevin Cash and the Blue Jays' Charlie Montoyo as finalists for the award.

Ross led the Cubs to a 34-26 record and had his team in first place for all but one day of the season.

He joins the Marlins' Don Mattingly and Padres' Jayce Tingler as finalists for NL Manager of the Year.

Jose Abreu is a finalist for AL MVP honors, and the Sox's first baseman is well positioned to claim the award after leading the major leagues with 60 RBI and ranking second with 19 home runs.

Abreu, who also finished third in baseball with 76 hits, is in the Top 3 with the Yankees' DJ LeMahieu and the Indians' Jose Ramirez.

The Cubs' Yu Darvish is in the Top 3 for NL Cy Young Award consideration with the Reds' Trevor Bauer and the Mets' Jacob deGrom.

Darvish led the league with 8 wins, was second with a 2.01 ERA and fourth with 93 strikeouts.

White Sox center fielder Luis Robert is a finalist for AL Rookie of the Year honors, along with the Mariners' Kyle Lewis and Astros' Cristian Javier.

Getting off to a hot start that merited early MVP consideration, Robert disappeared in September and finished his debut season with a .233/.302/.436 hitting line to go with 11 homers and 31 RBI.

Award winners will be announced next week, starting with AL and NL Rookies of the Year on Monday.