Iwakuma, Ackley, Ibanez up for GIBBYs

Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The 2014 MLB Winter Meetings begin in just over a week. And while Mariners fans are hoping – some even praying – that the team finally breaks their offseason silence and makes some moves, one thing they can look forward to is the GIBBY awards.

The GIBBYs – Greatness In Base Ball Yearly – according to MLB.com is the ultimate honors of the industry’s awards season, based on votes by media, front-office personnel, MLB alumni, fans at MLB.com and the Society for American Baseball Research.

This year, of the 22 categories the Mariners have nominees in four.

Hisashi Iwakuma is up for Starting Pitcher of the Year. ‘Kuma is nominated along with Madison Bumgarner, Bartolo Colon, Yu Darvish, Jose Fernandez, Matt Harvey, Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee, Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer, Adam Wainwright and Jordan Zimmerman.

Iwakuma is also nominated for Breakout Pitcher of the Year. Also nominated are Andrew Cashner, Patrick Corbin, Matt Harvey, Mike Minor, Chris Tillman, Travis Wood and Koji Uehara.

Dustin Ackley is nominated for the Must C Play of the Year for his catch August 30 in Houston. (Not the one pictured above, but it should’ve been)

Raul Ibanez is nominated for the Must C Moment of the Year when he tied Ted Williams for the most homers in a season by a 40-year old or older player. (Kind of odd that it’s not the one when he broke it)

You can view all of the nominees, including the highlight videos as well as vote for your favorites at MLB.com.

The winners are announced during the Winter Meetings, but voting closes Monday Dec. 2.