Friday November 16th, 2012
Bernie Olshansky: The final awards have been announced. Both races could have gone either way, with deserving candidates in each league. In the end, each winner won by a large margin (Cabrera 362-281 and Posey 422-285). There really were not any surprises in this year of MVP voting. Here’s my analysis for each league.
American League: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
There was some debate over which player should win this award between Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout. It’s a shame that these two are in the same league. Cabrera won the Triple Crown—something that has not been done since 1967. How could he not win? Mike Trout had the best season by a 20-year-old in baseball history. But, there remained one question: which player was more valuable to his team? Both the Los Angeles Angels and the Detroit Tigers were stacked to start the season. The Angels signed C.J. Wilson Albert Pujols in the offseason (a strong candidate for MVP at the beginning of the year), and the Tigers signed Prince Fielder. Each team was destined for the playoffs. One other thing: Mike Trout started this season in Triple-A. Not even in the majors. Trout missed a month and played in only 139 games, yet he hit .326 with 30 home runs, 83 RBI, and 49 stolen bases. If he played an extra 20 games, he would have given Cabrera a run for his money in the average category. There’s no doubt that Trout will eventually win one, maybe multiple MVPs. But enough about Trout. Miguel Cabrera helped lead his team all the way to the World Series, having an unbelievable season. Cabrera hit .330 with 44 home runs and 139 RBI. For me, the RBI are the most outstanding number. Cabrera was hitting in front of Prince Fielder, so he could not rely on Fielder getting on base all the time. Cabrera was most impressive with two out RISP, hitting .420. This is what makes him so valuable. Cabrera was also very versatile; willing to move to third base at the beginning of the season after the Tigers signed Fielder—who would take first base. Although there were two very good candidates, the award went to the most deserving.
National League: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
Just like in the American League, the National League MVP came down to two candidates: Buster Posey and Ryan Braun. Although I said I thought Braun would win in an earlier feature, I think Posey was the favorite. If team contention factors into the voting, Braun is eliminated pretty quickly with the Brewers finishing third in the NL Central. But, take team contention out and this race is close. Braun, the 2011 MVP, hit .319 with 41 home runs and 112 RBI. Posey hit .336 with 24 home runs and 103 RBI. Production-wise, Braun was better than Posey. But in my mind, Posey won the MVP in the second half. He hit .385 and was the main reason that the Giants blew the Dodgers out of the water en route to the playoffs and eventually the World Series. As a Giants fan, this was fun to see. What made it even more special was the fact that Posey successfully recovered from his horrific injury sustained from a collision at the plate in 2011 with then Florida Marlins’ Scott Cousins. Posey was the main reason that the Giants returned to the playoffs and won their second World Series title in three years. In 2010 when the Giants won their first World Series since moving to San Francisco, Posey was named Rookie of the Year. It’s only fitting that he follows up this World Series with an MVP. I’m sure that this MVP will be one of many more to come. #MVPosey.
(*The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com*)
***Today’s feature was prepared by Bernie Olshansky, Baseball Writer & Facebook Administrator. We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers. You can also follow Bernie on Twitter (@BernieOlshansky)***
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