AL MVP: Hamilton, Cano, Cabrera, Bautista

[JamStone]

Hamilton
.361 BA, .414 OBP, .635 SLG, 1.049 OPS
31 HR, 97 RBI
95 K, 43 BB, 183 H, 94 R
507 ABs

Cano
.317 BA, .378 OBP, .533 SLG, .911 OPS
28 HR, 104 RBI
74 K, 55 BB, 190 H, 100 R
599 ABs

Cabrera
.328 BA, .419 OBP, .624 SLG, 1.043 OPS
38 HR, 126 RBI
94 HR, 88 RBI, 179 H, 111 R
545 ABs

Bautista
.265 BA, .385 OBP, .628 SLG, 1.013 OPS
52 HR, 118 RBI
109 K, 98 BB, 143 H, 106 R
540 ABs


Pretty good race for AL MVP. I think Hamilton would have been the concensus pick (and still might be) if he hadn't gotten injured. His numbers, especially considering the time he's missed, are simply ridiculous. The one thing for me that would probably give me pause on Hamilton is that the Texas Rangers are 16-8 with him out of the line-up. Their winning percentage is .667 without Hamilton and .538 with him in the line-up. As great as a season as Hamilton has had, I think the Rangers have really benefited from their pitching more than anything.

Cano was on a furious pace the first few weeks of the season and then tapered off. He's really been their best player offensively with Jeter struggling for his standards and with Teixeira and A-Rod not putting up numbers they're used to putting up. But how much worse would the Yankees be without Cano? Hard to say.

Bautista and Cabrera are on non-playoff contending teams. Bautista's year is amazing but he'd have the lowest batting average (I believe ever) to win a league MVP. He also benefits from the stadium he hits in. 33 HRs at home compared to 19 on the road in almost 50 fewer official ABs. There are 4 other Blue Jays players that have hit over 20 HRs. Hitting over 50 HRs is still nothing short of impressive because even in a homerun friendly ballpark, no one else has been able to do it. Cabrera has been pretty special and for half the season after Ordonez went down and Boesch hit his rookie slump, Cabrera has been the only threat in the line-up on a lot of nights, as evident from his Pujols-like 31 intentional walks this season. In the second half of the season, teams were intentionally walking him with 1st base already occupied and/or to load the bases. He definitely hasn't had the protection around him in the line-up guys like Cano and Hamilton have had. And he hasn't had a lot to hit the last couple months and his production has shown that. Even with that, he's leading the league in RBI and runs scored.

Tough race. If Hamilton didn't go down, I think he'd be a shoe-in. I think Robinson Cano has the slight edge right now. And of course, my homer bias would love to see Miggy get it.

[Spursfan092120]

Hamilton, IMO...

[monosylab1k]

Nobody that injury prone deserves MVP talk.

[Spursfan092120]

Those numbers can't be denied, mono...and less at bats than all of them.

[JamStone]

The numbers can be denied if we're just talking "numbers."

Batting average he has, no doubt. But you can't just assume he stays on that pace with HRs and RBIs. At the ASB Cabrera was on pace for 45 HR and 150 RBI and hitting .340+ but because of the injuries to other players, he hasn't gotten a chance to hit as much.

Then you have to consider the protection he has around him with Vlad, Young, Cruz. He has protection. A guy like Cabrera had good protection in the first half with Ordonez and Boesch. But Ordonez got hurt and Boesch fell of a cliff. The next best hitters behind him to protect him were Brandon Inge and Jhonny Peralta after he got picked up. Not the same.

And I can't stress enough, if guys like Cabrera and Bautista aren't legitimate MVP candidates because they aren't on playoff teams, then you have to factor in that the Rangers are 16-8 without Hamilton in the line-up. They play even better without him than with him. If it's about that "value" a player brings, and it has to accompany winning and making the playoffs, then you have to look at that.

That's why I lean towards Robinson Cano.

[BUMP]

Nobody that injury prone deserves MVP talk.

b1k, with the goods. As much as I love Hamilton, he does us no good when he's on the bench, and he's struggled with injuries pretty much every season since he was drafted. His stock will never be higher than it is now, and the Rangers will be foolish to not listen to any trade proposals for him

[sribb43]

Im going to go with Cano, Hambone loses out due to missing almost a month of the season. He also missed the most important month of the season, septemeber, in which his team was trying to close out the divison. Rangers were still able to win the divison without him and do it pretty convincingly.

[Jacob1983]

Hamilton deserves it but he won't win it. Cano plays for the Yankees and that will give him the edge over Hamilton.

[monosylab1k]

Kinsler was the MVP of the Rangers tbh. When he plays well (or plays at all), the team plays well too. Unfortunately he's another injury prone cuck.

The Rangers have to do something about it too. They can't give big contracts to Kins, Hamilton, or Cruz when those guys get hurt as much as they do.

[JamStone]

Im going to go with Cano, Hambone loses out due to missing almost a month of the season. He also missed the most important month of the season, septemeber, in which his team was trying to close out the divison. Rangers were still able to win the divison without him and do it pretty convincingly.

This is part of what is a little inconsistent about the MVP award. It's not taboo to vote a pitcher from a non-playoff team for the Cy Young award. In recent years, that's often been the case with pitchers like Greinke, Halladay, Lincecum, Cliff Lee, Jake Peavy. This year, there's a very good chance it will be Felix Hernandez from a basement dwelling Mariners team.

So why is it much more taboo for voters to select an everyday position player from a non-playoff team for MVP? Baseball, probably even more so than football, depends so little on any one individual player. You can at least make a case for a QB or RB in football. One guy in a line-up of 9 hitters or 1 pitcher that pitches once every 5 games, it's much more difficult to make the argument for. If a player on a playoff team has the stats that blow everyone else's out of the water, that's fine. But if the stats are close among a few players, I don't think the player's team being in the playoffs needs to be a determining factor, at least not any more than taking into consideration other factors like what kind of protection each candidate has in the line-up and how they perform in the clutch.

I actually wouldn't have a problem if Hamilton won it. I just think it's a crock that most voters won't even consider guys like Cabrera or Bautista because their "teams" aren't going to the playoffs. As I mentioned earlier, the Rangers actually have played a lot better with Hamilton out of the line-up. So as impressive as his numbers are, it's not like he's the only or even main reason the Rangers are going to the playoffs.

Of course I'm biased here because I want Miggy to get more consideration, but I just think there's an unnecessary and unfair standard for MVP voting.

[Steve Kerr]

I agree w/ Jamstone here, Cabrera has IMO the best numbers and should win it. No matter what, the most impact a player can have is 1 out of every 9 at bats and field whatever is hit to him. It's not like basketball where one player is taking every big shot or football where the QB makes every big decision. Baseball's MVP should be strictly numbers based.

[DBryant88]

Bautista

[resistanze]

Bautista is a beast. Grand slam in the 7th and a opposite field solo in the 9th. Too bad he doesn't hit for average.

[Horry For 3!]

I am going with Miguel Cabrera to win it.

[JamStone]

I think it's an unbelievably close race. And it's not just a 2 man race. There are four legitimate guys, and any of the four would not surprise me at all. Bautista might be the longest shot, but no one is even within an ear shot distance to his HR total. I do think it probably comes down to either Hamilton or Cabrera. My hometown bias says Cabrera. Realistically, I think it's Hamilton.

As a side, as shitty a season as A-Rod has had, he still put up 30 HRs and 125 RBIs in a season where he missed 25 games and probably should have had another 100 plate appearances. Yes, his BA and OBP are down quite a bit. But his HR and RBI numbers still makes him one of the more dangerous hitters in the league. A lot of people hate A-Rod for varying reasons, but I find that incredible considering how "subpar" a year he was supposed to be having.