Verlander Wins AL MVP

From the NY Post:

Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson did not win AL MVP, but a former teammate did.

Tigers ace Justin Verlander won the award on Monday and became the first pitcher to earn the honor since Oakland's Dennis Eckersley won in 1992 and the first starter since Boston's Roger Clemens in 1986.

Granderson, whom the Yankees acquired from Detroit after the 2009 season, finished fourth in the voting...

...Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was second with 242, Bautista third with 231, Granderson followed with 215, and Verlander's Tigers teammate Miguel Cabrera came in fifth with 193 points.

With a 24-5 record and 2.40 ERA you're not going to find any complaints about this award, even if he already won the Cy Young.

Kimbrel, Hellickson Take Home ROY Awards

From Joey Nowak:

Braves closer Craig Kimbrel and Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson received high honors for their outstanding first full seasons in the Major Leagues on Monday, as they were named the winners of this year's Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Awards.

Kimbrel, 23, won the National League's award and was the seventh member of the Braves -- and fifth in the Atlanta era -- to do so. Hellickson joined teammate Evan Longoria to become the second player in Tampa Bay team history to be recognized as the American League's top rookie.

Kimbrel, who set a Major League record for saves by a rookie with 46, was the favorite for the award. His saves total led the NL, and he finished with a 2.10 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 77 innings for Atlanta, which just nearly missed out on the playoffs after a late-season slide.

Hellickson, 24, was a workhorse in a young Tampa Bay rotation that helped fuel the Rays to a late-season surge and into the playoffs via the AL Wild Card. He was 13-10 with a 2.95 ERA, ranking eighth in the league in ERA and striking out 117 hitters in 189 innings.

Ivan Nova finished 4th in the AL voting, picking up just one first place vote. Voting results can be found here.

AL MVP Race

David Shoenfield at ESPN (watch out, he slightly favors the Red Sox) went into discussion today about the AL MVP race. It's actually a pretty interesting read. How should it be assessed, who should get it, stuff like that. Should it go to the guy with the best numbers or the actual name of the award, the most valuable player? If it were the best numbers, then it would back up A-Rod's MVP award in 2003, but not Dustin Pedroia's in 2008. The most valuable player can easily be linked to WAR, and the American League leaders in WAR are:

1. Jose Bautista, TOR: 6.9 WAR
2. Dustin Pedroia, BOS: 6.8 WAR
3. CC Sabathia, NYY: 5.9 WAR
4. Ben Zobrist, TB: 5.7 WAR
5. Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS: 5.7 WAR
6. Justin Verlander, DET: 5.5 WAR
7. Adrian Gonzalez, BOS: 5.3 WAR
8. Jered Weaver, LAA: 5.1 WAR
9. Curtis Granderson, NYY: 4.9 WAR
10. Dan Haren, LAA: 4.8 WAR

So, there it is, Jose Bautista, this year's AL MVP.
Of course, the discussion cannot end at that. You have to take into account how the player's team is faring and the storyline behind the player (Shoenfield mentions Ichiro in 2001, I immediately think Josh Hamilton last year). These qualifications all but take Zobrist and Haren out of the conversation. Zobrist, playing for the Rays who are out of it in every respect, and Haren because he's not even the best pitcher on his own staff.

Traditional baseball numbers have to take effect too, like Gonzalez's 90 RBIs, or Grandy's 28 HR and 84 RBIs. WAR also takes into account fielding, a point that which extremely helps Pedroia and Ellsbury, but hinders Granderson and Bautista greatly. Pitchers have been avoided in MVP discussions lately, but I feel when you have stats like these pitchers do this year, they should be included, no doubt.

It comes down to how you want to look at everything, and how much you weigh different points of each player's stats. Here's my AL MVP race standings right now, and of course two months could change this a lot.

1. Jose Bautista (TOR): .322/.459/.658, 32 HR, 72 RBI.
2. Adrian Gonzalez (BOS): .357/.418/.568, 18 HR, 90 RBI.
3. Justin Verlander (DET): 2.24 ERA, 15-5, 178 K.
4. CC Sabathia (NYY): 2.55 ERA, 16-5, 162 K.
5 (tie).
Jered Weaver (LAA): 1.88 ERA, 14-5, 142 K.
Curtis Granderson (NYY): .278/.367/.576, 28 HR, 84 RBI.

I take Pedroia out of this despite his high WAR, because of the amount his fielding aids him in that respect, and the same for Ellsbury. Gonzalez is at #2 mainly because it is his first season in Beantown, and he is honestly just putting up insane numbers all over the board. Verlander has single-handedly carried the Tigers (Miguel Cabrera as well, you could say), and CC has been the only reliable starter the Yankees have had all year. Jered Weaver is putting up dead-ball era numbers, and Curtis Granderson is the only Yankee hitter to show any consistency all season.

Well ther'ya go, I'd love to hear what you have to say.