Leading NL & AL MVP Candidates

We are not quite at the half way point of the 2009 MLB season. As th All-Star break creeps ever nearer, one can't help but begin to wonder come October, who will be named the MVP of each league.

As this picture suggests, last season's NL MVP is amongst our candidates for this season. That being said, let us begin with the National League.

The Machine

You guessed it, last seaon's NL MVP is indeed the leading candidate for the MVP this season. Phat Albert is batting .332, with 30 HRs 77 RBI, and has scored 61 times.

Prince Albert's greatness doesn't end here, he sports a .743 slugging percentage, a .453 OPB, and a 1.197 OPS. Also Albert is on track to still 19 bases, a nice added bonus to his ability at the plate. If numbers like these do not earn Albert the top spot thus far, I don't know what does.

Raul Ibanez

With Albert's stellar figures, the more interesting topic is who would be the runner up to Albert in the MVP race, and between now and October anything can happen, but the current runner up is Raul.

At this point in the season, Raul Ibanez has belted 22 HRs, while maintaining a .312 batting average, he has driven in 59 runs, while scoring 51 himself and a most impressive feat of a 1.027 OPS.

Third Place Goes to: Prince Fielder

Prince comes in just shy of beating out Ibanez for the runner up spot. He has hit 20 HRs and driven in 74 runs while posting a batting average of .307. What sank Fielder's candidacy for MVP was his grotesque number of strikeouts, with 65 so far.

AL Candidates

The AL Candidates are Justin Morneau, Mark Teixeira, and Alex Rodriguez (yes that is correct).

The Most Unlikely of Candidate

For those of you who are still reading and haven't navigated away from this article, I ask that you hear me out on this one.

Yes, A-Rod took steroids, yes, he claims it was for just three years, even though accounts put it at considerably more. However, all of this aside, this is called the AL MVP.

MVP, for those of you who don't know stands for Most Valuable Player, and no amount of stats can accurately measure a players value to his team. To support this I provide you with this information since the return of A-Rod the Yankees have went 31-17 as opposed to 13-15 with out him.

He may only have 12 longballs, just 39 runs batted in and be hitting .233 but he provides the Yanks with a spark, and without him they just aren't the Yankees.

Another Yankee

Big Tex has been the source of many runs for the Yankees. He has driven in 60 and scored 50. Tex's big bat has also accounted for 20 Hrs. The only blemish is a .275 batting average. However, with the return of A-ROD, Tex has caught fire and provided the necessary power to propel the Yanks within 2.5 games of the Red Sox.

The Frontrunner

With Tex and A-Rod both playing for the Yankees, it is hard to conclusively say who is more valuable to the team. This leaves the MVP award for Jusin Morneau, who won the award previously in 2006.

Thus far this season, Morneau has carried the load for the Twins who were missing Joe Mauer for much of the first half of this season. Morneau has hit19 longballs, 64 RBI and maintained a .313 average. He is consistent, he is solid, and he is the most valuable player on his team.