First Trimester Team MVPs: American League

Like in the NL, the signs of a topsy-turvy season are in place in the American League. Perennial bottom-feeders Tampa Bay have the best record in the league, while preseason favorites Cleveland, Detroit, and the Yankees have struggled.

Not only are the team performances surprising, but the individual ones are as well: The AL league leader list contains few All-Stars from the past decade.

Who are these former no-names who are suddenly leading their teams to success? Below, I have named the first trimester MVP for every team in the American League.

Tampa Bay Rays: B.J. Upton, OF.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Rays’ meteoric rise to the top of the AL is that no Tampa player is exceeding expectations by that much. Most members of the team are simply playing a little bit better than they have in the past.

Upton, the leader of Tampa’s stable of young hitters, is no exception to this rule. He leads the team in batting average, RBIs, runs, and stolen bases. He is hitting for much less power than he did last season, but has found his role as a run scorer in front of Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria.

Runners up: 3B Evan Longoria, SP James Shields

Boston Red Sox: Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP.

The Red Sox offense has also been a collective effort so far this year. Every batter—not every start, every batter—on the team his hitting over .250, and low man David Ortiz (.251) leads the team in RBIs.

It has been a slightly different story on the mound, where Daisuke has helped bring stability to the rotation in the wake of injuries to Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, and Clay Buchholz. He has had control problems, with a BB/9 ratio of greater than 0.5, but quite frankly that is his problem and so far he has solved it to the tune of a 2.53 ERA and an AL-best eight wins. It will be interesting to see how the Sawx fare during his DL stint.

Runners up: RP Hideki Okajima, 1B Kevin Youkilis

Los Angeles Angels: Casey Kotchman, 1B.

With superstar Vladimir Guerrero struggling, the Angels needed someone to emerge as an offensive leader, and Kotchman has quietly done so.

His 60 hits, .314 batting average, and 30 RBIs are all best on the team. He is not the same power bat as Vlad, but his .835 OPS is best on the team as well right now, and he is helping the Angel offense score just enough runs to keep winning until Vlad gets it going again.

Runners up: SP Joe Saunders, SP Ervin Santana

Chicago White Sox: Carlos Quentin, OF.

This was a pretty easy call. The White Sox have been led by their pitching so far, with almost every starter contributing to the team’s success. The offense, on the other hand, has essentially been a one-man show.

Quentin leads the White Sox in batting average, home runs, runs, and RBIs. His 48 RBIs are 19 more than his closest teammate, and are second best in the AL behind Josh Hamilton. He is also tied with Hamilton for the league lead with 14 home runs. Without Quentin, the Sox’ spectacular pitching would be all for naught.

Runners up: SP Jose Contreras, RP Bobby Jenks

Toronto Blue Jays: Shaun Marcum, SP.

This team’s recent success has been, in a word, strange. Nobody on the Jays has been hitting consistently. Matt Stairs leads Toronto with 6 home runs. Vernon Wells, who has been out for the past three weeks with an injury, leads the team with 24 RBIs.

So the MVP must be a pitcher, and there are several candidates to choose from. But Marcum leads all Toronto starters in ERA (2.63) and WHIP (0.87), and his success was less expected than that of Roy Halladay.

Runners up: SP Roy Halladay, SP Jesse Litsch

Oakland Athletics: Justin Duchscherer, SP.

Another team that really hasn’t been led by anybody. Their offensive numbers are slightly better than the Jays’, but one player leads the team in batting average, another in home runs, another in RBIs, etc.

Since missing a couple starts in April, Duchscherer has been the best pitcher in a strong rotation. His 2.27 ERA is half a run better than anybody else’s, and his 1.01 WHIP is well below the other starters’ as well.

Runners up: SP Greg Smith, RP Santiago Casilla

Minnesota Twins: Justin Morneau, 1B.

Ah, back to offensive production. Morneau is batting .309 and leads the Twins in homers (10) and RBIs (41). No other Minnesota player has more than 27 RBIs so far this year.

Morneau’s production has been extra important for a Minnesotateam that no longer can rely on its rotation to be the backbone of the team. After the Johan Santana trade and Francisco Liriano’s recent struggles, this is a team without a bona fide ace or a strong rotation in general. The offense has had to pick up the slack as a result, and Morneau has carried the mantle.

Runners up: OF Carlos Gomez, C Joe Mauer

Texas Rangers: Josh Hamilton, OF.

Ah, back to offensive PRODUCTION. Hamilton has set a blistering pace, tying for the league lead with 14 home runs and pacing the majors with a ridiculous 61 RBIs, 13 more than his closest competition.

Hamilton’s resurgence is a great story, and his bat has truly been special this year. Without his out-of-this-world play, the Rangers would once again be in dire straits instead of contending in the AL West for the first time in a long while.

Runners up: OF Milton Bradley, 2B Ian Kinsler

New York Yankees: Darrell Rasner, SP.

Am I crazy? How can a player who has appeared in four of his team’s 56 games possibly be the MVP? I’ll admit it seems like a rather bizarre choice.

But the Yankees were supposed to be about their young pitching this year. And, with A-Rod and Posada out and Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy struggling mightily, someone had to step in, stop the bleeding, and keep the Bronx Bombers within striking distance of either a division crown or a wild card berth. And that’s exactly what Rasner has done in winning three of his four starts. In the process, he has calmed the entire team down a bit.

Runners up: OF Hideki Matsui, CL Mariano Rivera

Baltimore Orioles: George Sherrill, CL.

For a team that has struggled to score runs and hasn’t had particularly dominant starting pitching, winning every close game is a must. Sherrill has played a big role in making that necessity a reality.

Sherrill has saved 17 of the Orioles’ 26 wins this season, a remarkably high proportion. Sure, his 3.42 ERA as a relief pitcher doesn’t scream “MVP,” but clearly he is getting the job done when he needs to.

Runners up: RP Jim Johnson, OF Nick Markakis

Cleveland Indians: Cliff Lee, SP.

Despite his recent struggles, Lee has emerged as Cleveland’s ace, getting off to an extremely impressive start. He has eight of the Indians’ 25 wins so far this season, and leads the AL with a 1.88 ERA.

Lee’s fast start has been particularly important given the Indians’ unexpected offensive woes. Cleveland is barely scoring 4 runs a game, so each of Lee’s wins is the result of a very good outing.

Runners up: SP Aaron Laffey, OF Grady Sizemore

Detroit Tigers: Magglio Ordonez OF.

Ordonez is the one Detroit star who has actually met expectations so far this season. He leads the team in batting average, home runs, runs, and RBIs.

Many of the Tigers’ hitters are starting to “heat up,” or at least play like average major leaguers. But only Magglio is justifying his large contract. He can only hope is cohorts start doing so before it’s too late—if it isn’t too late already.

Runners up: 3B Carlos Guillen, SP Armando Galarraga

Kansas City Royals: Joakim Soria, CL.

Soria has been magnificent for a team that hasn’t had much else go right lately. He has saved more than half of the Royals’ victories so far this year. Furthermore, he has been virtually unhittable while shutting the door, recording a WHIP of 0.56.

Unfortunately, there’s only so much a closer can do, and at this point Soria is nothing more than a luxury on a team that needs a lot more goods. I would say he’s hoping for a turnaround, but the truth is his goal should probably be to be traded to a contender.

Seattle Mariners: Adrian Beltre, 3B.

Beltre has an OPS of .790, and is on pace to reach the 30 homer and 100 RBI plateaus. Sounds like a relatively average season for the veteran third baseman.

Guess what: When your team is 20-35, an average season is nothing to sneeze it. Beltre is the only Mariner putting up any semblance of numbers so far this season. Even the famed Ichiro is playing well below his own standards (although he is stealing a ton of bases). Thus, Beltre wins the dubious honor of Seattle first trimester MVP.

Runners up: SP Felix Hernandez, OF Ichiro Suzuki

My First Trimester American League MVP Ballot:

1. Josh Hamilton

2. Carlos Quentin

3. Cliff Lee

4. Justin Morneau

5. Casey Kotchman