AL MVP Race: Josh Hamilton and Four Other Perfectly Deserving Candidates
Most years, when it comes time to select the MVP of each league, there is one standout candidate. Almost no one raised any dispute to the selections of Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols as the most valuable players of their respective leagues in 2009, and Pujols was similarly incontrovertible as the NL MVP in 2008.
In the American League this season, the super-stud is Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. Hamilton has missed time with injury, but belted 31 home runs and posted a .361/.414/.635 line through Sunday's action.
But what if Hamilton were less dominant? Better yet, what if (and it isn't a stretch to suggest it) the voters don't recognize his many dimensions of voluminous value? Who would win? Who WILL win?
If the answer isn't Hamilton, then justice will not have been served, Still, it can't hurt to dream a little bit. Here are the best cases to be made for four American League maulers who have garnered less fanfare than Hamilton, and an argument for the man himself.
5. Shin-Soo Choo
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If it weren't for the age-old bias against players on bad teams when it comes to MVP voting, Choo would be very much in the mix for the award. As it is, he won't get any first-place votes outside of Cleveland, but that does not mean he shouldn't get some.
Choo is a five-tool player in the classic mode, with a cannon arm (12 assists from right field), a great glove (he's become a well-known home run thief, stealing two in each of the past two seasons), and a balanced offensive skill set (witness his 20 home runs and 20 steals in each of his two full big-league seasons, and his career-best 12.7 percent walk rate).
FanGraphs has him at 5.4 WAR, a very respectable number, but some extra credit is due to the South Korea native for doing it all on such an otherwise middling team, and for having such a well-rounded game.
4. Miguel Cabrera
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What had you accomplished by the age of 27?
Miguel Cabrera is enjoying the best season of an already illustrious career, batting a robust .326/.418/.614 with his usual complement of 30 home runs, and 100 or more RBI. The best case against Cabrera for MVP is his defense, which leaves plenty to be desired. Still, he isn't abysmal at first base.
Cabrera has walked more often and struck out less often this season than at any previous point in his career. He has a chance at his first 40-homer season, and continues to launch an assault on the extraordinarily exclusive 2,000-RBI club (that group has just three members—Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Cap Anson). He could very realistically reach that milestone before the age of 40, at his current pace or even slightly shy of it.
With numbers like those, even Cabrera's relatively one-dimensional game merits MVP consideration.
3. Carl Crawford
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Entering 2009, questions about Crawford had begun to make their way into St. Petersburg papers and onto front pages of sports news Web sites. Crawford had tremendous potential, they all agreed, but would he ever realize it?
Crawford has spent the last two seasons answering those questions with an emphatic "yes." In fact, 2010 has been the best of his nine big-league seasons, as his career-high .487 slugging average has allowed him to accrue a career-best .375 WOBA. Fifteen home runs, a career-high 82 RBI, and 44 stolen bases demonstrate the versatility of his game at the plate.
Crawford's best claim to the trophy, though, is that he is—and it really isn't all that close—the most dominant defensive player in baseball. Though he plays left field (a decidedly non-premium position), Crawford has been worth 22 runs with the glove alone in 2010—the most in baseball, but not even his career high.
Tremendous range, an above-average arm, and the speed to recover from mistakes make Crawford a virtual vortex in left field, and put him squarely in any fair MVP conversation.
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2. Adrian Beltre
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At age 31, Adrian Beltre is already a very grizzled major-league veteran. He has played 13 seasons at this level, playing 150 or more games in seven of them.
That makes it all the more impressive that, after signing as a relatively unwanted free agent with Boston this winter, Beltre has had a breakout season unlike any since his 2004 campaign with the Dodgers.
Beltre is one of the three or four best third baseman in baseball—this season, one of two or three—and plays the position with surprising athleticism despite a decidedly stocky build. The difference between being good and great for Beltre has always been his stick, and this year he has found a groove: .325/.371/.564, his best numbers in each category since 2004.
Beltre has added 28 home runs, and his strikeout rate is at a career low. It's very possible Beltre has been the most consistently valuable junior circuit player this season.
1. Josh Hamilton
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Hamilton is the presumptive winner of the award, and with good reason: His .361/.414/.635 slash is preposterous.
There are more reasons than raw numbers to make Hamilton the winner, though.
By general acclaim, he is the modern incarnation of Mickey Mantle: prodigious power, underrated speed, great defense fueled by utter recklessness in the outfield. Hamilton has been as complete as any player in baseball, and while the numbers (.396 BABIP and home runs on over 20 percent of his fly balls) suggest he has gotten somewhat lucky, there's no doubt that Hamilton has been baseball's most dominant and electrifying player in 2010.
One can only hope he will be healthy enough to play once the Rangers reach the postseason.
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