Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera Should Be a Lock for AL MVP

After all these years we still don’t know what makes an MVP in Major League Baseball. Is it the player with the best stats, the player that does the best on a playoff team or the player that is most indispensable to his team.

Well Cabrera has options one and three sewn up.

Some will still make the case for a Josh Hamilton, Robinson Cano, Jose Bautista, or even Paul Konerko, but none have Cabrera’s stats or are more important to their respective teams.

Let’s take a look at some numbers and you will see Cabrera should not only win the award, but win it going away.

• 31 intentional walks: More than twice as many as any other player and three off the all-time AL record set by the late, great Ted Williams
• 45 doubles: Second most in the league and one off the league-lead
• 38 HRs: Second most in the league
• 126 RBIs: Tops in the league
• 328 average: Third highest in the league
• 419 OBP: Tops in the league
• 111 runs: Tops in the league

If those aren’t MVP numbers I don’t know what MVP numbers look like.

Did I mention Cabrera plays 81 games in the worst-hitting park in the AL? Did I also mention he has no protection behind him? Do the names Don Kelly, Ryan Raburn, Carlos Guillen, Brennan Boesch, or Jhonny Peralta scare you? I think not! Those five have been rotating as the Tigers No. 5 hitters all season. Which is no wonder Cabrera gets walked all the time and rarely gets a pitch to hit.

Many think the award will come down to Cabrera or Hamilton. Well, Hamilton hasn’t played in three weeks and no one has ever won an MVP award without at least playing 10 September games. Looks like Hamilton won't even play five games this month. Not to mention he plays in the league’s best-hitting park and had future Hall of Famer Vladamir Guererro protecting him all season in that vaunted Texas Ranger lineup. Don't get me wrong, Hamilton has had a great season as evidence by his .361 average, but the Rangers can surely win without him while Detroit would be in last place without Cabrera's bat.

So even though the Tigers had a disappointing season, all is not lost. Detroit will still finish above .500 and should be sweeping both the MVP and ROY (Austin Jackson) awards, while staff ace Justin Verlander should get a few Cy Young votes. It could be a lot worse I guess. Like, you know, being a Detroit Lions fan.