Assuming Cabrera DOES NOT win the Triple Crown, who is the MVP?

[Topnotchsy]

The thread discussing who would win the AL MVP if Cabrera won the Triple Crown went in a direction I was a bit surprised about, so I figured this would be interesting to consider.

Let's assume for a second that Cabrera does not win the Triple Crown. Say Hamilton comes back and passes him by a single home run, so Cabrera still leads the league in batting average and RBI's.

Does he win MVP or does Trout win?

 

[nicktv08]

If, and only if, the Angels make the playoffs then Trout will win. Don't get me wrong Trout has had an amazing season, but I think Cabrera has just out-performed everyone.

Trout has going for him his age, his average, his WAR stat (Wins Above Replacement) and how he helped jumped start the slumping Angels at the beginning of the season. Therefore if the Angels end up making the playoffs, I don't see how Trout doesn't get it since he rejuvenated his team and fan base.

I'm hoping Trout wins it because as an Indians fan I hate the Tigers lol, but I would love to see Miggy hit for the Triple Crown. It would be amazing to witness.

 

[nborton]

At this point with Cabrera getting hotter and Trout cooling off some its probably Cabrera's now. Unless the Angels make it and the Tigers don't.

I could see Hamilton getting it if neither makes it, and Cabrera doesn't get the triple crown.

 

[All The Hype]

The way Cabrera has been hitting the last few weeks, I have a hard time seeing anyone else win MVP unless the Angels make the playoffs and Detroit does not.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Jeter

 

[Greg Lewis]

Jeter

Please mate, get real.

 

[mlbsalltimegreats]

Please mate, get real.

Dont listen to him the dude pisses on Albert Pujols rookies for fun

 

[mlbsalltimegreats]

At this Point its Cabrera's to lose no matter if he wins the Triple crown or not.

 

[markakis8]

The vote may seem in Miggy's favor right now (and if I had a vote and the season ended today, I would vote Miggy) but this MVP race is going to be damn close. If Mike Trout wasn't so damn good on defense and on the basepaths, Miggy would walk away with it.

But Trout plays a premium position, his WAR is off the charts, and he gave the Angels a chance. It's going to be really close...as close as the Morneau/Jeter year.

 

[Austin]

Cabrera is getting such an incredible amount of positive press right now that I think he'll easily win MVP, playoffs or not.
The MVP is often given to players who not only have great numbers, but who have dominated in September.
Cabrera has been off the charts the last month. Trout has been merely very good.
Oh, and Hamilton hit a home run tonight, retaking the lead with 43.

 

[wolfmanalfredo]

There has been multiple threads on this, but I'll state the same thing again. Cabrera beats trout on almost all stats aside from sb's. A few shy on runs, but otherwise comparable or better stats on just about everything. Cabrera has been snubbed a couple times already and if he doesn't get it this year then it is never going to happen. Trout has been beyond awesome, but mvp mumbers have been on a steady decline for a couple months. I think a playoff berth will have a major factor in this, but how can you argue against miggy?

 

[Lars]

As an Angels fan, I see Trout as the people's choice among the stat geeks, so the mounting pressure from the number guys maybe too much for the mainstream media to ignore otherwise.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

There has been multiple threads on this, but I'll state the same thing again. Cabrera beats trout on almost all stats aside from sb's. A few shy on runs, but otherwise comparable or better stats on just about everything. Cabrera has been snubbed a couple times already and if he doesn't get it this year then it is never going to happen. Trout has been beyond awesome, but mvp mumbers have been on a steady decline for a couple months. I think a playoff berth will have a major factor in this, but how can you argue against miggy?

Yeah Miggy has a big lead in all the traditionally "sexy" stats.

 

[markakis8]

Not surprisingly, Law is all about Trout.

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles...mike-trout-is-your-al-mvp-because-war-says-so

 

[All The Hype]

Brian Kenny (an MLB.com writer I think?) likes Trout too: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120923&content_id=38895636&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb


I agree that Triple Crown stats can be overrated, but to discredit them and render them useless entirely, like this guy is trying to do, is just stupid.

Not to mention, he talks about RBI being a team stat because it relies on your teammates getting on base....but then he turns around and counts up the number of extra bases taken by Trout and Cabrera as baserunners, which relies just as much on your teammates to hit the ball into the gaps as RBI relies on your teammates to get on base.

 

[FromKoufaxtoEdwin]

i want to preface this by saying that Miggy has been one of my favorite hitters to watch since he came into the league. I have always thought that he was criminally underrated as a hitter and that he would end up as an inner-circle HOF type offensive force. Put simply, the guy is one of the 2 or 3 best offensive players the game has today. But, he is not the MVP, and it really is pretty clear as to why.

I strongly suggest that everyone who believes Miggy deserves the MVP actually read Keith Law's article. I understand that some people may not like his approach, think he is too arrogant, etc (personally, I think he can go overboard on the snark at times), but try to divorce yourself from those biases when reading the article. For those that hate WAR or don't understand it and still rage against it, Law only mentions WAR a few times and it is not a crutch he relies on in making his argument. It is just a very well written piece that relies on logic, common sense, and uses the evaluations that many, if not all, successful MLB teams use in their decision making.

 

[KOBEARODLT]

keith law had austin jackson and verlander ahead of cabrera in mvp rankings just a month ago, not to mention he didnt have hamilton in the top 5 at all...thats all i need to know about him

i want to preface this by saying that Miggy has been one of my favorite hitters to watch since he came into the league. I have always thought that he was criminally underrated as a hitter and that he would end up as an inner-circle HOF type offensive force. Put simply, the guy is one of the 2 or 3 best offensive players the game has today. But, he is not the MVP, and it really is pretty clear as to why.

I strongly suggest that everyone who believes Miggy deserves the MVP actually read Keith Law's article. I understand that some people may not like his approach, think he is too arrogant, etc (personally, I think he can go overboard on the snark at times), but try to divorce yourself from those biases when reading the article. For those that hate WAR or don't understand it and still rage against it, Law only mentions WAR a few times and it is not a crutch he relies on in making his argument. It is just a very well written piece that relies on logic, common sense, and uses the evaluations that many, if not all, successful MLB teams use in their decision making.

 

[All The Hype]

keith law had austin jackson and verlander ahead of cabrera in mvp rankings just a month ago, not to mention he didnt have hamilton in the top 5 at all...thats all i need to know about him

+1, he's either in love with Trout or hates Cabrera, but that was the most ridiculous article from a serious sports writer I've ever seen. That put him on the same level as Skip Bayless for the extent of the MVP race/argument...worthless.

 

[elmalo]

Cabrera, triple crown or not.

 

[mlbsalltimegreats]

+1, he's either in love with Trout or hates Cabrera, but that was the most ridiculous article from a serious sports writer I've ever seen. That put him on the same level as Skip Bayless for the extent of the MVP race/argument...worthless.

+2