OT: Why won't Miguel Cabrera be the MVP?
I was watching ESPN and they kept referring to Delmon Young as "MVP Candidate Delmon Young" as if that was his full, legal name. His numbers don't even sniff Cabrera's.
Players have begun to refer to Cabrera as the best hitter in the AL or sometimes even as the best hitter in all of baseball. But ESPN, which seems to have an impact on the awards, doesn't tout his candidacy. Now MVP is a complicated award, and I know that it doesn't necessarily go to the league's best player.
But, Cabrera currently ranks:
1st in AL and MLB in RBI
2nd in AL and MLB in HR
2nd in AL and MLB in Avg
Hamilton is having a good year, and I see him as the only real competition, but Cabrera should be the clear leader at this point.
Thoughts?
August 20th, 2010 at 12:34 PM ^
are contending for AL Central division crown, then yeah, they probably be talking about him as a MVP candidate. However, the Tigers are on a dramatic decline, Cabrera doesn't get much pub though he should be getting it and he's having the best season in his career.
August 20th, 2010 at 1:02 PM ^
....that and he's not a Yankee ( what media bias???)
August 20th, 2010 at 12:38 PM ^
The Tigers are mediocre and if I remember right, Cabrera is among the AL leaders in errors.
August 20th, 2010 at 1:27 PM ^
First off, number of errors is one of the worst defensive measures out there.
Secondly, being an average (ok, maybe below-average) defender won't exclude someone from being an MVP. Ryan Howard is a subpar-to-average defensive 1B, and he won the NL MVP a few years back.
EDIT: Granted, Howard's numbers in 2006 were ridiculous, with 58 HRs and 149 RBIs. However, he had a lot of errors at 1st (14) and was on a team that finished with a losing record.
August 20th, 2010 at 1:29 PM ^
He's a pretty bad defender.
August 20th, 2010 at 1:31 PM ^
OK, I didn't know it was that bad. But can you imagine how much worse it would be if he still played 3rd? I shudder at the thought.
August 20th, 2010 at 12:39 PM ^
I feel like he's always going to be underrated. He's in Detroit, which is hardly a media darling. If he ever leaves and goes to New York or Boston, we'll hear about him all the time. When his career is over, I think alot of people are going to look at Miguel's career and realize that he was one of the best to ever play. He's that good.
August 20th, 2010 at 12:43 PM ^
Detroit has never been a media market that demands constant attention. Unlike New York, LA, Boston, and Chicago, the Detroit teams pretty much get ignored unless they're winning (or egregiously losing). So Cabrera's ungodly numbers aren't going to generate much recognition until/unless he starts sniffing either Hamilton's average or Bautista's home run total and becomes a real Triple Crown threat again.
That said, the only major-market player that has a chance at MVP will probably be Cano from New York. Longoria will probably get some consideration, as will A-Rod (as always) and Konerko if the White Sox win the division, but logically if Cabrera keeps up these numbers (puts him on pace for something like 130-140 RBIs and over 40 HRs while batting .340)- that's an MVP season, hands down.
August 20th, 2010 at 12:56 PM ^
I'm not sure it has to do with the market. The Tigers are currently 5 games under .500, and are not going to make the playoffs. Given that there are players who are having great seasons on other teams - Josh Hamilton, Robinson Cano come to mind - Cabrera is gonna have to win the triple crown to win the MVP. Furthermore, don't forget that in the last decade 2 Twins players, 1 from Texas, 2 from Oakland, and 1 from Seattle have won the MVP award - none of which are huge markets.
Also, just becuase ESPN calls Delmon Young an MVP candidate doesn't mean that he's the only one - they've been talking up Cabrera since the all-star break as a possible candidate.
August 20th, 2010 at 12:53 PM ^
If you're not on a contender, you need to be far and away the best player in the league or do something flashy (the triple crown would do it). A lot of voters don't seem to want to vote guys on non-contenders very high. Hamilton's going to win unless he is awful for the next six weeks. Right now Fangrpahs has Hamilton at nearly one win better than anyone else in the AL. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=al&qual=y&type=6&season=2010&month=0
Delmon Young as an MVP candidate is laughable though. The MVP candidates from the contenders are Hamilton (who should win), Cano, Konerko, Mauer (down year but still far and away their most valuable player yet again), Longoria, Crawford. Cabrera will get a bunch of 2nd, 3rd, 4th place votes though.
August 20th, 2010 at 1:05 PM ^
MVP is really a synonym for "MVP on a winning team". Given Hamilton's (mostly) comparable numbers, for a team which will in all likelihood win its division - combined with his greater contributions on defense, he is the best candidate this year. Now, Delmon Young as a better candidate than Cabrera is ludicrous - his numbers, as a corner outfielder, just don't measure up to MVP-level. Notwithstanding all this, I would rather have Cabrera on my team than pretty much any other player, which means more at the end of the day than MVP results.
February 2nd, 2011 at 6:10 PM ^
the passage of time has caused me to reflect on my previous comment and i can no longer stand by my earlier assessment: cabrera for MVP in 2010 (and 2011)
August 20th, 2010 at 1:13 PM ^
If Cabrera completes 2/3rd of the triple crown and just barely loses in the BA race, then maybe he has a chance. A-Rod won a couple of years ago even though Texas was mediocre, but he was a huge name and nobody else really emerged. Right now, Hamilton is having a very good year, Cano has come back to earth a bit but is still playing great for one of the best teams in baseball, and the Twins are running away with the division and could possibly receive a late Mauer push.
Personally, I think Miggy has been a dominant player all year with absolutely no protection in that line-up, but MVP voters want to see either transcendant seasons or dominant ones on dominant teams.
August 20th, 2010 at 1:19 PM ^
... Have to make the playoffs, baseball won't be andre dawsoned again. The winner has to be on a contending team.
August 20th, 2010 at 1:20 PM ^
It's damn near impossible to be MVP when your team is awful...10 - 25 since the all-star break
August 20th, 2010 at 1:27 PM ^
Avg. isn't a very good stat and RBI is a terrible one. Cabrera is absolutely crushing the ball this year (he's leading the league in wOBA), but he plays pretty bad defense and plays a position where production is relatively easy to find. Despite his offensive fireworks, he's 9th in the AL in WAR.
August 20th, 2010 at 2:38 PM ^
Hamilton is going to win the MVP. His stats are really good, he's on a first place team, and everyone likes his story.
August 20th, 2010 at 2:48 PM ^
also forgot - with his defense, there's no way he wins MVP unless he gets the triple crown
August 20th, 2010 at 5:20 PM ^
I agree, it's stupid. And I have no idea why people would hold the Tigers' poor record against him. Doesn't that provide additional evidence that he's a great player? You can't possibly argue that Cabrera hits well because he's getting great protection in the order. He rarely gets to see good pitches and still somehow is a machine. Baseball is a sport in which one guy can only do so much. It's not like the NBA where if a guy scores 20 a game on a loser, you can maybe argue that he's not a team player. In baseball, Cabrera has little control over whether his mostly AAA-caliber teammates can hit the ball.