15
2012
Miguel Cabrera and Buster Posey Win MVP Awards
An article by 
Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera has won the American League’s Most Valuable Player award after becoming baseball’s first Triple Crown winner in 45 years. Cabrera received 22 of 28 first-place votes and 362 points from the AL panel of Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Los Angeles Angels rookie center fielder Mike Trout had six firsts and 281 points.
San Francisco’s Buster Posey won the National League’s Most Valuable Player award. Posey got 27 of 32 firsts and 422 points from the NL panel, outdistancing 2011 winner Ryan Braun of Milwaukee, who was second with 285 points. Davis Wright finished in sixth place with 86 points.
Congratulations to both Posey and Cabrera on their MVP seasons.
Original post 4:00 PM
The Major League postseason awards conclude today with the granddaddy of them all – the Most Valuable Player Awards.
San Francisco catcher Buster Posey and Detroit third baseman Miguel Cabrera competing against the Angels’ Mike Trout are considered the frontrunners. Throw a blanket over Cabrera and Trout in the American League.
Let’s look at the American League race first because of the potential closeness of the voting.
The award has been shared before, the National League in 1979 between the Cardinals’ Keith Hernandez and the Pirates’ Willie Stargell. It is possible to have co-winners in these awards because they are done on a point system: x number of points for first place, y number of points for second place and so on.
Clearly, Trout had a MVP season, especially impressive had he not missed the first month of the season. Had he played a full season, it is possible he might have prevented Cabrera from winning the Triple Crown, one of baseball’s rarest achievements last done in 1967 by Carl Yastrzemski.
There is no criteria set by the Baseball Writers Association of America, which is why relief pitchers have won (Rollie Fingers, 1981), Willie Hernandez (1984) and Dennis Eckersley (1992). Also, players from teams with losing records (Cal Ripken, 1991) and Ernie Banks (1958-59) have been honored, as well as starting pitchers (Justin Verlander, 2011), Denny McLain and Bob Gibson (1968), and Sandy Koufax (1963).
The voting for all postseason awards must be in on the last day of the regular season, so playoff performances are not counted. However, traditionally, many of the winners – if not most – come from teams in the postseason.
The arguments for Cabrera and Trout are equally compelling, if not convincing.
Cabrera won the Triple Crown which is rare and impressive, and led the American League in OPS; his team made the playoffs and he moved to a different position. All strong arguments for Cabrera.
However, Trout led the majors in runs scored – 20 more than Cabrera; accomplished what he did in fewer games; and his team had a better record than Cabrera’s; and he might have saved at least 20 more runs with his defense. All strong arguments for Trout.
I have no complaint for either, but if forced to choose between the two I would take Cabrera because of the Triple Crown. It is such a rare achievement I can’t overlook.
The National League is easy for me. The best players are Posey, Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun, last year’s winner, St. Louis’ Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina, and Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen.
Beltran and Molina will take votes from each other; McCutchen will be penalized by the Pirates’ late season collapse; and Braun will suffer from last year’s drug test controversy.
Posey, coming off a serious injury, hit .336 with over 100 RBI, and caught one of the game’s best staffs.
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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logically it has to be cabrera, i mean come on, triple crown???? but i would love to see trout on top also .
Glad to see Cabrera win this over Trout.
Cabrera is unanimous for AL MVP. Miggy was phenomenal throughout the season. I don’t think no one can do another triple crown run for awhile.
Congrats to Miguel Torres Cabrera.. Well deserve MVP. triple crown was amazing to see accomplish again after a long time. Still, was not that impress as his WAR was just only 6.9, David wright’s season should’ve been MVP worthy then as his WAR was 6.7, only 0.5 behind Posey who finish with a 7.2 WAR.
you cant act in another way huh??? EVERY FREAKING time , jeez , congrat and thats it , praise the player or whatever, but why the heck you bring DW and WAR in here NOW ? men you are something else, i think you have some REAL REAL ISSUES or some kind of disease, you are Fckng freaky to say at least . never saw an pathetic guy at THIS LEVEL you own
You know, you’re level of stalkingness is really creeping me out. You never talk baseball, and when you do is to make idiotic comments or to stalk people out, it’s really wearing thin and getting old. Not sure about other young’s but you take the cake on immaturity. funny how it’s ok for you to insult people in here but when we insult you back somehow that’s not acceptable. Dude, get a life, you notice how barely noone in this blog talk to you? Ever wonder why? Here’s a hint, you know nothing about baseball, you’re boring, and the only way you can associate with people in here is by making comments on what they’ve written.. Please learn from the people that know baseball and sit back is your contribution to the blog is nothing but tryibng to attack people. It’s getting sadder and sadder watching you self destroy to be honest.
stalking ? wow, you should read a book from time to time ….. alex , honestly you are something else
dude i would bet my a ss that more people in here “like” me then they like you . you took your time for your comment huh? lol , silly you , all you can put up are lies , semi truths and NONSENSE
“. Not sure about other young’s but you take the cake on immaturity. ”
Well, now that’s something you don’t see often right there. This my friends would be a great case study for irony.
For those unclear here are some words from your local Thesaurus.
….paradoxical, absurd, contradictory, puzzling, baffling, ambiguous, inconsistent, confounding, enigmatic, illogical, incongruous
“It’s ironic that the sort of people this film celebrates would never watch it.”
Great job by Miguel and Buster. Miguel, triple crown winner? Automatic MVP. Sorry, as much as I embrace new stats, there is still a special place for the old ones and baseball history.
My best friend is a Cubs fan and I distinctly remember watching the NLCS in 2003 and both of us marveling at the talent of Cabrera. He really is a great hitter. I do believe that Trout could be better overall in the coming years but this year it was Miggy’s time, congrats. I am mildly surprised that some of the NL’s terrific pitching was not considered more heavily this year. There were some great pitching performances this year. As for Alex’s comment about Wright, well Wright may have had a chance if he didn’t struggle in the second half. I know his WAR was very good but the writers watch enough games to be more balanced in their approach at determining a players value.