Mike Trout: Crackerjacks 2014 American League MVP
The Crackerjacks voted and Mike Trout was our 2014 AL MVP. Photo Credit: Gary A.Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
This one wasn’t that difficult or controversial, as Mike Trout was the runaway American League MVP in the eyes of the Crackerjacks.
So what did he do?
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With numbers like that, the odds are pretty good that the writers will vote Trout as their AL MVP, as well, though we won’t know that until November. For now, Trout will have to settle for this. Oh, and getting to show his skills off in the postseason for the first time.
Amazingly, in a few respects Trout actually had something of a regression season from the previous two seasons when he finished second to Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera. His batting average and stolen base totals were lower than 2012 or 2013. Despite that, a few things really work in his favor.
- Cabrera was good again, but Trout had better power numbers, which tend to be a big deal in MVP voting.
- Cabrera was overall not nearly as dominant as he was in 2012 or 2013. He was good, but thanks to Victor Martinez, Miggy was probably not even his own team’s MVP.
- Trout was hurt in each of the last two years by missing the playoffs. While the “They could have missed the playoffs without him just like they did with him” has its flaws, plenty of voters have a hard time getting past it, as nobody has won an MVP from a team that missed the playoffs since 2009 (Albert Pujols). It hasn’t happened in the American League since 2003, when everyone’s favorite player — Alex Rodriguez — won. As we went over, there was no such problem for Trout this year, as the Angels cruised to the AL West title this year.
You may not have agreed with the voting in 2012 or 2013, but as great as Trout was, it wasn’t that hard to justify Cabrera beating Trout. This year, Trout was a hard one to argue with.
Regardless of the standards that we applied, the final results showed that this was pretty easy. Mike Trout is your 2014 American League Most Valuable Player.