Boston Red Sox stars will factor heavily in the AL MVP race
By Sean Penney
Mike Trout
Trout has been the consensus top pick for the best player on the planet almost since the day he arrived in the big leagues. His talent is off the charts. His problem is that there isn’t much talent around him. Trout has only been to the postseason once in his career and his Los Angeles Angels finished with a losing record (80-82) this season. Is that his fault? Certainly not but can we give the MVP to a player who hasn’t played a meaningful game in over a month?
The answer is that you can, or at least it’s been done before, although you probably shouldn’t. At least not when there are so many other deserving candidates.
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However, we can’t ignore this outstanding production. Trout led the league with 122 walks, a .460 OBP, 1.088 OPS, and 191 wRC+. He was fourth in the league with a .312 batting average and 39 home runs while ranking third with a .628 slugging percentage.
Trout stole 24 bases and posted a 5.0 BsR, both of which ranked ninth in the league. He also provides solid defense with 8 defensive runs saved in center field, which is considered a more premium position than where our other candidates play.
Since 2000, only four players have produced at least 10.0 bWAR in a season. A-Rod did it in his last year with the Seattle Mariners, the best year of his career by this metric. Barry Bonds did it three times in the early part of this century. Trout has now done it three times, including a 10.2 WAR that ranks second this season.
The only other 10+ bWAR season of the 21st century belongs to the hitter who ranks first in that category this year and on this list of MVP candidates.