(AP) While not MVP-worthy, Cabrera put up solid numbers in 2009.
First of all, sincerest of congratulations to the 2009 AL MVP: Joe Mauer.
The coronation of Mauer's MVP-worthy season came to fruition Monday when he was named a near unanimous choice for league MVP. Hitting .365 with 28 home runs and 98 RBI, and leading the AL in slugging and on-base percentage, no one's going to argue with the 26-year-old catcher's newest piece of hardware. The voters certainly didn't, as he received 27 of 28 first place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
That lone first place vote that strayed from Mauer went to Detroit's Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera (.324/34 HR/103 RBI) hit 30+ home runs and drove in 100+ runs for the fifth time in six seasons. He finished in the top 10 in every major offensive category despite not ranking better than fourth across the board.He finished fourth in the vote for AL MVP.
Stellar season, absolutely. MVP-worthy? Not so much.
Cabrera's first-place vote didn't come from the BBWAA's Detroit Chapter, not surprisingly as they handed the Tiger of the Year Award unanimously to Justin Verlander. It came from Keizo Konishi of the Seattle Chapter (Kyodo News-Japan). Konishi has covered Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki since 1994.
Konishi has been subjected to criticism across several media outlets regarding his endorsement of Cabrera. . In doing so, the criticisms are forcing Cabrera's accomplishments to take a back seat to Konishi's questionable selection.
Worse still is that Cabrera's late-season personal issues are being brought back into the light, and for what-- the sake of unanimity? Do the issues in Cabrera's personal life make Mauer more of an MVP?
Does it really matter that Konishi voted for Cabrera, as opposed to anyone other than Mauer? Mauer won't receive less notoriety for being a nearly-unanimous league MVP. Mauer got the recognition and the award he most-certainly deserved, bottom line. If one voter thought differently, so be it.
Konishi's credibility ought not be jeopardized for having a difference of opinion; Cabrera put up solid numbers and Konishi was given a forum to cast his vote. Would the reception of his opinion be different had he voted for, say, Mark Teixeira?
Teixeira finished atop the AL in home runs (39) and RBI (122) in his first year in New York, and helped the Yankees win their first World Series title since 2000.
Maybe a vote for Teixeira would be easier to digest. Maybe it doesn't really matter.
For more info: Follow Detroit Tiger Examiner Randall Castro on Twitter or contact by e-mail at randall.p.castro@gmail.com
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