Los Angeles Angels‘ outfielder Mike Trout won his first MVP award for the 2014 MLB season after finishing second each of the last two seasons.
Mike Trout is the best baseball player on the planet. It is not exaggerating, then, to say that his winning his first MVP award after his third season in the big leagues is an honor that’s overdue.
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In 2012 and 2013, Trout lost to the also-deserving Miguel Cabrera in two epic MVP races. With Cabrera’s production falling off slightly due to injuries in 2014, the path was finally cleared for Trout to win the award.
The other two finalists were Michael Brantley of the Cleveland Indians and Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers, but really, this was never a race. This award was Trout’s and it wasn’t close.
The BBWAA named Trout the MVP on Thursday night as awards season wraps up.
Trout batted .287/.377/.561 with 36 home runs and 111 RBI, so he was a beast in terms of familiar individual statistics in addition to those darn sabermetrics that have always loved him. And yes, Trout was outstanding in terms of advanced stats as well, as he was good for 7.9 WAR (wins above replacement) this past season.
The crazy part? This was Trout’s worst season, as he was a 10.8 WAR player in 2012 and 8.9 WAR in 2013. Still, his worst season was better than everybody else’s worthy seasons, and Trout finally has an overdue MVP award to add to his trophy case.
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