Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander was named the 2011 American League MVP today and there has been much discussion surrounding the topic. Finishing in a close second was Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury who posted career highs in batting average, home runs and RBI's. A close third came Jose Bautista sporting his over 1k OPS while single-handedly keeping Toronto relevant north of the border.
Nobody is going to tell me that pitching wins did not have a part of the decision here. Zack Greinke had a season two years ago that was arguably more dominant than Verlander, and the discussion at the time was whether or not he could possibly win the Cy Young due to his low win-total. Last year you saw Felix Hernandez dominate hitters all season long, and again, the discussion was whether or not he should win the Cy (even though he inevitably did win). Now Verlander comes along and puts up very impressive numbers, but also 24 wins to boost his case and he wins the MVP after making 36 apperances.
The ironic part of this all is that it seems as though Granderson, Ellsbury and Bautista took votes away from each other. There was a writer in Boston who basically said he voted for Verlander because "nobody stood out" to him. That is a ridiculous argument that makes me embarrassed to say he collects a paycheck to write his opinion. The award is given to the player who provides the most value. It seems as though there has been no real discussion of the standards of the award. But then again, some writers still vote based on pitching win totals, so I won't get too far ahead of myself.
With that said, here's my final ranking of who I would have voted for given a ballot:
1. Jacoby Ellsbury
2. Jose Bautista
3. Curtis Granderson
4. Justin Verlander
5. Miguel Cabrera
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