Mike Trout Was Robbed Of AL MVP Award

Mike Trout ignited the baseball world this season. The Los Angeles Angels rookie was simply phenomenal this year and posted one of the best seasons in history. However, that season was not good enough to win the AL MVP award. Miguel Cabrera brought home the hardware, but Trout was the guy who deserved to win the trophy.

Before I begin, this is not a slight at Cabrera.  Not everyone can win the Triple Crown.  He had a fantastic year at the plate, but the award is for Most Valuable Player, not the Best Offensive Player.  Trout is the definition of a five tool player.  He can do everything on the field.  He played amazing defense in center field and he was also a terror on the base paths.  Combine that with his hitting stats and you have a MVP.

Although some old school fans do not like it, the SABR argument clearly goes to Trout.  His WAR was over 10 for this past season.  He had a top five season of ALL TIME.  Factor in that he didn’t play much, if at all, in the month of April and that is simply stunning.  He dominated the game and missed almost an entire month of play.  Think of how high his numbers would have been with a full April.

People will argue that Trout couldn’t pull his team to the playoffs, while Cabrera’s team made the World Series.  You can’t blame Trout for playing in a tough division.  The AL Central was a dumpster fire this year and the Detroit Tigers were lucky to win the division in the last two weeks of the year.  I think we can dismiss this part of the argument.

Trout had a great year and the Rookie of the Year award is a great honor.  However, his year should have ended with a MVP trophy to take home.