Been Gone Too Long (Out Like Trout)

By Nick Hall

Ok, ok, ok,ok.  First of all, sorry for the delay.  I've been a slacker.  I'm back now, so hang in there.

I want to talk about why Mike trout has had one of the greatest Rookie seasons ever, but is nowhere close to being the MVP over Miguel Cabrera. I have been reading article after article about how Mike Trout is the "clear" MVP choice.  This is based only on WAR, which is a BS stat and I'll show you why. Let's just start by looking at the numbers.

                                            Miguel Cabrera                 Mike Trout

                                BA               .327                                   .321
                                AB                609                                    539
                                Runs            108                                    125
                                Hits              199                                    173
                                2B                 40                                      25
                                3B                  0                                        7
                                HR                43                                      29
                                RBI              136                                     79
                                SB                 4                                       47
                                BB                65                                      64
                                SO                97                                     132
                                OBP            .391                                   .393
                                SLG            .604                                   .555
                                OPS            .995                                   .948

So, Miggy leads in Batting Average, Slugging Percentage, Hits, Home Runs, RBI.  He has more at bats and fewer Strike outs, 83 extra base hits versus 61 by Trout.  Let's not forget that Miggy is leading the Triple Crown with 4 games left in the season, and his team is on track to win their division.

Trout is no slouch, I love watching him play. He does lead a few categories like stolen bases, a slim lead in OBP, and more runs scored.  Nothing to scoff at, especially for a rookie.  Furthermore, Trout fields his position better than Cabrera fields his....sort of.  Trout has a .988 fielding percentage as an outfielder, which is pretty average, really, for an outfielder.  He has made a few more flashy plays, but overall, he is not really outstanding in the outfield.  He actually has more errors than assists in the outfield. Don't forget that Miguel switched from playing first for the bulk of his career to being a full time 3rd basemen.

The point is this, how can you really argue that a guy who is about to win a Triple Crown and take his team into the playoffs, is less deserving of an MVP award than a guy who leads a couple of categories and is going to miss the playoffs?  To me it isn't even close.  Cabrera, in my opinion, should be a unanimous decision.  In fact, since the all-star break, I really didn't even consider anyone else as being a contender.  That is, until I started reading article after article about how Trout was more deserving.

Mike Trout is an amazing baseball player.  He is hands down Rookie of the Year.  He has had one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time.  I believe he will continue to be a great player, and not a flash in the pan.  I love watching him play.  With that said, he is not the MVP this year.  In my opinion, he isn't even close.