Miguel Cabrera thought AL MVP voting will be close – MLB Detroit Tigers News
Even a Triple Crown Award winner wondered if he would be able to beat modern statistical analysis to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award. Detroit Tigers’ hard hitting third baseman, Miguel Cabrera had a historic season in 2012 as he hit .330
with 44 home-runs and 139 RBI’s.
He became the first player to win the Triple Crown Award in 45 years, leading the league in home-runs and average and RBI’s. At the end of the voting conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of American, it was clear Cabrera’s achievements were no
match for the Los Angeles Angels’ rookie Mike Trout.
The third baseman claimed 22 out of 28 possible first place votes but Trout’s fans believe he deserved to win as his Wins Above Replacement (WAR) was better than that of Cabrera. According to baseball-referance.com, Trout had a Major League best 10-7 WAR.
He also had a decent .326 average with 30 home-runs, 83 RBI’s and .963 OPS. Trout also led the Majors with 129 runs scored and 49 steals.
"They can use both (old- and new-school statistics)," Cabrera said. "In 2012, we've got to take advantage of all that. At the end of the day, it's going to be the same. You've got to play baseball. You've got to put up some numbers in the field, you've got
to win some games."
Cabrera was the second successive Tigers’ Player to win the AL MVP. Hard throwing ace Justin Verlander’s claim the fame was in 2011 after he finished the season with 24-5 and 2.40 ERA.
"(Verlander) supported me a lot this year. We support each other," Cabrera said. "Hopefully Prince (Fielder) wins this year and we can do everything to win the division, get to the playoffs again."
Manager Jim Leyland, slugger Prince Fielder and owner Mike Ilitch all were very happy for Cabrera, who has been leading American League in average, home-runs and RBI’s for the last three seasons.
The Tigers second straight post-season trip ended in a defeat to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. It will be interesting to see if Cabrera can give similar results in the next season to help the Tigers secure their first World Series title since
1984.
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