MLB.com’s John Schlegel previews the announced finalists for the major awards, here focusing on the MVP vote:
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Thursday, Nov. 13, 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network
National League
[Clayton] Kershaw, LHP, Dodgers
Andrew McCutchen, OF, Pirates
Giancarlo Stanton, OF, Marlins
The votes already have been submitted — voting BBWAA members had to send their ballots by the end of the regular season — but the debate no doubt continues about whether a pitcher eligible for the Cy Young also should be considered for MVP. The Tigers’ Justin Verlander won both in the AL in 2011, but the last one to do it in the NL was the Cardinals’ Bob Gibson in 1968. Kershaw, however, made a very compelling case that he is deserving of both in 2014.
His peers made it clear where they stand. Kershaw already collected a trifecta of awards from the Major League Baseball Players Association, winning overall Player of the Year honors for all of Major League Baseball, the NL’s Most Outstanding Pitcher and the Marvin Miller Man of the Year for his contributions on and off the field. With a season in which he became the first pitcher to win four consecutive ERA titles, posting a career-best 1.77 ERA, Kershaw set a very high bar even while missing a month to injury.
So, too, did Stanton, whose stellar season came to a horrific end when he suffered facial fractures being hit by a pitch on Sept. 11. Before the injury, Stanton hit 37 homers, which stood up as the NL’s top total, and his 105 RBIs wound up being second in the NL — and that’s just part of the story for the strong-armed right fielder, who accepted the Hank Aaron Award for the NL’s top offensive player in October and was named the NL’s Most Outstanding Player in the Players Choice Awards. McCutchen is the reigning MVP, and he posted a season worthy of that status, helping lead the Pirates to a second consecutive postseason bid after being out of it for 21 years.
American League
Michael Brantley, OF, Indians
Victor Martinez, DH/1B, Tigers
[Mike] Trout, OF, Angels
The last two seasons, Trout played second fiddle in the MVP voting behind the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera, and another Tigers slugger enters the conversation this year with Martinez putting together a stellar season. But Trout, who won Most Outstanding Player in the Players Choice Awards and the AL Hank Aaron Award, put up another campaign that’s going to be hard to beat.
Becoming the first player to lead either league in runs scored his first three full Major League seasons with 115 this year, Trout kept his unprecedented start to a career going. Trout set or tied career highs in doubles with 39, triples with nine, home runs with 36 and RBIs with 111. Martinez certainly offers some strong numbers for his case, setting career highs with 32 homers and a .974 on-base plus slugging (OPS), tops in the Majors, while truly defining the word “valuable” for the Tigers. Brantley, meanwhile, became the first hitter in Indians history to go for more than 200 hits, 40 doubles, 20 homers and 20 steals — a strong showing for any franchise.
My guess: Kershaw and Trout capture the MVP Award, Kershaw and Felix Hernandez take home the Cy Young hardware, Matt Williams and Mike Scioscia get Manager of the Year, and Jacob deGrom and José Abreu win Rookie of the Year.
More here.