American League Hank Award Winner

Submitted by:  Dan

The postseason baseball awards will be announced after the conclusion of the World Series, but the selections have, for the most part, already been made.  LeRoy in the Afternoon will begin announcing its picks today and continue until the conclusion of the MLB Postseason.  All picks have been discussed, although not all are unanimous among the LeRoy Crew.  Readers should feel free to voice their opinions, anger, and frustration regarding the picks.  We will continue in the American League.

There has been controversy in the past regarding the Most Valuable Player vote.  Namely the selection of IF Alex Rodriguez with the 2003 Texas Rangers.  But the selection of A-Rod raised an interesting question.  What was the MVP Award for?  For the most valuable player?  This would be the player who most single-handedly helped his team win.  Or for the most talented player?  A-Rod's selection with the '03 Rangers is an example of the latter.  Were the Rangers better off with A-Rod in 2003?  Maybe, I mean he must have helped them win at least a few games.  Right?  Hard to tell.  A better question might be would the Rangers have been any worse without A-Rod in 2003?  The answer:  Probably not. 

There's not much of a point in honoring the best player in the league with an MVP Award.  To begin, the best player isn't always the most valuable.  And secondly, we have an award that honors the league's best player.  I feel that ana ward honoring the best player in the league should be called the Willie Mays Award, who I consider to be the game's greatest player of all-time.  But at the inception of the award MLB was infatuated with home runs, and the award was named the Hank Aaron Award (Aaron also ranks in my top five all-time best players).

Without further adieu, this season's American League Hank Aaron Award winner is:

1B Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers.  It's hard to argue against Cabrera.  He's a slugger, but he turned in a .328 batting average in 180 hits, both impressive numbers for a power hitter.  He also scored 111 runs and had 128 runs batted in, leading the league.  He didn't disappoint in the power categories either, hitting 38 home runs to go along with 45 doubles.  Props to 1B Mark Teixera of the New York Yankees.