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Despite missing most of September with an injury, Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton may still have the strongest case, with stunning numbers across the board and a low salary to boot.
At 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, we'll learn who the Baseball Writer's Association of America has chosen as its 2010 American League MVP. Josh Hamilton appears to be front-runner, as the outfielder posted an OPS of 1.044 through 133 games while leading the Rangers to their first-ever World Series.
Other names have caught the attention of SB Nation's stable of baseball bloggers, however, such as the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera, the Rays' Evan Longoria, the Blue Jays' Jose Bautista, and the Yankees' Robinson Cano. We polled our MLB blogs and asked them to name their top ten choices. Here are the results:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points | |
| Josh Hamilton | 22 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 278 | ||||||
| Miguel Cabrera | 4 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 197 | |
| Evan Longoria | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 191 | ||
| Jose Bautista | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 182 | |||
| Robinson Cano | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 182 | |
| Adrian Beltre | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 170 | ||
| Carl Crawford | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 92 | |||
| Joe Mauer | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 75 | |||
| Paul Konerko | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 60 | ||||
| Shin-soo Choo | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 54 | ||||
| Felix Hernandez | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 38 | |||||
| Cliff Lee | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17 | ||||||
| Alex Rodriguez | 1 | 7 | |||||||||
| Jim Thome | 1 | 6 | |||||||||
| Vladimir Guerrero | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||
| Mark Teixeira | 2 | 6 | |||||||||
| Brett Gardner | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Justin Verlander | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| Vernon Wells | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| CC Sabathia | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
| Daric Barton | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Delmon Young | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Elvis Andrus | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Luke Scott | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Billy Butler | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Ichiro Suzuki | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| David Price | 1 | 1 |
As you can see, the first-place votes were limited to Hamilton, Cabrera, and Longoria. It's nice to see a tip of the cap to players whose years, while not quite MVP-caliber, were worthy of attention, such as Daric Barton, Luke Scott, and Shin-Soo Choo.
Check back with this StoryStream at 1:30 p.m., when the 2010 A.L. Most Valuable Player will be announced.
The 2010 A.L. MVP Award will be announced at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, and Texas' Josh Hamilton appears to be the front-runner. Although voting should be closer than it wound up being in the N.L. MVP, which went to Cincinnati's Joey Votto in a landslide.
Hamilton, who played both left and center field, led all A.L. hitters with a .359 batting average, a full 31 points higher than Miguel Cabrera in second place. Hamilton also ripped 32 home runs, collected 100 RBI, and posted a league-leading 1.044 OPS while serving as the top bat for a Rangers team that coasted to the playoffs. About the only drawback is that he missed most of September with a rib injury, but by that point the team was already locked at the top of the division.
Hamilton will face competition from a number of other contenders. New York's Robinson Cano batted .319 as an everyday second baseman, slugging .534 while driving in 109 runs. Cabrera, for Detroit, finished second to Hamilton with a 1.042 OPS, posting his in a less hitter-friendly environment. Cabrera also led the league with 126 RBI.
Additionally, Toronto's Jose Bautista blasted 54 home runs - 15 more than runner-up Paul Konerko - and Boston's Adrian Beltre put up a .919 OPS while playing arguably the best defense at third base in baseball. While Hamilton was an excellent player for five months, he was probably not far and away the league's most valuable.
It's worth noting that Hamilton led all hitters with runners in scoring position, and also batted .421 in clutch situations.
Minnesota's Joe Mauer won the A.L. MVP a year ago. If Hamilton wins, it will be the first MVP of his career, and the sixth in Rangers franchise history. The last Ranger to win was Alex Rodriguez, in 2003.
2010 A.L. MVP: Josh Hamilton Wins Award, Capping One Of Baseball's Greatest Comebacks
Josh Hamilton, the author of one of baseball's most inspiring stories of the last decade, is officially our 2010 American League Most Valuable Player. The MVP voting results were announced at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and to everyone familiar with Hamilton's contributions to his Texas Rangers this year, the verdict was not surprising.
Hamilton, in his fourth year as a major leaguer, won the award despite only playing 133 games due to injury. He led the American League in batting average (.359), slugging (.633), and OPS (1.044), while placing second in on-base percentage (.411), and tying for fifth in home runs (32). He was the centerpiece of a vaunted Rangers lineup that helped bring the city of Arlington its first-ever American League pennant.
Hamilton's baseball career is well-described as a riches-to-rags-to-riches story. The Tampa Bay Rays, recognizing the 18-year-old Hamilton's potential, chose him with the first overall pick of the 1999 draft. However, he developed addictions to drugs and alcohol which grew so severe that they forced him out of baseball entirely for a period between 2004 and 2006.
Hamilton was claimed by the Chicago Cubs in the 2006 Rule 5 draft, then immediately sent to the Reds. His turnaround was immediate in Cincinnati; Hamilton, who had conquered his addictions, batted .292 with 19 home runs for the Reds in 2007. In 2008, he found yet another new home with th Rangers and drew MVP consideration with a league-leading 130 RBI. After an injury-plagued 2009, he returned to post career numbers with the Rangers.
Hamilton won the award with 22 first-place votes, four second-place votes, and two fourth-place votes. In second was Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who earned five first-place votes. The Yankees' Robinson Cano placed third, and the Blue Jays' Jose Bautista, who led the major leagues in home runs, placed fourth.
For more on Josh Hamilton and the Rangers, check in with our Rangers blog, Lone Star Ball.
Nov 23 2:01p by Jon Bois - 0 comments