Garces 1
Juan Garces
Dr. Steffen Guenzel
ENC 1101-0147
11/27/2012
Final Draft
The MVP Debate of Generations
Baseball is considered to be America’s pastime, and rightfully so. Ever since the
baseball phenomena took over the New York area, it has become one of the countries
most popular and storied sports. With a sport this old, that has such a rich history, the
way we view the games, its rules, its awards and more importantly its players, has
undoubtedly changed over the decades. A perfect example of this is the Most Valuable
Player award (or MVP). The 2012 season had a controversial debate over the award
winners, as bot of its recipients, more specifically the American League MVP, were not
as clear-cut as it has been in recent years. It also sparked the generations’ debate, as
people from the past generation were more inclined to vote for one player more than the
other, who was favored by the people of the new generation who favor new-age statistics
to determine a players value. With the award already being decided, there are various
view points on who should’ve won, and why.
The MVP award has a long history. It is an award given to recognize the most
valuable player in the American and National league. Since the awards introduction in
1931, there have been 162 winners, many of which have ended up in the Hall of Fame.
This years MVP recipients are the World Series Champions San Francisco Giants own
Buster Posey, and the Detroit Tigers, who just so happened to have lost to the Giants in
Garces 2
the World Series, Miguel Cabrera. Now each player most certainly deserved the award,
but there are many analyst, coaches, and fans that strongly believed that other players
were more deserving of the award. Buster Posey, the Giants young stud catcher, won the
award with less criticism than A.L. MVP winner Miguel Cabrera. Now this is partly due
to the fact that Buster Posey put up amazing statistics, and led his San Francisco Giants to
a World Series Championship, and this put him head and shoulders above the rest of his
competition in the National league. The fact that he didn’t have to deal with a certain
player named Mike Trout also helped. Mike Trout is the reason that this debate over the
MVP started, as his historic season gave Miguel Cabrera a run for his money for the
award, and more importantly, gave the voters an incredibly hard decision to make, as it
sparked a debate over what the MVP award really stands for.
There are three common viewpoints in this debate. There are those that believe
that Miguel Cabrera rightfully deserved the award for leading his team to the post season,
and putting up incredible numbers that actually won him the Triple Crown award, which
is the first since 1967. There are the Mike Trout supporters, that argue that he led all of
Major League Baseball in WAR (Wins Above Replacement), a statistic used to show
exactly how valuable a player is by determining how many wins a player is worth.
Trout’s statistics were also nothing to scoff at, as he had unprecedented numbers, and
nearly led his Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to the postseason as well. And then there
are those that are neutral to the decision, but believe that the way the award winner is
selected and what it stands for, needs to be put into perspective, and should be altered.
Bleacherreport.com’s featured columnist, Ron Juckett, is a Miguel Cabrera supporter,
who believes he deserved the award. Opposing his views are Mathew Leach, a national
Garces 3
reporter for Major League Baseball, who believes Mike Trout deserved the award. And
then there is Bleacherreports.com MLB lead writer Zachary D. Rymer, which believes
that the description of the award needs to be analyzed and altered to make it easier to vote
on. Each writer has many people that agree and support their views in this controversial
selection.
First off, we’ll look at Miguel Cabrera’s case for the MVP award. Ron Juckett, a
featured columnist for Bleacherreport.com, thought that Miguel Cabrera rightfully
deserved the award. He thinks that Trout did not get snubbed for the award, and that the
voters got it right by giving the MVP to Cabrera. The main points to his argument are that
Cabrera led the league in batting average, homeruns, and runs batted in. This is an
incredible accomplishment that netted him the Triple Crown award, which is given to a
player that leads his respective league in the three offensive categories that were just
named. To show how extremely difficult this is to do; one just has to look at the last
player to win it, Carl Yastrzemski, who won it in 1967. Another point that Juckett points
makes is that Cabrera’s team, the Detroit Tigers, made it all the way to the World Series,
while Trout’s team did not even make the playoffs. Juckett makes this a focal point, as he
believes that without Cabrera, the Tigers don’t even make it to the postseason, making
him more valuable.
Next up is Trout’s case. The rookie phenom put up historical numbers that no one
has ever seen, and what was more impressive was that they came from a 20 year old
rookie. Matthew Leach was one of many that believe Trout should’ve won the award for
many reasons. Leach admits that Cabrera was slightly better than Trout at the plate with
his hitting prowess, but Trout was undoubtedly the better overall baseball player, which
Garces 4
should make him more valuable. Leach points out that Trout was easily the superior
baserunner out of not only the two, but of the entire league, as Trout led all of baseball
with 49 stolen bases. Another factor that Leach states is that Trout played Gold-Glove
caliber defense in center field, while Cabrera was well below average defensively at third
base. All of this defends Mike Trout’s case for being the most valuable player, and Leach
believes that had Cabrera not won the Triple Crown, Trout would’ve easily won the
award. This brings up the interesting third view.
The third view is that the award’s description; “Most Valuable Player” can be
seen in many ways, and needs to be analyzed thoroughly before naming the winner.
Zachary D. Rymer is one of those who support this. Rymer has written various articles
about how Trout should be considered the MVP, because he is baseballs best overall
player, due to his combination of game disrupting speed, terrific defense, surprising
power, and his amazing hitting prowess. Rymer states that the new-age statistics that the
new generation of fans, coaches, and general managers all love, favor Trout for the
award, as his numbers easily make him the best player. But was he the most valuable
player? The older generation apparently does not believe so. Cabrera got the most votes
for the award because his team made the playoffs and led the league in the three major
offensive categories that the old school fans enjoy, but that the new school crowds
despise and calls overrated. This brings up the interesting old-vs.-new school debate over
the award. The Baseball Writers Association of America who give out the award seem to
be old school thinkers as evidence by Cabrera winning the award, but Rymer thinks the
award needs to be analyzed further. Should the award go to the best player in baseball?
Or should the award go to the player who is seen as the most valuable? This is surely not
Garces 5
the last time that this issue comes up, as there will be cases just like this in the future. So
we shall see if the voting favors new age statistics next time, or if it will revert to these
ways.
Garces 6
Bibliography
Leach, Matthew. MLB.com. Rep. Major League Baseball, 14 Nov. 2012. Web.
<http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121114&content_id=40282628&vkey=ne
ws_mlb&c_id=mlb>.
Juckett, Ron. 2012 AL MVP: The MVP Voters Got It Right Taking Cabrera over Trout.
Rep. Bleacherreport.com, 16 Nov. 2012. Web.
<http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1411347-2012-al-mvp-the-mvp-voters-got-it-righttaking-cabrera-over-trout?search_query=al%20mvp>.
Rymer, Zachary D. MVP Debate. Rep. Bleacherreport.com, 15 Nov. 2012. Web.
<http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1410684-al-mvp-award-2012-voting-results-whymike-trout-got-totally-screwed>.