There was a significant debate about whether Miguel Cabrera's Triple Crown season -- the first in baseball since 1967 -- would be enough to beat out the stellar rookie season of the Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout, the darling of the sabermetric set, for the American League Most Valuable Player award.
But this time, the traditional stats carried the day. The Detroit Tigers third baseman won easily, getting 22 first-place votes to Trout's 6.
"I was a little concerned. I thought the new thing about computer stuff, I thought Trout's going to win because they put his numbers over me," Cabrera said to the Associated Press. "I was like relax. ... If he wins, it's going to be fair because he had a great season."
Cabrera hit .330 with 44 home runs and 139 RBI. Trout hit .326 with 30 home runs, 83 RBI, 49 stolen bases and led the AL in runs scored despite starting the season in Triple-A. In WAR -- a stat that measures the wins over an average replacement player -- Trout had the highest number (10.7) of a player in 10 years. Cabrera's WAR was 6.9, fourth-best in the AL.
Cabrera, 29, had hit placed in the top five of MVP voting in each of the previous five seasons. He was the second consecutive winner from the Detroit Tigers, as Justin Verlander won in 2011. Trout was the AL Rookie of the Year.
The San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey won in the National League, becoming the first catcher to win the honor in the National League since Johnny Bench in 1972. He received 27 of the 32 votes, beating out 2011 MVP Ryan Braun for the honor.
Posey, who missed most of the 2011 season with a broken leg, led the NL in batting with a .336 average -- the first NL catcher to win a batting title since 1942 -- and hit 24 home runs and 103 RBI for the world champion Giants. Posey, 25, was NL Rookie of the Year in 2010.
2012 MVP Voting
| 2012 AL MVP | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miguel Cabrera, Tigers | 22 | 6 | 362 | ||||||||
| Mike Trout, Angels | 6 | 21 | 1 | 281 | |||||||
| Adrian Beltre, Rangers | 1 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 210 | |||||
| Robinson Cano, Yankees | 6 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 149 | |||
| Josh Hamilton, Rangers | 3 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 127 | |||
| Adam Jones, Orioles | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 120 | |||
| Derek Jeter, Yankees | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 77 | ||
| Justin Verlander, Tigers | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 58 | ||||
| Prince Fielder, Tigers | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 56 | ||||
| Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 41 | ||||
| Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays | 2 | 5 | 6 | 33 | |||||||
| David Price, Rays | 1 | 3 | 1 | 26 | |||||||
| Fernando Rodney, Rays | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 24 | ||||||
| Jim Johnson, Orioles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 22 | ||||||
| Alex Rios, White Sox | 1 | 5 | 1 | 17 | |||||||
| Josh Reddick, Athletics | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 | |||||||
| Albert Pujols, Angels | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||||||
| Ben Zobrist, Rays | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||||||
| Joe Mauer, Twins | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||
| Rafael Soriano, Yankees | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Matt Wieters, Orioles | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| Felix Hernandez, Mariners | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Jered Weaver, Angels | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Raul Ibanez, Yankees | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 2012 NL MVP | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
| Buster Posey, Giants | 27 | 4 | 1 | 422 | |||||||
| Ryan Braun, Brewers | 3 | 15 | 10 | 4 | 285 | ||||||
| Andrew McCutchen, Pirates | 6 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 245 | |||||
| Yadier Molina, Cardinals | 2 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 241 | ||||
| Chase Headley, Padres | 1 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 127 | ||||
| David Wright, Mets | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 86 | ||||
| Adam LaRoche, Nationals | 6 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 86 | |||||
| Craig Kimbrel, Braves | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 73 | |||
| Aramis Ramirez, Brewers | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 47 | |||||
| Jay Bruce, Reds | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 46 | |||||
| Matt Holliday, Cardinals | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 34 | ||||
| Aroldis Chapman, Reds | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 20 | |||||
| Brandon Phillips, Reds | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18 | ||||||
| Joey Votto, Reds | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 16 | ||||||
| R.A. Dickey, Mets | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 16 | ||||||
| Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | |||||||
| Ian Desmond, Nationals | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | ||||||
| Michael Bourn, Braves | 1 | 2 | 12 | ||||||||
| Allen Craig, Cardinals | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||||||||
| Gio Gonzalez, Nationals | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||||||||
| Alfonso Soriano, Cubs | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||||||
| Kris Medlen, Braves | 2 | 8 | |||||||||
| Martin Prado, Braves | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||||||||
| Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||
| Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||
| Carlos Beltran, Cardinals | 1 | 6 | |||||||||
| Aaron Hill, Diamondbacks | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||
| Carlos Ruiz, Phillies | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| Jason Heyward, Braves | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| Johnny Cueto, Reds | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Bryce Harper, Nationals | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Chipper Jones, Braves | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Miguel Montero, Diamondbacks | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Angel Pagan, Giants | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Hunter Pence, Giants | 1 | 1 |
