The final award for the 2016 season was handed out on Thursday closing the door on another remarkable season. Although there were several players deserving of the Most Valuable Player distinction, only two could be named, with one that could be considered more questionalble than the other.
Kris Bryant, who has had a magical career so far (two seasons), added another trophy to his case picking up the National League MVP. Bryant received 29-of-30 first place votes beating out Daniel Murphy who received the lone first place vote that Bryant missed out on. Had he received all 30 first place votes, Brayant would have been the first player in baseball history to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player unanimously.
There isn’t much left for Bryant to win after picking up this award. He is the first player to win major awards in order starting with the Golden Spikes Award (best amateur player in the United States), Minor League Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and now Most Valuable Player of the Year. This isn’t a personal award, but you can add the World Series Champion to that as well. Not bad for a Las Vegas kid.
Rounding out the top five in the National League in voting behind Bryant and Murphy, was reigning NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager, Chicago Cunbs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, and Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado.
Not that the vote in the American League was controvesial, but Angels outfielder Mike Trout took home his second AL MVP award beating out Mookie Betts of the Red Sox. It was the first time since 2003 that a player won the award on a team that didn’t make the playoffs. Trout captured 19 first place votes to Betts nine.
A postseason birth isn’t a prerequisite to win the award, but many think that it shouldn’t go to a player on a last place team, because essentially without them they still would have been in last. Despite all of that, Trout added another stellar season to his career. In his five full seasons, he has been named to the All-Star team five times, won the Rookie of the Year Award, five Silver Sluggers, and now two MVP Awards (it is also worth noting that he finished second in voting the three years that he didn’t win it).
The rest of the voting in the American League behind Trout and Betts were Houston Astros Jose Altuve, Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson, and Baltimore’s Manny Machado.
The Winter Meetings are next on the agenda for Major League Baseball, as the offseason moves along. They are scheduled for December 5th-8th in Washington D.C.
John Ginder
John has recently graduated from the University at Albany with a B.A. in History and is currently finishing his Master's Degree there as well in secondary education. After being away from school for over two decades he decided to go back and work towards his dream of becoming a social studies teacher.
You must be logged in to post a comment.