Explaining my AL MVP ballot: Why I had Betts first, Britton ninth

With the MVPs announced Thursday night, I figured I should explain, in detail, why I voted the way I did for American League MVP.

Because I selected Boston’s Mookie Betts, who came in second, over the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout, who won the award for the second time in three years.

I admit my transgressions. And I will proceed to the firing line. Blindfold, please.

Before I explain my thoughts, I want to stress something about the writers who vote for BBWAA awards (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year).

As a group, we take it very seriously. We solicit opinions. We pore over statistics. We talk to other voters. And then we make the call ourselves. Sometimes we get it right; sometimes we don’t. But very few writers take the responsibility lightly. Trust me on that.

I probably talked to 10 big-league players and staff members to get their thoughts on this year’s vote. I also spoke with several other writers and a few of my stat-head cronies, who made an impassioned plea as to why the only right answer in the AL MVP debate was Trout.

The players I talked to, almost to a man, leaned toward Betts, because he had a tremendous year and because, yes, his team won the ridiculously competitive AL East while Trout’s Angels lost 88 games and finished in fourth place in the AL West, 21 games out of first place.

It’s not Trout’s fault, of course, that his team stinks. And if Betts didn’t have such a monster season, I would have selected Trout as my No. 1. But, to me, this race was close enough for the word “valuable” to enter the equation. And Betts’ all-around success contributed significantly to the value of a division champion. The ballot leaves the qualifications up to interpretation. This is my interpretation:

1.      Mookie Betts, RF, Boston

Writers are humans. Really. There’s going to be some personal experience mixed in to our final decisions. Mike Trout is the best player on the planet. I believe that. But when I watched Betts play in person this year, he was the best baseball-playing human in the galaxy.

In 10 games at Camden Yards, Betts homered eight times, drove in 15 runs and scored 18. He hit .514 with a .609 on-base percentage and he made several huge plays in right field. I’ve never seen one player dominate a season series the way Betts did, and I’ve been doing this a long time. Overall, in 19 games against the O’s, Betts hit .408 in 76 at-bats.

Years ago, you could say, “Well, it was against the Orioles.” But this Orioles team battled with the Red Sox all season; Boston won the season series 11-8 and captured the division by four games over the Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays.

And Betts absolutely controlled the games when it counted. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that small sample size is why I voted for Betts, but he sure did make an impression on me.

He also was superb against just about everyone; he hit .338 in the second half and spent most of his time this season at either leadoff or clean-up. And he won a Gold Glove – and led in defensive runs saved – in right field, which isn’t his natural position. Betts outpaced Trout in hits, doubles, homers, RBIs and scored one fewer run.

Trout crushed Betts in walks and on-base percentage and bested him in slugging percentage and WAR, too. It obviously was close for me, but I went with my gut and the guy who excelled in meaningful games. I’m not apologizing for it. So, give me that blindfold.

2.      Mike Trout, CF, Los Angeles Angels

Not much left to say here. I guess a fair argument is that Trout has spoiled us to the point that some writers look for an excuse not to vote him first. But this is the first time I’ve had a MVP vote (for 11 seasons I was prohibited from voting for any awards while an employee of the Baltimore Sun) and I tried to look at it with fresh eyes.

For me, it just came down to the fact that I didn’t think he separated himself enough from Betts to make up for the fact that the Angels were never higher than fourth in their division from June 3 on. So, while others were performing at the highest level in a months-long pennant race, Trout didn’t have that same spotlight glare. Again, not his fault. I get it. I completely understand the argument for him, and I have no problem with him winning it.

But so long as valuable is in the title of the award, and it’s not specifically defined, a team’s pennant-race viability will be factored into my interpretation. By the way, Trout wasn’t Mookie-like against the Orioles in 2016, but he wasn’t a slouch – going 7-for-23 (.304 average) with six singles, one double, four walks, six strikeouts, one steal and two RBIs in six games. He’s awesome. No argument here.

3.      Jose Altuve, 2B, Houston Astros

Altuve wins my award for most fun to watch. He’s everywhere. He does everything. And he’s basically jockey-sized. I think he was the league’s MVP for the first half, hitting .341 with 14 of his 24 homers and 23 of his 30 stolen bases.

He slowed a little in the second half, all-around anyway, but still won the batting title with a .338 average, 20 points higher than Betts, who was second in the league. For me, Betts, Trout and Altuve were in a tier of their own.

4.      Adrian Beltre, 3B, Texas Rangers

This, honestly, is what I think is the most controversial thing about my ballot. Beltre, Manny Machado and Josh Donaldson were interchangeable from four to six for me. All three were great defensively, great offensively and played for playoff teams.

Beltre was the best down the stretch, basically throwing the Rangers on his 37-year-old shoulders. He hit 20 homers and batted .323 after the All-Star Break.

One AL pitcher told me that, besides Betts and Trout, Beltre was the hitter that had to be pitched to most closely this year, because his approach never changes and he can beat you in so many ways. Beltre, who placed seventh overall for MVP but received a first-place vote, also captured his fifth Gold Glove this year.

5.      Manny Machado, 3B, Baltimore Orioles

I have the pleasure of watching this kid play on a daily basis. What he does defensively at third base while being one of the best power hitters in the AL at age 24 is nothing short of remarkable.

He’s not higher on this list, though, because his second-half didn’t match up to the lofty standards he has set for himself (.266/.306/.492). He was good enough to get my vote for Most Valuable Oriole, but he was a step behind the elite for league MVP.

I put him ahead of Donaldson, because Machado’s a better defender at third, and he also had to start 43 games at shortstop this year, and handled that transition solidly.

6.      Josh Donaldson, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays

Blue Jays fans can send the hate mail to dan@baltimorebaseball.com. Admittedly, this seems a little low for the 2015 MVP, who had another stellar season.

But he, too, stumbled a bit in the second half (.257/.384/.481) and though he is a good defender, he’s not quite in the same class as Beltre or Machado. Again, this was a three-sided coin flip. He finished fourth overall in the voting.

7.      Robinson Cano, 2B, Seattle Mariners

I’m not quite sure how this is possible, given Cano’s huge contract and lofty status in the game, but he was kind of under-the-radar this year despite hitting 39 homers, driving in 103 runs, batting nearly .300 and playing Gold-Glove-caliber defense.

He’s a great player and he had a great year. Just not as good as the players above him on this list. He was selected eighth overall.

8.      David Ortiz, DH, Boston Red Sox

Big Papi deserves Most Amazing Player Award for what he accomplished in his final season at age 40. He could barely run and still hit 48 doubles while slugging 38 homers and driving in 127 runs in the middle of a lineup that won the AL East. It was a tremendous swan song.

But when evaluating MVP, I look at all aspects of value and Ortiz gets docked for not playing the field. The players I chose ahead of him didn’t just play a position; they were all elite defensively. They provided major value beyond what they did with their bats. And that’s a part of the voting for me. Because of that lack of defense, all of the players I chose ahead of Ortiz on this list had a higher WAR than Big Papi’s 5.1.

9.      Zach Britton, LHP, Orioles

He was left off some Cy Young Award ballots, but I couldn’t leave him off my MVP ballot, not after he posted the lowest ERA (0.54) in the history of the game for someone who compiled at least 50 innings (he threw 67).

Britton was perfect in 47 save chances; if he blows three of those – an acceptable number for most humans – the Orioles potentially don’t make the playoffs.

The argument can be made that he was even more valuable to the Orioles than Machado, but you can’t ignore that he played in less than half of the games as the other guys on this list. He received five other votes besides mine, none higher than eighth.

10.  Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Detroit Tigers

I struggled with this one, but it just didn’t seem right to leave Cabrera off the ballot after he surged in the second half and had another outstanding campaign (38 homers, 108 RBIs, .391 on-base percentage). His limited defensive skills drop him to 10th, and he’s Trout-like in that we’re probably spoiled by how good he is every year.

Snubbed

To my dismay, I could not find a spot for Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor, who is so darn good (as we saw in the postseason). He’s an exceptional defensive shortstop and he had an all-around good year offensively (.301 average 15 homers, 19 steals, 5.7 WAR), but the video-game numbers put up by so many hitters this year hurt Lindor’s candidacy. He’s the only overall Top 10 finisher (he was ninth) that didn’t make my Top 10.

Minnesota’s Brian Dozier deserved serious consideration, as did about five others. But we only have 10 spots; some players with MVP-type years didn’t make my cut. Still, my Top 10 made it into the final voting Top 11. So, it was either a solid ballot or I’m really boring. Or both.