Miguel Cabrera has won the American League MVP award, and Buster Posey has won the National League MVP award. Cabrera earned 22 of 28 first place votes and 362 points, along with six second place points, to finish ahead of Mike Trout, who earned the other six first place votes, 21 second place votes, and one quizzical third place vote. In the NL, Posey earned 27 of the 32 first place votes, four second place votes, and one third place vote to finish ahead of Ryan Braun, who earned three first place votes, 15 second place votes, ten third place votes, and four fourth place votes. The other two first place votes in the NL went to Yadier Molina of the Cardinals, who finished fourth behind Posey, Braun, and Andrew McCutchen.
Cabrera's win over Trout isn't a surprise at the end of the day, due to the parade of voters beating the drum of "Triple Crown" and "playoffs" while ignoring Trout's substantial advantages in the baserunning and defensive aspects of the game. The argument has been beaten to death and beyond, and I'm not going to rehash it here. Earlier today, Garrett wrote about whether or not Trout had a chance of winning the award, and we know based on the voting that he didn't. Adrian Beltre of the Rangers finished third, Robinson Cano finished fourth, and free agent outfielder Josh Hamilton finished fifth, just three points ahead of sixth place finisher Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles. AL Cy Young winner David Price finished 12th with 26 points, less than half as many points of AL Cy Young runner up (and 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young winner) Justin Verlander, who finished in eighth with 58 points.
Things were more fluid in the National League, where Posey was the slam dunk favorite for the award as soon as discussion began. The seemingly more debated question would be whether or not Ryan Braun's PED fiasco from last winter would have an impact on him in the voting. It didn't appear that it did though, with Braun being placed on all 32 ballots and finishing no lower than fourth on any of them. McCutchen finished third in his breakout season for the Pirates, four points ahead of Molina, who appeared on all but one ballot with his placement ranging from first through tenth. Chase Headley finished fifth after a fantastic year in relative anonymity in San Diego. NL Cy Young winner RA Dickey finished 15th in the voting behind a pair of relievers: Craig Kimbrel (eighth) and Aroldis Chapman (12th).
