Closing out the selections with the one no-brainer in the bunch. Still., there’s a good race for second place.
First, the OPS leaders:
1.276 - Jose Bautista (OF TOR): .360/.502/.773, 20 HR, 40 RBI, 5 SB in 172 AB
1.064 - Matt Joyce (OF TB): .364/.423/.642, 10 HR, 31 RBI, 4 SB in 173 AB
1.001 - Miguel Cabrera (1B DET): .311/.432/.568, 11 HR, 40 RBI, 0 SB in 190 AB
.964 - David Ortiz (DH BOS): .313/.382/.582, 13 HR, 28 RBI, 0 SB in 201 AB
.960 - Curtis Granderson (OF NYY): .278/.348/.612, 17 HR, 41 RBI, 8 SB in 209 AB
.918 - Adrian Gonzalez (1B BOS): .329/.377/.541, 10 HR, 46 RBI, 1 SB in 231 AB
.908 - Jhonny Peralta (SS DET): .314/.373/.535, 8 HR, 31 RBI, 0 SB in 172 AB
.901 - Howie Kendrick (2B LAA): .322/.388/.520, 7 HR, 18 RBI, 4 SB in 177 AB
.901 - Mark Teixeira (1B NYY): .257/.367/.535, 16 HR, 38 RBI, 1 SB in 202 AB
.899 - Mitch Moreland (1B TEX): .307/.384/.515, 7 HR, 18 RBI, 2 SB in 163 AB
.897 - Paul Konerko (1B CWS): .310/.381/.516, 12 HR, 44 RBI, 1 SB in 213 AB
.896 - Carlos Quentin (OF CWS): .258/.351/.545, 13 HR, 37 RBI, 0 SB in 198 AB
.875 - Asdrubal Cabrera (SS CLE): .299/.352/.522, 10 HR, 39 RBI, 7 SB in 224 AB
A couple of shortstops and a second baseman find their way into the the top 13 here. A few other notables:
.877* - Alex Avila (C DET): .281/.349/.527, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 2 SB in 146 AB
.852 - Kevin Youkilis (3B BOS): .254/.377/.475, 8 HR, 34 RBI, 1 SB in 181 AB
.839 - Robinson Cano (2B NYY): .284/.324/.514, 11 HR, 37 RBI, 5 SB in 208 AB
.809 - Russell Martin (C NYY): .242/.352/.458, 9 HR, 26 RBI, 6 SB in 153 AB
Avila falls short of qualifying for the batting title, hence his placement in the second list.
Now we’ll see what WAR has to say about it. Baseball-Reference first:
4.9 - Jose Bautista (OF TOR)
3.4 - Matt Joyce (OF TB)
3.2 - Denard Span (OF MIN)
2.4 - Adrian Gonzalez (1B BOS)
2.3 - Curtis Granderson (OF NYY)
2.2 - Kevin Youkilis (3B BOS)
2.1 - Miguel Cabrera (1B DET)
2.1 - Howie Kendrick (2B LAA)
2.0 - Alex Gordon (OF KC)
1.9 - Alex Avila (C DET)
1.9 - Asdrubal Cabrera (SS CLE)
1.9 - Jacoby Ellsbury (OF BOS)
1.9 - Yunel Escobar (SS TOR)
1.9 - Maicer Izturis (INF LAA)
I left the pitchers off the list. Josh Beckett, who ranked third at 3.3 WAR, is the only one I’d consider worthy of a down-ballot vote right now.
B-Ref thinks Span has been the AL’s best defender by a huge margin. He’s credited with 1.8 WAR defensively. The next highest are Alcides Escobar and Brett Gardner at 1.0 WAR.
The Cabreras are taking big defensive hits. Miguel and Asdrubal rank third and fourth here with 2.6 and 2.4 offensive WAR, but both lose half a win with their gloves.
On to Fangraphs’ WAR:
4.9 - Jose Bautista (OF TOR)
3.2 - Matt Joyce (OF TB)
2.9 - Howie Kendrick (2B LAA)
2.9 - Curtis Granderson (OF NYY)
2.7 - Alexei Ramirez (SS CWS)
2.6 - Denard Span (OF MIN)
2.3 - Ben Zobrist (2B-OF TB)
2.2 - Alex Rodriguez (3B NYY)
2.2 - Jhonny Peralta (SS DET)
2.1 - Miguel Cabrera (1B DET)
2.1 - Alex Gordon (OF KC)
Fangraphs also rates Span as the league’s top defender. The shocking thing is that Kendrick comes in second. Zobrist and A-Rod are also getting big points there.
One last list: WPA. Yesterday, I used only the positive component in discussing the NL MVP race, but I’ve reconsidered and will go actual WPA today.
3.52 - Jose Bautista (OF TOR)
3.02 - Miguel Cabrera (OF DET)
2.60 - Matt Joyce (OF TB)
2.19 - Curtis Granderson (OF NYY)
2.09 - Adrian Gonzalez (1B BOS)
2.00 - Michael Young (INF-DH TEX)
1.93 - Justin Smoak (1B SEA)
1.79 - Adam Jones (OF BAL)
1.54 - Bobby Abreu (OF LAA)
1.24 - Michael Brantley (OF CLE)
So, yeah, that’s four lists and Bautista tops every one of them. It gets more complicated after that.
WAR favors Joyce for the second spot, but he didn’t play against lefties early on and he’s started just 47 of the Rays’ 56 games. Consequently, he’s tied for 17th in the league in RBI. I think those factors knock him down a bit.
Granderson looks like a pretty strong choice for the second spot despite the middling .348 OBP. Hitting lefties for the first time in his career, he’s second in the league in homers and fourth in RBI while playing a quality center field.
I really want to put Asdrubal up near the top, too. He’s the biggest reason the Indians have ranked as the game’s surprise team for two months. Peralta has been just as good offensively, but I’m not buying into the idea that he’s really the superior defensive shortstop.
AL MVP
1. Bautista
2. Granderson
3. A. Cabrera
4. Joyce
5. A. Gonzalez
6. M. Cabrera
7. Peralta
8. Beckett
9. Young
10. Gordon
That’s the list. I gave some thought to sneaking Avila on, as he’s easily been the league’s best catcher to date, yet three Tigers seemed like overkill. Instead, I went for the guy who has been far and away the top left fielder, Gordon.