My Preseason American League MVP Pick: Robinson Cano

2011 American League MVP: Justin Verlander

One of the biggest debates that goes on with fans, writers, baseball pundits, etc… is whether or not a pitcher should win the MVP award? Old school fans believe that a pitcher can win the award and new school fans don’t want to hear it.

As someone who is in the middle of the new school/old school category, I have always believed a pitcher could win the MVP. I just look at it like this. People say a pitcher can’t win the award because he only effects a team once every five days. But that isn’t necessarily true.

A great pitcher effects an entire pitching staff. A great pitcher usually goes late into the game, which saves the bullpen. Now the bullpen is rested for the rest of the week. A rested pitcher usually means a better pitcher.

I know it’s a rather simplistic way of looking at things, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. There are just different ways to have an effect on a team on an everyday basis. Not all of it is tied up in direct statistics.

So, did I believe Verlander deserved the MVP award in 2011? Yes, I did.

Verlander was the best player on the field every time he took the mound in 2011. And to be honest, it wasn’t even close.

Not only was he the best player, but he was the most valuable. Where would the Detroit Tigers’ rotation be without him? The Boston Red Sox offense would have been just fine without Jacoby Ellsbury. The Blue Jays would have been even more mediocre than they already were without Jose Bautista. The New York Yankees would have been more than okay without Curtis Granderson.

The Tigers would have been nowhere without Verlander. The voters got it right this year.

Verlander received 13 first-place votes, Ellsbury finished second in the voting, and Bautista third.

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By The Baseball Index