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Originally Posted by
bullethead 
I really don't see the argument in any of this. Trout's numbers after August 1st, though solid, certainly didn't help his cause. he hit below .290 and his team fell short to the surging A's.
Cabrera, on the other hand, hit .344 19hr and 54 rbi while leading his team to the division.
Another way of saying that is that Trout had an incredibly strong first half. And since games in April affect your playoff spot the same as games in September, fail to see your point.
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Both are great players. One lead his team to the playoffs and world series, one did not.
The MVP voting occurs before the playoffs, again, so the World Series has no effect on this. And Trout led his team to more wins, the ticket to the playoffs, in a harder schedule. Silliness of the 'led his team to the playoffs' argument aside, you are literally arguing that Miguel Cabrera should get credit for the badness of other AL Central teams.
This post remains one of my favorite Fire Joe Morgan quotes of all time, in describing a similar issue with the 2008 NL MVP race
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Originally Posted by FJM
"But as unthinkably dangerous as the Cardinals’ slugger was, he couldn’t get his team to the postseason. Howard did."
You're right. Albert Pujols did not nearly pitch well enough, or for enough innings (Can you believe zero innings? What a bum!) for the Cardinals to to make the playoffs. (The Phillies had a team ERA of 3.88; the Cardinals 4.19. Albert Pujols? More like Albert Not A Very Good Pitching Coach!)
Pujols should have lobbied to have St. Louis the city moved to Oregon, where his Cardinals would have won the NL West by two games and he would be lauded as a clutch MVP baseball superhero with quality intangibles and a leader with the uncanny ability to come through when it counts. But unfortunately, Pujols has never been good at getting entire cities to spontaneously change their geographical locations.
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The angels would have finished the season the same way they started without Trout-no postseason(and they were favored to be get there)
The tigers would not have reached the postseason without Cabrera. (and they were favored to get there as well)
Players contribute runs (and through runs, wins), not playoff spots. Playoff spots are a combination of the individual player's achievements along with his teammates. The MVP is an individual award, not a team award, so accrediting Miguel Cabrera or Mike trout with the performance of the other 39 guys on the roster that helped get the Tigers to the playoffs, or of the other 4 AL Central and 3 AL West teams that led to each team's eventual playoff result is nonsensical.
The Angels would not be in the same spot with or without Trout, their record would be significantly worse. The same for Cabrera. However, the delta between their respective records is the value that player added, and Trout's is greater.