Happy ‘Mike Trout Is Probably Getting Hosed Again’ Day!

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Mike Trout should probably be the American League MVP. No offense to Mookie Betts, who, by some measures, was nearly as good and also led the Red Sox to the postseason — that bit might not matter to you, but it does matter to some voters, and Betts being on a playoff team is a thing that happened. Trout was better in a vacuum, though, just like he was better than 2015 AL MVP Josh Donaldson in a vacuum, just like he was better than 2012 and 2013 AL MVP Miguel Cabrera. You realize that ignorance of a generational player on this scale is what supposedly made Barry Bonds into the PED-using monster y’all think he is, right? What are you trying to do to poor Mike Trout?

Trout has won a single MVP, in 2014, which oddly enough happened to be the one “weak” year in his career — weak being a relative term, as he was only like, an eight-win player instead of on his own tier. The Angels made the postseason in 2014, though, and Trout finally got an award for being the best player on a playoff team. No such luck this year, so even though he’s had a better season than Betts — who again, like Donaldson and both Cabrera seasons before him, truly had a great year that far eclipsed what, say, likely NL MVP Kris Bryant managed in 2016 — we’re all sitting around expecting Trout to get hosed. Again.

It all comes down to preference. Enough voters disagree over what the “valuable” part of “Most Valuable Player” refers to, so you’re going to get situations like this where the newer exciting player gets the nod as he leads his team to postseason glory. Or, you’ll get something like the Triple Crown coming up as it did for Cabrera. It feels like there’s always something in Mike Trout’s way, even though he’s far and away the top talent in the game. Maybe he needs to vary his game a bit. Take up acting like Donaldson, or bowling like Betts. This weather obsession isn’t making you any BBWAA friends, Mike.