When ranking candidates for AL MVP I look at a few things. I look first for the player to manufacture a huge chunk of the teams runs, to the point where the team would be hurting without the player. I also look for the player to not hurt the team in any particular stat category. Finally, I look for a player one of the overall best pure hitters in the American League.

1. Joe Mauer – runs(73), avg(.378), HR(25), RBI(77)
(This was pretty clear to me as Mauer may be one of the greatest hitters of our time)

2. Justin Morneau – runs(79), avg(.298), HR(28), RBI(94)
(He seems to be in this race every year. He is not flashy, but sure does put up the numbers)

3. Carl Crawford – runs(78), avg(.321), HR(12), SB(54)
(Stolen bases are like a guaranteed double, and that’s a lot of extra base hits)

4. Kendry Morales – runs(66), avg(.302), HR(27), RBI(81)
(I know this is a surprise, but look at the numbers)

5. Bobby Abreu – runs(74), avg(.311), HR(11), RBI(81), SB(26)
(Probably the best overall numbers in the American league)

6. Ichiro Suzuki – runs(72), avg(.365), HR(8), SB(24)
(Really just here because he is hitting .365)

7. Chone Figgins – runs(94), avg(.305), HR(3), SB(37)
(Chone Figgins might be the most important player for the Angels offensive production)

8. Mark Teixeira – runs(73), avg(.283), HR(31), RBI(89)
(I had to put him on hear even though I didn’t want to)

9. Miquel Cabrera – runs(71), avg(.335), HR(24), RBI(72)
(His RBI’s are down, but that really isn’t his fault)

10. Evan Longoria – runs(69), avg(.276), HR(24), RBI(88)
(He may move up in this race with an end of season surge)