Who Should Win the 2009 American League MVP

The 2009 baseball regular season is over and the ballots have been cast for the American League Most Valuable Player and those results will be revealed after the World Series is complete. I say why wait lets breakdown each candidate and decide who should win the AL MVP. Please take notice that I say should win, even I am not foolish enough to try and predict what the Baseball Writers' Association of America will vote.

After going through the stats I have narrowed it down to a field of four possible candidates Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, Twins catcher Joe Mauer, and Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira.

Jason Bay: In his first full year in Boston Jason Bay was impressive from the start. April and May were good for bay but he struggled for much of the month of June. His overall numbers 36 home runs, 119 runs batted in and a .267 batting average are pretty good. Bay also played a very well in the tricky left field at Fenway Park leading the league in outfield assists with 15. Whether he wins the MVP award or not Bay will cash in this off season since he can become a free agent.

Derek Jeter: Jeter had one of the best years of his career this season. After looking kind of old during the World Baseball Classic many sportswriters were speculating that Jeter was reaching the end of his career. Instead Jeter seemed rejuvenated by the doubters and flourished in his new role as a lead off hitter. Jeter hit .334, with 18 home runs and 66 RBI and 107 runs scored. Jeter even made the fewest errors of his career for a full season with just eight. Jeter also stole 30 bases while being caught only five times.

Joe Mauer: Even after Mauer missed the first month of the season this year he put up some impressive numbers. Mauer had career highs in batting average, .365 which led the majors, home runs, 28, and RBI, 96. Mauer also led the league in slugging percentage and on base percentage. Mauer carried his Minnesota Twins into the playoffs even after losing first baseman and former MVP Justin Mourneau on September 12. Mauer also is widely regarded as one of the best defensive catchers in the league.

Mark Teixeira: Teixeira first year as a New York Yankee was definitely a success, even after a less than stellar month of April. He led the American League in both home runs, 39 and RBI, 122. Teixeira had a batting average of .292 on the year and was third in the league in slugging percentage. He also played a gold glove caliber first base, that improved the Yankees infield as a whole.

After analyzing all the numbers the choice is pretty easy for me and that choice is Joe Mauer. Simply put his offensive numbers compare with any of the other three and he plays a more important defensive position than the other three and plays it very well. We will see if the BBWAA agrees with me when the winner is announced in November.

Statistics courtesy of www.baseball-almanac.com