November 16, 2012 Page 1 of 38 Clips (November 16, 2012) November 16, 2012 Page 2 of 38 Today’s Clips Contents From the Los Angeles Times (Page 3) Mike Trout robbed? No, Miguel Cabrera deserved MVP award From the Orange County Register (Page 4) AL MVP award is one thing Trout can't quite catch How the Angels may have saved a lot of money today From ESPN.com (Page 7) Cabrera wins on narrative, not numbers Miguel Cabrera named AL MVP From Angels.com (Page 10) Trout finishes second in AL MVP tally Hunter deal right move for Tigers ... and Angels Salmon: Maturation key to Trout's future success From Fox Sports West (Page 17) AL MVP debate got unnecessarily rude From SportsIllustrated.com (Page 19) Cabrera wins AL MVP but debate rages on -- and that's good Cabrera's win over Trout for AL MVP proves team results matter From Yahoo Sports (Page 25) Culture war over Miguel Cabrera's MVP award win over Mike Trout showed beauty of baseball From USA Today (Page 27) Triple Crown winner Cabrera edges Trout for AL MVP Trout deserved better in MVP voting From the Vineland Daily Journal (Page 31) Trout learning to deal with new-found stardom Trout takes 2nd in MVP race From the Wall Street Journal (Page 35) Does the RBI Mean Anything? From the Boston Globe (Page 36) The Holy War of the BBWAA November 16, 2012 Page 3 of 38 FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES Mike Trout robbed? No, Miguel Cabrera deserved MVP award By Houston Mitchell 9:14 AM PST, November 16, 2012 Many Angels fans are up in arms today over the fact that Detroit's Miguel Cabrera won the AL MVP award over Angels center fielder Mike Trout, who finished a distant second. The voting wasn't even close, with Cabrera being placed first on 22 of the 28 ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America. Trout received the other six first- place votes and finished with 281 points. Cabrera finished with 362 points. But really, it was an easy pick. Let's compare the two players. Trout hit .326 with 30 homers and 83 RBIs. He led the league with 129 runs scored and 49 stolen bases. His OPS+ was 171 and his WAR was 10.7. Cabrera won the triple crown, leading the AL in batting average (.330), homers (44) and RBIs (139). He also led the league in slugging percentage (.606). His OPS+ was 165 and his WAR was 6.9. Trout was robbed of a Gold Glove award after his standout play in center. Cabrera, at best, is an average third baseman. So, it all comes down to how much credit you give Trout for leading in the sabermetric categories, such as OPS+ and WAR. But the fact is Cabrera is the first player to win the triple crown since 1967. He led his team to the playoffs. It doesn't matter what sabermetric stat you come up with, you can't overcome those two facts. Mike Trout is a great player, and will probably win several MVP awards before he is done playing. But this season, Miguel Cabrera was just a little bit better. November 16, 2012 Page 4 of 38 FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISER AL MVP award is one thing Trout can't quite catch The Angels’ rookie outfielder finishes second behind Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera of Detroit By JEFF FLETCHER / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Mike Trout got caught in the middle of what was billed as a battle between the old and new schools of baseball analysis, and his supporters lost. For all the numbers the Angels outfielder posted in his historic rookie season, he still came up short of Miguel Cabrera when the AL MVP was awarded to the Detroit Tigers slugger on Thursday. Cabrera, who won baseball's first Triple Crown in 45 years, got 22 of the 28 first-place votes, with Trout taking the other six. "I was a little concerned about the new things with the computers and I thought Trout was going to win because he had some numbers over me," Cabrera said. "I was just relaxed. If he won, it would have been OK, because he had a great season." Trout, who won the Rookie of the Year Award unanimously on Monday, had plenty of admiration for Cabrera, too. "He squares up almost everything," Trout said Monday. "When he hits 'em, they go a long way. It was pretty cool to be in center field and watch him hit." While the knee-jerk summation of the debate was to pit old-school traditional stats against advanced metrics, it was really much simpler than that. The issue was how much of Trout's performance in the field and on the basepaths could overcome Cabrera's work at the plate, and whether voters would be able to overlook the fact the Tigers made the playoffs and the Angels didn't. "I think the Triple Crown helped me to win this award," Cabrera said. "Thank God we got to the playoffs. I think that helped me a lot." In the end, the vote was not as close as many suspected. The votes came from two writers representing each city in the American League. Here is a sampling of comments from some of the voters, who wrote about their decision or responded directly to a request from the Register: •Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle (Cabrera): "I'm in the camp that most valuable means most valuable to his team and not best player. Were this the Best Player Award, there is no doubt Mike Trout is the better all-around player. But Cabrera was at his best November 16, 2012 Page 5 of 38 down the stretch when the Tigers were scrambling for a playoff spot, and Trout was at his best in June and July, and that swayed me just a touch." •Jim Caple, ESPN.com (Trout): "Trout's clear edge in fielding was the tiebreaker. So I voted Trout No. 1, and Cabrera second. I'm still not sure that's the right vote. But I'm not sure it's the wrong vote, either." •Jeff Wilson, Fort Worth Star Telegram (Cabrera): "It wasn't an easy decision. I saw Trout play 18 times against the Rangers, and it seemed like he did something eye- opening in each game. But the difference for me was that Cabrera flourished in clutch situations throughout the season, and not just during his terrific September. Yes, the Angels won one more game than the Tigers, but Cabrera's contributions were the difference in them making the playoffs. That, to me, was especially valuable." •Marc Feinsand, New York Daily News (Cabrera): "I thought Cabrera and Trout both had superb MVP-type seasons. In the end, Cabrera's performance from Aug. 1 through the end of the season – and the fact that his performance helped the Tigers reach the playoffs – probably tipped the scale. The Triple Crown had nothing to do with it; had Curtis Granderson or Josh Hamilton passed him in homers, I still would have voted for Cabrera." •Tim Britton, Providence Journal Bulletin (Trout): "Automatically handing the MVP to a player because he won the Triple Crown would be as shortsighted – probably more shortsighted, actually – than handing it to whoever posts the best WAR (wins above replacement) in any single year. This is about recognizing the uniquely special season Mike Trout had in 2012 – the kind of comprehensively remarkable season that comes along once every long while." •Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times (Cabrera): "Absolutely nothing should be taken away from what Trout did, he was sensational. I just think the context of what Cabrera did was greater – his overall numbers (including games played), his performance in September, his team making the playoffs, his handling of the shift to third base. When I looked at ALL of that, to me he was the MVP." John Lowe, Detroit Free Press (Cabrera): “Among the reasons I voted for Cabrera: His Triple Crown bid. If he’d narrowly lost the Triple Crown, I still would have voted for him. He was ahead in all three right at the end — the first to do that since Yaz. And he got to the Triple Crown with such a huge September. He played a huge role in the Tigers’ making the playoffs. In the crunch time of September, when Tigers and Angels tried to rally to make the playoffs, Cabrera’s hitting soared. That’s when he made his Triple Crown bid. He played noticeably more games than Trout. “Games played” is part of the criteria. His move to third made possible the acquisition of Fielder, and Cabrera played a respectable third.” Roger Mooney, Tampa Tribune (Trout). (I suggest you just click the link and read the whole thing.) November 16, 2012 Page 6 of 38 Sheldon Ocker, Akron Beacon Journal (Cabrera): “The Triple Crown element was important to me and I gave an edge to Cabrera because the Tigers made the playoffs and he had a lot to do with that, including down the stretch.” La Velle Neal, Minneapolis Star Tribune (Cabrera): “I wrote a column in late September supporting Trout. But Miggy kept hitting and helped his team reach the postseason. So I changed my mind. I struggled with the decision between two elite players. Trout’s WAR number is outrageous, but are we supposed to just cut and paste the top ten WAR rankings every year? I don’t think so.” How the Angels may have saved a lot of money today November 15th, 2012, 6:33 pm · · posted by JEFF FLETCHER, OCREGISTER.COM I tweeted earlier that Angels fans ought to find the silver lining in Mike Trout finishing second for MVP: his eventual multiyear deal will cost a lot less.