The week in baseball: 2009 MVP hopefuls

Top list of talent to pick from for this year's Most Valuable Player

Every team has its own, but only one player from each league will be voted the undisputed most valuable player. The 2009 season is ripe with stars that have made an otherwise mediocre team into a playoff hopeful. There are some players, like Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals (10^th in the AL with a 12-8 record, 1^st with a 2.43 ERA), or Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres (6^th in the NL with 34 homeruns, 18^th with 77 RBI) who may be the best on their teams, but aren’t enough to lift their team out of the gutter, so they won’t appear on the list despite their value. Here’s a list of some potential playoff bound stars who will likely earn the title of Most Valuable Player this year.

The American League Contenders

1. Joe Mauer, The Minnesota Twins

He’s been known to have the best swing in baseball and he has proven it again this season as he leads the majors with a .371 average. He’s a three-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Sugger, a two-time AL batting champion, and a gold glove winner. He’s just never won an MVP award. It’s not surprise considering the Minnesota Twins just don’t have the weapons to be major threat anymore. The Twins do, however, have a chance to make the postseason. The only reason the Detroit Tigers sit less than five games ahead of the Twins is Miguel Cabrera who is not only a MVP candidate as well, but the team leader in homeruns, RBIs and average (27, 82, .338). Moe Mauer is giving this team the best shot at the postseason and he’s putting up numbers in his career that are almost unheard of these days. The Twins should lock up starting pitcher Brad Penny from the Boston Red Sox so Mauer has a little more help down the stretch as the race heats up.

2. Mark Teixeira, The New York Yankees

There’s potential of a lot of back and forth with this choice between Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira. On the one hand, as the captain and perennial producer at shortstop, Jeter has been the rock of the team. He sits atop the Yankees and 5^th in the American League in batting with a .333 average and within the top 50 in the league in RBIs and homeruns. On the other hand, Mark Teixeira held this team up when Alex Rodriguez was down with injuries earlier on this season. He leads the league with 97 RBIs and sits fourth with 31 homeruns. Both Jeter and Teixeira are viable candidates from the team with the best record in baseball, but even in fielding Teixeira leads the Yanks. He’s only committed one error in over 120 games played this season while Jeter, though he’s racked up 282 assists to Teixeira’s 44, has given up six errors. On a team that gets help from all sides, Jeter may be the face of the organization, but Teixeira has held this team up on all sides and though he was the dog of the team when the season started, he’s the top dog as it ends.

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