So, in September, when you watched Cabrera put the Tigers on his back and pretty much carry them to the playoffs overtaking the White Sox while Trout floundered horribly and the Angels choked their way out of the playoffs you were thinking that Trout passed the eye test for most valuable?

Without Cabrera, no way the Tigers make the playoffs. Without Trout, the Angels still would have come in 3rd place in their division.

Yes, because I watched the previous 5 months of the baseball season as well.

Even with Cabrera having the year he had, the Tigers were trailing an overachieving White Sox team in an absolutely terrible division for the vast majority of the season. Meanwhile, Trout was keeping the Angels competitive and within playoff striking distance in a difficult AL West.

Sure Cabrera had a better hitting stat line in September which allowed to him to have a better hitting season than Trout. With Trout, when the bats not working, he was still getting on base via walks and playing gold glove defense. When Cabrera isn't hitting, he's worthless.

One last point, Trout achieved his numbers, the 2nd better hitter in the AL, in 22 less games.

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Team Cutler.

Trout achieved his numbers through July. He was pretty average after the trade deadline. He was the MVP of the 1st half. Cabrera was MVP of the 2nd half. And because the 2nd half is clutch time, Cabrera wins the season award.

You buried the lead, IMO. If Trout started Opening Day this is also a non-discussion and the Angels are a playoff team.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Trout hit .289/.400/.500 in September.

Plus the Angels had the best record in baseball since Trout arrived. HE SHOULD HAVE HELPED THE TEAM WIN MORE WHEN HE WASN'T PLAYING FOR THEM!!!

And the second half is clutch time. Don't forget that

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-- source

Trout hit .257 in September with 6 RBI.

Somebody's lying

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Referencing RBI for a leadoff hitter. Nice work, moron.

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-- source

So, it's okay to mention his RBI and HR's with respect to the MVP award, but not when you are examining him sucking ass down the stretch because he was a lead off hitter?

Would you use ERA as a factor in determining the best reliever of the season?

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But it would be a poor case. There are far too many variables and there isn't some tidy little number that authoritatively declares one player better than another.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Baseball-reference added in the final 3 games in October where he hit .538/.571/.846 but those games don't matter in this arbitrary he sucked argument.

So there is no comparison then. Miggy wins.

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Lots of real bad in here.

_________________
Team Cutler.

That's as silly as using offensive numbers to determine Gold Glove winners.

The Silver Slugger is for purely batting. MVP should be for all-around play.

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So this is MVP of September then?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

If you are down 2 runs in the 9th with a runner on first, I know which one I would rather have at the plate.

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If it was an inning in a game and each team had a number of runs, I know which one I'd want on my team.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Remember these?

_________________
-- source

Exactly. And I'm not going to worry about the tiny percentage of a chance that a ball might be hit in that very small area of the outfield where Trout can get the ball and an average outfielder cannot. I'll take my chances.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Your team will be in less of these situations with the amount of runs he's saving with his defense. But it's fun to pick and chose scenarios that aid your point.

What if your team HAD to steal 2nd base so a base hit would tie the game. I know who I'd want.

_________________
Team Cutler.

How many runs do you think he's saving with his defense?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Not even Mike Trout can steal 1st base.

_________________

The scenario thing is stupid anyways. If you did it like that with other sports, Tom Brady would have about 8 MVPs already, Jordan would have over 10, Kobe would have 3-4, Carmelo would have 2-3, and LeBron probably wouldn't have any.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Angels had a better record with Trout in the starting lineup (80-58, .580) than the Tigers did with Cabrera in theirs (87-74, .540).

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So a 1 month sample size now is more valid than a 5 month sample size?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Mike Trout's mere presence lifted them out of their slump.

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