Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer near-unanimous pick as AL's MVP - ESPN

Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer near-unanimous pick as AL's MVP

Miguel Cabrera got one first place vote, despite finishing fourth overall. Mauer got the other 27 votes. Cabrera's vote came from Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News, a member of the Seattle chapter. I think Cabrera is a tremendous hitter. He's only 26 years old and has 209 hr and 753 rbi. At the same age, Lou Gehrig's numbers were 146-637; Joe DiMaggio's 198-816; Pujols's 250-758, A-Rod 298-872. Cabrera is in the middle of that pack, and that's one helluva pack, so I'm impressed, but he was not the man this year. Mauer won the double crown, OBP-SLG, and those are the only hitting stats that really mean very much. And he held the Twins together when Morneau was injured, so that they ended up beating Mr. Cabrera's team. And he plays the toughest position on the field. And he plays it well. In other words, that guy from Kyodo News is nuckin' futz.

Mauer will become a free agent after next year. His market value will be 7-8 years at $18-$20m per year, and Jorge Posada will be 39 at the end of next season, so you know the Yankees will be first in line. But Mauer is a home-town boy in MSP. He wants to stay, and the Twins obviously want to keep him. Will the Twins be able to find a way to retain him in the face of the Yankees' presumed blank check? Stay tuned.