MLB Baseball Batting Statistics and League Leaders - Major League Baseball - ESPN

Who would be the AL MVP if the season ended today?

Interesting question. Three guys are running about even. All three of them are having monster seasons. The season is 1/3 over, so I just multiplied their current totals times three to show what they are on pace for.

• Miguel Cabrera .353, 48 HR - 153 RBI, 111 runs scored and 51 doubles.
  
• Justin Morneau .372, 36 HR - 111 RBI, 108 runs scored and 57 doubles. OBP .484.
  
• Robinson Cano .373, 36 HR - 129 RBI, 123 runs scored and 51 doubles. 237 hits.
  

They could fade and other guys could heat up. If so, there are other good possibilities:

• Despite those amazing numbers above from Cabrera, Vernon Wells is actually leading the league in extra base hits! He's on pace for 63 doubles and 39 homers, but is batting "only" .306. He has only 64 hits, but 35 of them are for extra bases. That's unusual, but not wildly off kilter. If you want to see some numbers which are utterly crazy, look at the stats for Wells' teammate Jose Bautista. He has 30 extra base hits, but only 17 singles. (I guess The Blue Jays don't like singles.) He's on pace for 48 homers, but his .247 batting average will not impress many voters. His walks and power give him a very strong OPS, but voters tend to get turned off by those microscopic batting averages.
  
• Kevin Youkilis is not far off the pace, and could pass the top guys if he gets hot. Aside from the "big three" listed above, he's the only other American Leaguer with an OPS over 1.000, thanks to an impressive .449 OBP, and he's lined up for an unreal 141 runs scored to go with 30 dingers.
  
• Vladimir Guerrero is on pace for .335, 36 homers, 132 RBI.
  
• Evan Longoria: .316, 30 HR, 126 RBI and 51 doubles. He's the best hitter on the best team (so far), and that always catches the voters' eyes.
  
• It's not likely that the White Sox will contend, but if they pull off some kind of miracle, Alex Rios could get some support in the balloting. He is on pace for 42 doubles, 33 homers and 48 stolen bases, and is hitting .319.