When
Dustin Pedroia first came on to the scene early in the 2007 season he looked completely over matched. But
GM Theo Epstein and manager
Terry Francona knew better.
Pedroia went on to win the
AL Rookie of the Year Award as well as a
World Series title. Now he has an
MVP award to go along with it.
We can't stand the little gnat, but we do respect the way he plays and it's that play that helped him beat out
Justin Morneau for the
MVP award. With
David Ortiz banged up and
Manny Ramierz being
Manny,
Pedroia helped lead the
Red Sox back to the playoffs with a .326 average, 4 points less than the batting title winner,
Joe Mauer.
Pedroia added 17 home runs, 83 RBI, 20 stolen bases and led the league in runs scored (118) and multi-hit games (61). He also became the fifth second baseman in baseball history with 200 hits, 50 doubles, 100 runs scored, and at least 15 home runs. He took 16 of the 28 first place votes.
Morneau, who we would have selected, carried an offensively inept
Twins team for much of the season. The
Twins came up short in the
AL Central and
Wild card races, but they wouldn't have been close without
Morneau, who won the
MVP award in 2006. The first baseman hit .300 with 23 home runs and a second league best 129 RBI. He received 7 first place votes and finished 60 votes behind
Pedroia.
Kevin Youkilis and
Joe Mauer each received 2 first place votes, while
Francisco Rodriguez picked up 1.
Alex Rodriguez was the top
Yankees finisher with 45 votes, good enough for 8th place, while
Mike Mussina finished 19th with 3 votes. How in the world did
Mariano Rivera not get one vote?
As usual, our pre-season pick,
Curtis Granderson, received no votes.
| 2008 AL MVP Award Voting |
| Player, Club | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
| Dustin Pedroia, BOS | 16 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
| 317 |
| Justin Morneau, MIN | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
|
|
| 257 |
| Kevin Youkilis, BOS | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
|
| 201 |
| Joe Mauer, MIN | 2 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 188 |
| Carlos Quentin, CWS |
| 1 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 1 | 1 | 160 |
| Francisco Rodriguez, LAA | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | 2 |
| 2 | 143 |
| Josh Hamilton, TEX |
|
| 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 112 |
| Alex Rodriguez, NYY |
|
|
|
| 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 45 |
| Carlos Pena, TB |
|
| 1 |
| 2 |
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 44 |
| Grady Sizemore, CLE |
|
|
|
|
| 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 42 |
| Evan Longoria, TB |
|
|
|
|
| 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 38 |
| Cliff Lee, CLE |
|
|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 |
| 24 |
| Miguel Cabrera, DET |
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
| 1 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
| Vladimir Guerrero, LAA |
|
|
|
|
|
| 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 |
| Jermaine Dye, CWS |
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
| 2 |
| 2 | 14 |
| Aubrey Huff, BAL |
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
| 2 | 3 | 12 |
| Milton Bradley, TEX |
|
|
|
|
| 1 | 1 |
|
|
| 9 |
| Jason Bartlett, TB |
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
|
|
|
| 6 |
| Mike Mussina, NYY |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
| 3 |
| Raul Ibanez, SEA |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 | 1 |
| Ian Kinsler, TEX |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 | 1 |
| Ichiro Suzuki, SEA |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 | 1 |
| Mark Teixeira, LAA |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 | 1 |
Labels: 2008 Award Predictions, 2008 Awards, AL MVP, Dustin Pedroia, Justin Morneau, Pedroia Captures AL MVP
Share
Especially if your name is Jason Giambi. The former leader of the Oakland A's playoff teams of 2000-2001 has re-signed with the A's after 7 years in New York. Giambi passed his physical, enabling him to put his John Hancock on a 1 year, $5.25 million contract to play for Oakland.
While he screwed up, he still had the backing of his teammates, most notably the Yankees captain, Derek Jeter, and was well liked by the fans and media.
