Orioles third baseman Manny Machado finished fifth and closer Zach Britton placed 11th in the American League MVP voting that was announced Thursday.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout won for the second time in three years – he’s finished first or second in each of the past five seasons – with Boston’s Mookie Betts second, Houston’s Jose Altuve third and Toronto’s Josh Donaldson fourth.
Machado was named on all 30 ballots submitted by select members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He received five fourth-place votes, seven fifths, nine sixths, four sevenths, three eighths and one each for ninth and 10th.
It is the second highest MVP finish of his five-season career. Machado was fourth in the voting in 2015.
Britton, who finished fourth in the 2016 AL Cy Young voting, garnered six votes and 11 total points for MVP, the first time he’s ever received a MVP vote. He had one eighth-place vote, three for ninth and two for 10th. Voters must include 10 players on their ballot.
No other pitcher received more than one AL MVP vote; AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello didn’t receive any MVP votes.
Mark Trumbo, who led the majors in home runs, wasn’t named on any ballots.
This was my first time voting for AL MVP (I was not permitted to vote in my 11 seasons as an employee of The Baltimore Sun) and it certainly wasn’t an easy one.
I’ll detail the reasoning behind each of my 10 choices tomorrow morning, but for full Orioles’ disclosure, I had Machado fifth and Britton ninth.
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Ya know .... It just DOESN'T make sense that a guy gets 6 times as many MVP votes as any of the Cy Young finalists received, while the eventual winner didn't garner ANY!!
In one case you're saying that he wasn't worthy of being the Cy Young winner because he didn't pitch enough, and yet on the other hand, his 60 whatever innings were more valuable than the other 3 guys 200+ innings. I'm so confused.
Is it simply a case of different writers have different votes or does this indicate that writers are as every bit as fickle as the fans?
I think it is different writers with the different votes. But that wouldn't have helped Britton in Cy Young. Too many people think the award should go to a starter almost always.