AL MVP Candidates

Not quite halfway through the season, the MVP race is starting to become a bit more clear, as 4 players have separated themselves from the pack. Let's take a gander at who is making the most noise in the AL so far.

Tracy Giovanola is a two-time 50+ HR hitter, so it's no surprise that he's leading the AL in dingers right now. But his 29 HR's at the time of this writing put him on pace for an absurd total of nearly 69 bombs. And his 86 RBI's put him on pace for over 200!! Does it help that he spends half of his season in the friendly confines of Coors Field? Sure. He's batting .500(!!) with 17 HR's in 27 games at home, while he's batting a slightly more pedestrian .379 with just 12 HR's in 39 away games. Will anyone ever give an MVP award to a guy who plays in Coors? I guess we'll see later down the road.

Second in hits (105), batting average (.396), OBP (.448), SLG (.751), and OPS (1.199) and third in runs (69), with 23 HR's to his name as well, Zip Cook is having a career season, and it's not even the final year on his contract! He is quickly approaching his personal record of 26 HR's in one season, and is on pace for almost 165 runs scored, 105 RBI's (pretty solid for a lead-off hitter), and nearly 250 hits. These numbers are somewhat optimistic though, as Zippy has never played a full season, and has already missed 7 of his team's 66 games. Can he stay healthy from now until the end of the season, or is his body going to let him down again?

On pace for yet another stellar season, Jose Ramirez needs to be in this conversation. Through 67 games, and assuming he misses 12-15 games like he has the last couple of seasons, Jose should finish up with 165 RBI's, 55 HR's, 130 runs, and 215 hits. Not too bad for an old man. He has in fact lost a step or two along the bases, and playing defense, but he is still a solid SS, and everyone loves a SS who can hit the ball.

It's not often that you see a pitcher win the MVP, especially when they have that fancy Cy Young Award, but Adrian Simpson needs to be mentioned. With 11 wins in just 15 starts, he's sporting a 3.07 ERA (up a little from past seasons) and league leading 1.01 WHIP. The guy is just amazing, and certainly deserves a few votes for MVP, if he keeps up with this pace.