Miguel Cabrera Triple Crown?

[RedRamage]

I know the conventional wisdom on Cabrera is that he's horrid at defense, but really after watching him a full year at 3rd, I'm not sure that I agree.

Absolutely his range is not great. But he does have a strong, accurate arm. And his much better with the glove than I think 99% of Tigers fans thought he was going to be.

Here's a whole list of defensive video of Cabby. Granted, some are more routine than others, but just wanted to show that there are plenty of good plays by the big man.

http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/video/...00851&c_id=mlb
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/video/...74277&c_id=mlb
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/video/...71067&c_id=mlb
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/video/...58553&c_id=mlb
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/video/...48613&c_id=mlb
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/video/...94867&c_id=mlb
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/video/...64731&c_id=mlb
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/video/...92121&c_id=mlb
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/video/...60237&c_id=mlb
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/video/...02479&c_id=mlb

There are plenty more videos on MLB if you want to look for them too.

Now, don't get me wrong here... Trout is still a better defender. There is absolutely no question there. I'm just saying that Cabrera isn't the defensive liability that conventional wisdom says he is. I would say he's probably average... maybe slightly above average defensively.

Range: poor
Glove: average+
Arm: good

[shes]

I think it's a stretch to even call Cabrera average defensively. His range (which at the ML level is more important than having a good glove or arm) is truly horrific and by virtually every metric you can find, he's one of the worst third basemen in the league.

Even if he was above-average, his impact on the game defensively would still be dwarfed by Trout's. We're talking about the best CF in the AL and maybe all of baseball (don't watch enough NL to know for sure. I know Stubbs and Bourn are very well-regarded).

[SephClone89]

Trout should be MVP. Period.

[RedRamage]

Originally Posted by SephClone89

Trout should be MVP. Period.

Should be, or will be? I don't think defense, as a rule, gets all that much credit in many of the voters eyes. Heck, defense isn't always counted in voting for the Golden Glove!

[amsteel]

Winning the Triple Crown is like hitting a Grand Slam. Do you have to be good to do it? Yes. But you are also a champion of circumstance, all you had to do was be the best THAT YEAR. Not an easy task, but the criteria is not fixed and has nothing to do with 'value'.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by SephClone89

Trout should be MVP. Period.

Unless Cabrera wins the Triple Crown

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by amsteel

Winning the Triple Crown is like hitting a Grand Slam. Do you have to be good to do it? Yes. But you are also a champion of circumstance, all you had to do was be the best THAT YEAR. Not an easy task, but the criteria is not fixed and has nothing to do with 'value'.

I wasn't aware no one had hit a grand slam in 45 years

[SephClone89]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Unless Cabrera wins the Triple Crown

Are you kidding me?

How can you possibly make the argument that Trout should be the winner, UNLESS Cabrera winds up with an extra homer this week or winds up hitting one point above Mauer?

The Triple Crown is an indicator of a fantastic offensive season. But I'm really struggling to see how it can tip the scales in a situation like this, to the extent that today you would say Trout's the guy, but if Cabrera hits one more home run and maintains his lead in the others IT CHANGES EVERYTHING.

[doublem23]

Uh, because its the Triple Crown

/duh

[SephClone89]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Uh, because its the Triple Crown

/duh

Who the hell cares?

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by SephClone89

Who the hell cares?

The guys who vote for the MVP Award

[SephClone89]

Originally Posted by doublem23

The guys who vote for the MVP Award

I realize this.

I'm not arguing that Trout will win the MVP. I'm arguing that he should.

[RKMeibalane]

Originally Posted by SephClone89

Who the hell cares?

There hasn't been a Triple Crown winner in 45 years. If Cabrera pulls it off, he deserves the MVP. People have won the award for less. Andre Dawson won it despite playing on a last place team.

[RKMeibalane]

Originally Posted by SephClone89

I realize this.

I'm not arguing that Trout will win the MVP. I'm arguing that he should.

Because?

[SephClone89]

Originally Posted by RKMeibalane

There hasn't been a Triple Crown winner in 45 years. If Cabrera pulls it off, he deserves the MVP. People have won the award for less. Andre Dawson won it despite playing on a last place team.

Just because it hasn't happened since '67 doesn't mean that the next guy to do it MUST BE the MVP. He's not playing in a vacuum. There's a guy named Mike Trout who's been doing some pretty amazing things too.