If you ask most baseball fans they’ll tell you the American MVP Race is between Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera and Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis.
Davis – .304 BA, 46 HR and 118 RBI
Cabrera – .360 BA, 42 HR and 128 RBI
However, that’s not true. Besides homeruns, Cabrera is leading Davis in every major offensive category. Barring an extremely large slump, the reigning Triple Crown winner will stroll into his second straight American League MVP award.
Nevertheless, that’s not what this article is about. This article is about the best player in baseball—and his name is not Miguel Cabrera. His name, is Mike Trout.
First of all, let’s get one things out of the way—the issue of age. For argument’s sake let’s say Cabrera is just as young as Trout (.330/22/80) 22 years old.
Now, I understand Cabrera may go down as the best hitter of this generation. This season alone he has put up some ridiculous numbers in the following situations:
With runners in scoring position and two outs – .455
With the bases loaded – .444
With runners in scoring position – .422
However, baseball is more than hitting. There’s something to be said for the five tools of baseball—Arm Strength, Fielding, Hitting for Power, Hitting for Average and Speed.
Cabrera has the young Los Angeles Angels center fielder beat in two out of five of those areas—Average and Power. However, Trout takes the lead in Speed and Fielding. Since they play in two different areas on the field (center field and third base), we can call arm strength a tie.
When discussing the five tools there’s another part of the argument we have to consider. Cabrera is Hall-of-Fame-like in two of the categories. However, he is only above average in arm strength and below average in fielding and speed.
Mike Trout excels in all five tools. You can bat him anywhere in the lineup, play him anywhere on the field and let him make his own decisions on the base paths.
There is immense value in having a five tool player. It gives you more flexibility as a manager and, if the player is struggling in one area, they still have four other tools to contribute to the team.
If Cabrera hits a slump—no matter how minor it is—he becomes a liability in the lineup because of his lack of ability in the field. If Trout hits a slump, he can still give you speed on the basepaths and outstanding defense in the field.
Miguel Cabrera is likely on his way to a second triple crown and later on the Hall-of-Fame. However, the weaknesses in the other facets of his game, force him to come up short in the conversation for best player in baseball.
