Trout the bigger fish
Bregman runner-up as Astros denied sweep of player honors
In a head-to-head contest between players whose teams played each other 19 times in 2019, Angels outfielder Mike Trout was named American League Most Valuable Player for the third time Thursday, edging Astros infielder Alex Bregman.
Trout’s victory in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America election prevented the Astros from sweeping the top American League player awards. Justin Verlander won the Cy Young Award, and Yordan Alvarez was Rookie of the Year.
Trout and Bregman were 1-2 on the ballots of all 30 voters, with 17 first-place votes for Trout and 13 for Bregman. Based on a sliding point total, Trout had 355 points to 335 for Bregman and 228 for Marcus Semien of the A’s, who received 22 of 30 third-place votes.
All three finalists played in the American League West, and Trout said he was concerned that Bregman’s second-half surge could carry him to the award.
“When I got hurt, it definitely was in the back of my mind,” said Trout, who missed the season’s last three weeks because of foot surgery. “You have so much time on your hands when you’re done for the season, and you can only sit back and watch.
“What (Bregman) did in the second half of the season was incredible. I was rooting for him. I talk with him all the time, and it’s incredible what he did.”
Bregman wrote in a text message, “It was a honor to be in the running along with such great players! Congratulations to Mike Trout on an unbelievable year!”
Bregman in 2019, his fourth major
league season, split time between third base and shortstop and had a career-best 41 homers with 112 RBIs. His on-base plus slugging percentage totaled 1.015, third-best in the AL, and his 112 walks led the majors.
Trout, who also had a wrist injury in 2019, was limited to 134 games but led the major leagues with a .460 on-base percentage and was tops in the American League with his 1.083 OPS.
He had 45 home runs and 104 RBIs while playing for an Angels team that finished 72-90, 35 games behind the Astros in the American League West.
Trout acknowledged the Angels’ difficulties in recent years but said it hasn’t impacted his desire to excel.
“I come in every year and try to be the best. And at the end of the year, if I’m in the conversation, it means I’ve worked hard and had a good year,” Trout said. “People say, ‘You didn’t make the playoffs.’ I’m doing everything I can to help the team win.
“I let other people decide. I put up the numbers I can put up and go out there and play my game.”
Trout previously won Most Valuable Player awards in 2014 and 2016. He was runner-up last year to Mookie Betts of the Red Sox, fourth behind Jose Altuve of the Astros in 2017, second to Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays in 2015, and second to Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers in 2013 and 2012.
Barry Bonds leads all players with seven MVP awards during the BBWAA era that began in 1931. The other three-time winners are Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Albert Pujols, Mike Schmidt and Alex Rodriguez.
Two voters from each league city vote for the awards, with voters in American League cities selecting AL awards and voters in National League cities voting for NL honors.
Trout received both votes from voters in Baltimore, Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Toronto, while Bregman received both first-place votes from Kansas City and Dallas-Fort Worth. Voters in the other nine BBWAA chapters split evenly, including the players’ home markets of Los Angeles and Houston.
Voters were asked to rank 10 players, and Astros outfielder George Springer placed seventh in the balloting with 69 points and one fourth-place vote.
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole was 10th with 61 points and a pair of fourth-place votes, and Verlander was 11th with 56 points, including a third-place vote.
Chronicle writers do not vote for BBWAA awards in accordance with the newspaper’s ethics policy.