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Mookie Betts, of the Red Sox, was named the AHL's MVP in 2018, while Brewers' Christian Yelich won the NHL's MVP, MLB announced Thursday night. On the American side, Betts beat the other finalists, Mike Trout, Angels, and Jose Ramirez, Indians. During the vote at the NL, Christian Yelich defeated Javier Baez of the Cubs and Nolan Arenado of the Rockies.
In the American League, Betts had 28 first-place votes. Trout and his Red Sox teammate, J.D. Martinez, won the other two. Trout finished second with 24 votes for second place. Here is a complete AL voting list.
Yelich got 29 of 30 votes in first place at the BN, the other being awarded to Jacob deGrom, winner of the Mets pitcher / Cy Young. Baez was second with 19 votes. Here is a full breakdown of NL's vote.
Betts, 26, was the best player in the best team in 2018, a big World Series champion. He hit 0.346 / 0.438 / 0.640 (186 OPS +) with 47 doubles, five triples, 32 homers, 80 RBIs, 129 points, 30 robberies, 10.9 WAR points and 20 defensive points saved. A true superstar of the five tools, he beat only 91 times in 614 appearances at the plate. He led the majors on average, slugging, scored runs and WAR. He also directed all AL players in registered defensive circuits.
Trout led the AL on the move, percentage on base and OPS, finishing second from WAR to Betts. Trout now has two MVPs and seven finals among the first four although his age-26 season. There is no shame in losing here in the season that Betts had, and Trout never finished lower than second place when he played at least 141 games. Ramirez beat .270 / .387 / .552 (150 OPS +) with 38 doubles, 39 draws, 105 RBIs, 110 points, 34 interceptions, 106 goals scored, compared to 80 strikeouts and quality defenses. It was his second consecutive result in the top three.
In the National League, Yelich was a beautiful story. The Brewers acquired it via an exchange the same evening they signed Lorenzo Cain. Yelich has always been good, but he has never been exceptional before arriving with the Brewers. He beat .326 / .402 / .598 (164 OPS +) with 34 doubles, seven triples, 36 homers, 110 RBIs, 22 points, 22 interceptions, 7.6 WAR and 11 DRS in the right field.
Yelich finished with the NL's best statistics line, but he was not even one of the best candidates in mid-August. From August 17 to the end of the season, Yelich averaged .373 / .481 / .833 (!) With 18 homers and 50 RBIs in 40 games. Meanwhile, the Brewers – despite their six return matches on Aug. 28 and four on Sept. 7 – defeated the Cubs for the NL Central title and the NL's best record. Yelich probably wins anyway, but the Brewers winning the tiebreaker against the Central NL Cubs have surely cemented the prize.
Baez was also a beautiful story. At the beginning of the year, we could have named more than a handful of Cubs more likely to be in favor of the most valuable player. He came out with a major decisive season, reaching .290 / .326 / .554 (126 OPS +) with 40 doubles, nine triples, 34 homers, 111 RBIs, 21 robberies, 6.3 WAR, good defense at the second, short AND third and third the most fun real of all baseball players.
For a while, Arenado seemed to be the best chance of history to win the most valuable player title after finishing respectively eighth, fifth and fourth in the last three seasons. He had another good year at .297 / .374 / .561 (OPS + 133) with 38 doubles, 38 homework and 110 RBI, but his 5.6 WAR was his lowest since 2014. His total RBI was 20+ lower than each of the previous three seasons. Still, the peloton being weaker than in past years, it has achieved its best performance so far.
Overall, the BBWAA performed well with Betts and Yelich in the lead. They were the most deserving candidates in each league.
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