OC Register: Angels’ Mike Trout named AL’s Most Valuable Player for 3rd time

[AngelsWin.com]

Mike Trout joined an exclusive club by winning his third career MVP award on Thursday afternoon, outpolling Alex Bregman in the closest election of Trout’s career.

The Angels star earned 17 of the 30 first-place votes, cast by two baseball writers representing each city in the American League. The other 13 first-place votes went to Bregman, the Houston Astros infielder.

Trout finished with 355 points in the weighted voting system, just 20 more than Bregman. In the previous six years in which Trout had finished first or second, the closest race was in 2016. That year, Trout won by 46 points, with a 19-9 advantage over Mookie Betts in first-place votes.

Trout became the 11th player to win the MVP at least three times, including teammate Albert Pujols, who won three times with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Barry Bonds is the all-time leader with seven MVPs. Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Alex Rodriguez and Mike Schmidt also won three MVPs.

Trout, who also won in 2014 and 2016, has also finished second four times. In his eight full seasons, his lowest finish was fourth, when he was hurt for two months in 2017.

This year, Trout said he had what he believed was his best season. He hit .291 with a career-high 45 homers, to go with a major league-leading .438 on-base percentage and a league-leading .645 slugging percentage.

However, the MVP race was in doubt for two main reasons.

The Angels finished 72-90, far out of the race for the postseason. Although team performance has become less significant than in the past among MVP voters, it still was likely an issue in the eyes of many. Bregman helped the Astros to a division title.

Also, Trout missed the final three weeks of the season because of surgery to remove a Morton’s neuroma in his right foot. Trout played 134 games and he had 600 plate appearances, while Bregman played 156 games with 690 plate appearances.

Bregman also had on his resume that he had moved from third base to shortstop to help the Astros while Carlos Correa was injured.

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Despite that, enough writers cast their votes for Trout, 28, to get him the award.

In the first season after signing a 12-year, $426.5-million contract, Trout, 28, delivered exactly the type of season the Angels have come to expect. He has posted an OPS of at least .939 in each of his eight full seasons. He has been over 1.000 each of the past three years.

According to Baseball-Reference, he has amassed a cumulative WAR of 72.5 in his career, which ranks 87th in major league history, despite having played just eight seasons.

“One of the greatest players that I’ve ever laid my eyes on, and one of the better people I’ve also been around inside this game,” Angels general manager Billy Eppler said from this week’s GM Meetings. “Great ambassador, total role model, yeah, he’s awesome.”

Trout also took a greater leadership role with the Angels this year, helping guiding them after the tragic loss of Tyler Skaggs, who was one of his closest friends.

“I’m about as proud of him as I could ever be of anybody,” Eppler said. “He means a lot to this organization.”

More to come on this story.

The Mike Trout archive

• Angels’ Mike Trout wins seventh Silver Slugger award
• Angels’ Mike Trout wins Hank Aaron Award, Sporting News Player of the Year
• Angels’ Mike Trout talks about the MVP, injuries and hope for the future
• Angels make Mike Trout’s 12-year, $426.5-million deal official
• Mike Trout is a believer in the Angels’ long-term plan

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