MLB’s biggest individual award nearly landed in Cleveland for the first time since Al Rosen in 1953. Instead, White Sox star José Abreu got some long overdue recognition and José Ramírez was runner-up with his teammate Shane Bieber tagging along in fourth.
Ramírez finished the season leading all position players in fWAR (3.4), thanks to his balanced of beating the snot out of the ball and playing good defense at third. Abreu had a narrow offensive edge by wRC+’s measurements — and he hit for slightly more power — but overall Ramírez was the pretty clearly better overall player.