The first time I voted for a BBWAA award was American League MVP back in 2016. It broke down to a choice between Mike Trout and Mookie Betts, and a philosophical decision on what constitutes an MVP, how to value different facets of a player’s game, and whether a team’s standing has any impact. I agonized over that vote, ended up creating a spreadsheet ranking players in a dozen categories, and came out voting for Betts over Trout for reasons I wrote about here. Essentially, Betts’ defense covering a spacious right field at Fenway Park for half the season made a big difference for me.
Explaining my AL MVP ballot
