Mike Trout, MVP?

Mike Trout's season has simply been the best ever for a rookie. There is no one even close. Ichiro's MVP as a 27 year old "rookie" performance in 2001? It doesn't hold a candle to what Trout has been doing. What we are witnessing is one of the best seasons ALL-TIME.

Mike Trout has every reason to smile after the amazing season he's been having

Here's some of Mike Trout's accomplishments this season:

• Gold Glove caliber defense in Center Field
• Youngest ever 20 HR, 40 steal season
• Leading AL in batting average, runs and steals

 
Since Trout's call up on April 28th, he has played in 102 games batting .345, 99 runs, 24 HRs, 72 RBI, 41 steals. (In MLB history, Trout could be the first player to ever have a 20 HR, 40 steal season and finish the season with an average over .340) He has an on-base percentage of of .410 and a ridiculous OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.011. Those are video game numbers!

In fantasy baseball, despite missing a month of the season, he has been the most valuable player by a wide margin over Ryan Braun and Andrew McCutchen. At only 21 years old, unless something crazy happens this next month, Trout will be my number 1 pick in fantasy leagues next season (a position he'll probably remain for many years to come).

So back to real baseball, that MVP season of Ichiro's he had a WAR (Wins Above Replacement, taking from Baseball Reference) of 7.5. Mike Trout this year? Already 8.9, that's a 162 game season pace of 14.1. To put that in perspective, no one has a season WAR of over 13.0 since 1923!!

The Angels are currently 2.5 games out the wildcard, but regardless if they are able to lock up a playoff spot, Trout should win MVP. One could make a case for Justin Verlander, but Miguel Cabrera and Austin Jackson are also having great seasons and should deserve consideration as well. Simply put, even as a rookie, Trout is putting together one of the greatest seasons of all time, and come October, should be the youngest ever AL MVP.