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It's that time of year again, where we as a network reveal who won the SBN awards for the past season. Today, we'll unveil the top player (yes, player -- pitchers are eligible, too) in each league. A couple of things to keep in mind:
- Each baseball website received two votes for each award. For Over the Monster, that was myself and Ben Buchanan.
- We were only allowed to vote for the league in which our team resides. So, neither of us could impact any NL races you really had your hearts set on.
With that, here are the results:
| Player | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Trout | Los Angeles Angels | 22 | 4 | 344 | ||||||||
| Miguel Cabrera | Detroit Tigers | 4 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 249 | ||||||
| Robinson Cano | New York Yankees | 1 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 189 | ||||||
| Adrian Beltre | Texas Rangers | 3 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 177 | |||||
| Justin Verlander | Detroit Tigers | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 115 | |||||
| Josh Hamilton | Texas Rangers | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 70 | |||||
| Ben Zobrist | Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 64 | ||||
| Adam Jones | Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 58 | |||||
| David Price | Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 44 | ||||||
| Prince Fielder | Detroit Tigers | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 44 | ||||
| Edwin Encarnacion | Toronto Blue Jays | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 43 | |||||
| Alex Gordon | Kansas City Royals | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 29 | |||||
| Felix Hernandez | Seattle Mariners | 2 | 3 | 3 | 25 | |||||||
| Joe Mauer | Minnesota Twins | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 24 | |||||
| Austin Jackson | Detroit Tigers | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 19 | ||||||
| Torii Hunter | Los Angeles Angels | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||
| Fernando Rodney | Tampa Bay Rays | 2 | 6 | |||||||||
| Josh Reddick | Oakland Athletics | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||||||||
| Albert Pujols | Los Angeles Angels | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||
| Josh Willingham | Minnesota Twins | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| Chris Sale | Chicago White Sox | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| Alex Rios | Chicago White Sox | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| Dustin Pedroia | Boston Red Sox | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Yoenis Cespedes | Oakland Athletics | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| J.J. Hardy | Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 1 |
It's not shocking to see Mike Trout come away victorious, nor is it surprising that Miguel Cabrera snagged a few first-place votes in his Triple Crown season. Both of these players were ridiculous in their own right, but Trout, he was even more special in his rookie campaign. Robinson Cano had a stranglehold on third place, and old friend Adrian Beltre locked down fourth. Other than that, it was a mix of a whole bunch of players, thanks to this particular award having 10 spots on the ballot.
As for the votes of Ben and I:
| Ben Buchanan | Marc Normandin | |
| 1 | Mike Trout | Mike Trout |
| 2 | Miguel Cabrera | Robinson Cano |
| 3 | Robinson Cano | Miguel Cabrera |
| 4 | Justin Verlander | Justin Verlander |
| 5 | Josh Hamilton | Adrian Beltre |
| 6 | Adrian Beltre | Ben Zobrist |
| 7 | David Price | David Price |
| 8 | Prince Fielder | Adam Jones |
| 9 | Ben Zobrist | Austin Jackson |
| 10 | Austin Jackson | Josh Reddick |
A lot of the same players, just not necessarily in the same order. We each have two distinct players listed, so let's talk about that. Ben voted for Prince Fielder and Josh Hamilton, both totally justifiable selections who just happened to be further down my list. I went with Adam Jones and Josh Reddick. Jones had what turned out to be an underrated season, overshadowed by the massive campaigns of many who I voted for in front of him. Reddick, despite sliding offensively in the second half, was such a good hitter to begin the year, and was an incredible defensive presence throughout. Jones finished ahead of Fielder overall, but Reddick was behind both Hamilton and Fielder, and received only five total votes, four of them where I slotted him in.
| Player | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buster Posey | San Francisco Giants | 26 | 6 | 3 | 442 | |||||||
| Ryan Braun | Milwaukee Brewers | 7 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 330 | |||||
| Andrew McCutchen | Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | 7 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 277 | |||||
| David Wright | New York Mets | 2 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 204 | ||
| Chase Headley | San Diego Padres | 2 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 190 | |||
| Yadier Molina | St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 189 | ||
| Jason Heyward | Atlanta Braves | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 90 | ||||
| Aramis Ramirez | Milwaukee Brewers | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 48 | ||||
| Michael Bourn | Atlanta Braves | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 47 | |||||
| Matt Holliday | St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 28 | |||||
| Joey Votto | Cincinnati Reds | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 25 | ||||||
| Clayton Kershaw | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 24 | ||||||
| Gio Gonzalez | Washington Nationals | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 21 | ||||||
| Aaron Hill | Arizona Diamondbacks | 3 | 4 | 4 | 21 | |||||||
| Ian Desmond | Washington Nationals | 2 | 3 | 2 | 19 | |||||||
| Jay Bruce | Cincinnati Reds | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |||||||
| R.A. Dickey | New York Mets | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | ||||||
| Giancarlo Stanton | Miami Marlins | 1 | 1 | 4 | 11 | |||||||
| Carlos Ruiz | Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||||||||
| Adam LaRoche | Washington Nationals | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||
| Matt Kemp | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||
| Johnny Cueto | Cincinnati Reds | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||
| Martin Prado | Atlanta Braves | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||||
| Carlos Gonzalez | Colorado Rockies | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| Chipper Jones | Atlanta Braves | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| Bryce Harper | Washington Nationals | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Allen Craig | St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Melky Cabrera | San Francisco Giants | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| Ryan Zimmerman | Washington Nationals | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| Carlos Beltran | St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| Craig Kimbrel | Atlanta Braves | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Alfonso Soriano | Chicago Cubs | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Paul Goldschmidt | Arizona Diamondbacks | 1 | 1 |
Buster Posey won by an even greater margin, but that isn't what's important. What is important is that Chase Headley finished fifth here, and will be in the top five in the BBWAA's awards as well, thanks to his making it as a nominee. This is progress, you guys! San Diego is a place with baseball and someone noticed!
*****
Looking for SB Nation's other reward recipients? Check out our AL and NL Rookie of the Year winners, as well as our top Pitchers of the Year.