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The American League Most Valuable Player Award was announced today. As expected, Minnesota Twin backstop Joe Mauer ran away with the honor.

Voting for Mauer was nearly unanimous, as he received 27 of the 28 first place votes. Though he came in fourth, Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers received the only other first place vote. Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees came in second and third in the voting, respectively.

Joe Mauer can now add American League Most Valuable Player to his already imposing resume.

Mauer received 27 out of 28 first-place votes to runaway with the award.

Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera received the other first-place vote but the first baseman finished fourth overall.

Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees finished second and third, respectively.

Mauer finished with 327 total points, well ahead of Teixeira, 225, and Jeter, 193. Despite garner the other first-place vote, Cabrera, finished a distance fourth with 171 points.

For years, the BBWAA picks for the Cy Young Awards and MVP were the subject of incredible scorn, especially among the sabermetric community.

The 2005 AL Cy Young, for example, saw Bartolo Colon, armed with a 21-8 record, beat Johan Santana despite being subordinate to him in every category besides wins—three wins worse according to Baseball Prospectus’ Wins Above Replacement Player. Every team has their example, every year seems to bring new controversy, but 2009 seems to have been a big step in the right direction.

The good news is that Stephen Strasburg doesn’t need surgery on his injured knee . The bad news is that this is the second injury for the pitching phenom and it has the potential to linger for years.

WOYK 1350-AM, and the York Revolution of the Atlantic League have come together on a three-year partnership.  The agreement was announced by Revolution general manager Matt O’Brien and WOYK general manager Vince Grande.

“We’re excited to be broadcasting on the area’s most powerful AM signal,” O’Brien stated in a news release. “Being a sports station, WOYK 1350 broadcasts York College basketball, the NFL playoffs, the Super Bowl and now the York Revolution. It’s a great fit.”

The 2010 MLB free agent market has many players including many former New York Mets.  Here is an in-depth look at the fielders.  This is Part 1.  There will be a pitchers one in the near future.

Catchers

Ramon Castro—Castro was a member of the Mets from 2005 to the middle of this season when he was traded to the White Sox for Lance Broadway.  In 2007, Castro had his best year as a Met, playing in 52 games and batting .285 with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs.

Various media outlets are reporting that 43-year-old Omar Vizquel, a potential Hall-of-Fame shortstop, is close to agreeing to a one-year contract to join the Chicago White Sox.

Vizquel would reportedly join the White Sox in a reserve role.

The White Sox have already made some changes to their infield this winter. Sox GM Kenny Williams dealt young second baseman Chris Getz and third baseman Josh Fields to Kansas City for Mark Teahen, and said he plans to play Teahen at third base in 2010.

Oakland Athletics Director of Player Development Keith Lieppman, and Durham Bulls Manager Charlie Montoyo have been named the recipients of the second annual Sheldon “Chief” Bender, and Mike Coolbaugh Awards.

According to MILB.com , they will be honored along with the other award winners at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Indianapolis from Dec. 7–10.

The Bender Award is presented to an individual who has shown exceptional skills in player development.

In a move that restores all hope to Chicago Cubs fans, GM Jim Hendry found someone dumber than himself and made a trade.

The Cubs dealt Aaron "The Gas Can" Heilman to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday for minor leaguers Ryne White and Scott...who cares. Heilman's gone, people! Party!

In a related story, the bag of balls that had been rumored to be dealt to Chicago for Heilman is relieved to be staying in Arizona for the winter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

We learned yesterday that the baseball writers of America voted for Royals stud Zack Greinke the American League Cy Young award winner over Mariners young phenom Felix Hernandez.

Today it's been announced and confirmed that the product of the University of Washington baseball program and bona fied San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum has won his second consecutive Cy Young award in the National League beating out the two birds Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright for the award.