2010 AL MVP: With Josh Hamilton and Miguel Cabrera Out, Is Paul Konerko It?

Probably not, but I figured someone owed Paul Konerko some publicity since ESPN often either forgets to do actual reporting and research or simply forgets to be logical.

As of Wednesday, Miguel Cabrera is out for the season due to a sprained ankle, so his numbers are concrete at .328 BA, .420 OBP, .622 SLG, and a 1.042 OPS to go along with 38 home runs, 126 RBI, 111 runs, and three stolen bases in 150 games played.

On the other side, Josh Hamilton is set to return Friday, meaning he will finish with, at most, 133 games played. He is currently hitting .361 with a .414 OBP, a .635 SLG, and a 1.049 OPS to go along with 31 home runs, 97 RBI, 94 runs, and eight stolen bases.

Let us not forget we ran Carlos Quentin out of the MVP race two seasons ago because he missed the final month of the season after punching his bat when the Chicago White Sox were in the heat of a pennant race, thus handing the award to Dustin Pedroia, although Kevin Youkilis deserved it. Quentin finished with 130 games played.

Are we going to judge the MVP by an injury or when it occurs? If Quentin was hurt in the first month of the season rather than the last month, would he have been MVP?

Konerko being a top MVP candidate is no laughing matter.

Konerko currently is hitting .310 with a .390 OBP, a .581 SLG, and a .971 OPS to go along with 38 home runs, 107 RBI, and 88 runs.

Konerko has Hamilton in all the eye-appealing stats and one could point to the 16 more games played and 32 more at-bats as reason for the massive difference in the percentage numbers. 

But then again, one could point to the more at-bats as being the reason for the difference in home runs and RBI.

Robinson Cano is a dark horse in this whole thing, only because the above players have played on a different planet.

Cano is hitting .316, with a .376 OBP, a 528 SLG, and a .904 OPS to go along with 28 home runs, 106 RBI, 100 runs, and two stolen bases.

It looks as though, unless something drastic changes, Cabrera's numbers hold up for the MVP. But with Cabrera being done for the year and Hamilton having three games tops to add to his resume, a hot streak for Konerko or Cano could completely change the race.

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