The 2019 regular season is complete and awards season is around the corner. Houston Astros 3B Alex Bregman is in contention for the MVP. Does he deserve it?
With the 2019 regular season winding to a close and the Houston Astros prepping for an ALDS as the #1 seed, the focus turns towards the end of the season awards. Alex Bregman has a legitimate argument to be the AL MVP, even though the odds are against him.
Mike Trout plays with about as much grace as anyone in the league. His swing is effortless, his strides are perfectly in sync. Even so, he could not lead his team to a postseason berth, especially after his injury.
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On the other hand, the Astros stellar third baseman has led them to a number one seed and the best record in the league. It is easy to think of Trout as the superior player, however, when analyzed in detail the gap is shrinking due to the rapid change career trajectory of Bregman in the last two seasons.
This is not the current debate in the minds of most baseball fans- Trout vs Bregman: who is the best? Yet, this year’s AL MVP is a microcosm in a much larger debate. Trout has been the long-reigning best player in baseball and it would take much more than a single MVP for this conversation to gain traction.
The situations of the respective players differ drastically. For starters, Trout’s injury forbade him from easily surpassing the marks set by Alex Bregman- allowing for this conversation to unfold. Trout has similar numbers in fewer at-bats, ye the plays for a far inferior club. On the contrary, Bregman ended up with similar numbers as the anchor of a potential World Series champion.
More importantly, he was a consistent source of production on a team that was plagued by injuries to the players with the most recognizable names. Therefore, it could be said that Bregman was more valuable to a vastly more important team- at least in the scheme of things for MLB in 2019.
Trout took 20 fewer games to hit five more home runs, slug .50 higher, and possess a WAR 0.3 higher than his opponent. Bregman, however, has the edge in terms of an 8% strikeout rate, a much more favorable defensive rating, and BABIP about .18 lower. Trout’s offensive and baserunning WAR both tower above Bregman.
Who is the better option the one with the more production or the one with the more “value”? It is a difficult question due to the pure ambiguity of how to define value. It was clear that the Houston Astros dealt with injuries and had to rely upon Bregman for portions of the year.
Yet, they still had great production from Michael Brantley and Josh Reddick all season and from Yordan Alvarez once he received the promotion. Further, he was on a team with one of the most dominant rotations in recent memory, which must ease the burden on Bregman’s back in one way or another.
Trout had no such advantages, as his club does not possess even near the same amount of firepower- in the rotation or lineup- that Alex Bregman does. Houston’s blossoming superstar deserves total recognition for his wonderful 2019 season, yet Trout’s season was better.
He recorded the same or better numbers- in most cases- with much less playing time. Also, the advantages of being an Astro are not equivalent to that of an Angel- for all intents and purposes, Trout was on an island.
Mostly any other year would have seen the Houston Astros pick up another trophy- in accordance with their AL Cy Young, AL MVP, and possibly AL Champions. This generation has seen many an MVP robbed by the readily talented Trout, Bregman appears to be another of those poor unfortunate victims.