Bold predictions: Astros' Carlos Correa is MVP material
As the 2016 Major League Baseball season begins, Paste BN Sports' baseball staff lays out its bold predictions for the six months ahead:
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Look no further than Mike Trout to illustrate the degree of difficulty to win the American League’s MVP award.
The first four seasons of the Los Angeles Angels center fielder will be examined by baseball historians someday — he led the AL in wins above replacement every year, batted a traditionalist-pleasing .304 and racked up as many as 49 stolen bases and 41 home runs.
And yet, Trout, 24, has one MVP award to show for his efforts.
Trout could not wrest the award away from Miguel Cabrera, probably the greatest hitter of his generation, in his first two seasons. Trout won unanimously in his third season, but his 41-homer, 9.4-WAR campaign last year was trumped by Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson’s 41 homers and 123 RBI.
Now, just as Trout enters what should still be his prime years, along comes another generational player.
And in 2016, we see Carlos Correa seizing the first of what could be many MVP awards.
Correa, 21, enters his first full major league season at a time the game skews younger than it has in decades. Trout was 21 when he claimed his first runner-up MVP finish, Bryce Harper 22 when he put up the numbers that earned him his first National League MVP last year.
At the 2015 All-Star Game, 20players 25 or younger made the AL and NL rosters. Correa, who debuted June 8, was not one of them.
Yet in barely more than half a season, he checked off every box that suggests superstardom is imminent.
Production? The 6-4 shortstop slammed 22 home runs in 99 games.
Value? He produced a 4.1 WAR despite his late start.
Intangibles? Correa has gone to great lengths to embrace an ambassadorial role in the game, and in a voting environment in which all things are equal, his polished demeanor with the media and the obvious joy with which he plays certainly won’t hurt his campaign.
Then there was Correa’s immense stamp on the four-game AL division series against the Kansas City Royals, during which he batted .350 and slammed a pair of home runs in what could have been a clinching Game 4. Alas, his error helped open the floodgates to a Royals comeback that spurred them to a World Series title. He was, after all, just 21.
Given his eye-popping athleticism, imposing physical frame and ability to rise to big occasions, it’s easy to see Correa taking another few steps forward. And it won’t be surprising if that journey earns him the title of best player in the AL.
Our apologies, in advance, to Mr. Trout.