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The AL Team MVPs

© Greg Spira

Taking a look at each AL team's best player(s):

Anaheim: There's no one standout performer here; the Angels' wildcard run has been a true team effort. But Jarrod Washburn's 184 innings with 3.4 runs allowed per 9 innings gets him recognition in a close race over David Eckstein, Tim Salmon and Garrett Anderson.

Boston: The team's had 4 superstar efforts, with the 2 best starters in the league in Derek Lowe and Pedro Martinez and two everyday league MVP candidates in Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez. As great as the other three have been, Lowe's 193 innings pitched with less than 2.5 runs allowed per 9 innings earns him the Red Sox MVP award.

Chicago: The southsiders have had a disappointing season, but Magglio Ordonez deserves the props and Mark Buerhle has earned an honorable mention.

Cleveland: The only standout in what has been a disastrous season for the Indians is the underrated Jim Thome, whose .431 OBP and league-leading .644 slugging average makes him one of the top five players in the league this year.

Detroit - No Tiger deserves to be team MVP, so we'll go in thee other direction here - the Tigers' lot of third basemen, led by Chris Truby and Craig Paquette. hurt their team more than the players at any other position in baseball, hitting only .231/.259/.345

Kansas City - No league MVP candidates here, but there are 3 solid candidates foe team MVP: Paul Byrd, Mike Sweeney, and Carlos Beltran. In a close call, I'd call Sweeney the Royal MVP, thanks to his .416 OBP and .570 SLG.

Minnesota - Torii Hunter has to be the Twins MVP thanks to his power and great defense, but reliever JC Romero deserves a big honorable mention for outstanding work from the bullpen

New York: Not surprisingly, the Yankees have had lots of great performances from its offense; Alfonso Soriano, Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and even Robin Ventura have performed better than a number of other teams' MVPs. But Jason Giambi has been the best Yankee of 2002, adding a huge power bat that has really pushed this team over its opponents despite the New Yorkers' often mediocre pitching. Add his .434 OBP (the second highest in the league) to the fact that he's one one of only 3 players in the AL at his point to have 30 home runs and 30 doubles (teammate Soriano and Magglio Ordonez are the other two), earns him team MVP honors.

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