Article: Trout, Posey Were Top Players In '12

At the conclusion of every season, the members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) are asked to submit their ballots for the top awards across baseball. You can find more about them here.

Today marks the final day of the awards and the other announcements from the BBA should be coming in the near future. Today we'll tackle the most contentious of this year's awards: the Stan Musial Award for Top Player.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Stan Musial Award for Top Player

American League

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2. Miguel Cabrera

3. Robinson Cano

4. Adrian Beltre

5. Adam Jones

6. Josh Hamilton

7. Prince Fielder

8. Joe Mauer

9. Yoenis Cespedes

10. Paul Konerko

Summary: Near the end of the regular season, I wrote a post about the tight MVP race in the American League between rookie phenom Mike Trout and Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera. There are plenty of different things to consider when it comes to picking out a winner including WAR, defensive ability, the significance of the Triple Crown, being on a playoff team, etc. Make sure to check out the article for my entire explanation for choosing Trout over Cabrera. An argument could be made for Cano to finish ahead of Cabrera but it won't happen. Beltre and Hamilton had strong seasons for the team that most thought should win the American League. Jones was the spark plug for the Orioles offense and they needed every run they could score.

Prediction: In the end, I think Cabrera walks away with the MVP but this takes nothing away from the outstanding year put together by Trout as a 20-year old rookie.

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National League

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2. Ryan Braun

3. Andrew McCutchen

4. Yadier Molina

5. David Wright

6. Chase Headley

7. Jason Heyward

8. Clayton Kershaw

9. Matt Holliday

10. Joey Votto

Summary: The strong second half compiled by Posey on a team heading to the postseason should push him over the top for this award. He put up these numbers while playing most of his games behind the plate for the Giants so that should only help his cause. Braun put together an identical season to his MVP campaign in 2011 but the PED cloud surrounding him could keep him from the top spot. The Pirates looked like everyone's darlings in the first half of the year before falling off and McCutchen was a large part of their surge. An argument can be made for Molina to finish in the top spot because his offensive numbers are similar to Posey and he is better on the defensive side of the ball. Wright and Headley had wonderful seasons but it came on team's that struggled to win games.

Prediction: This looks like it should be a runaway win for Mr. Posey.

So what do you think of the ballot? Who would get your vote?

And for additional awards, below are those that have been announced. The links lead to my choices for each.

• Connie Mack Award (Top Manager) released Monday, October 8
• Willie Mays Award (Top Rookie) released Tuesday, October 9
• Goose Gossage Award (Top Reliever) released Wednesday, October 10
• Walter Johnson Award (Top Pitcher) released Thursday, October 11
• Stan Musial Award (Top Player) released today.

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