Mauer Nearly Unanimous For AL MVP

The American League Most Valuable Player Award was announced today. As expected, Minnesota Twin backstop Joe Mauer ran away with the honor.

Voting for Mauer was nearly unanimous, as he received 27 of the 28 first place votes. Though he came in fourth, Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers received the only other first place vote. Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees came in second and third in the voting, respectively.

The selection of Mauer should come as no surprise to anyone. After missing the first month of the season due to a back injury, the Minnesota native returned from the disabled list firing on all cylinders.

Mauer finished his 2009 campaign with a .365 batting average, winning the American League Batting Title for the third time in his still young career.

He also found a consistent power stroke, belting 26 home runs for the season (a career high) while driving in 96.

To top it off, he led his team to a second consecutive division title, as Minnesota went on to beat the Detroit Tigers in an extra 163rd game to advance to the postseason.

At 26-years-old, Joe Mauer is not even at the peak of his career. If the Twins are smart, they will sign him to a multi-year contract before he becomes a free agent in 2011.

With at least another eight or nine solid years left for Mauer to make his mark on the game, do not be surprised to see another MVP or two attached to his name over the next few seasons.

Could Be Major Drama: Tigers vs. Twins

It has been an eventful weekend. While the games may not have been the most exciting, the playoff picture is starting to come to form.

The New York Yankees managed to officially take the American League East and home field advantage throughout the playoffs by beating the Red Sox this afternoon.

Meanwhile, out in Colorado, the fighting Rockies gave way to the Cardinals on Saturday night, allowing St. Louis to claim the National League Central Division.

In addition, the Los Angeles Dodgers were able to at least secure a playoff spot. They can now concentrate on moving ahead of the afore mentioned Cardinals to take home-field advantage in the National League.

With most other teams a game or two away from wrapping up their respective divisions, the focus this week now turns to the American League Central, which features the only real race left - and what a race it has been. Quite fittingly, it will all culminate this week as the Minnesota Twins, two games back of the Tigers in the division, will make their way into Detroit for a four game series.

You want drama? You've got it.

In a perfect world, Detroit would like to welcome Minnesota in Comerica Park by winning three out of four, which would give the Tigers the division. But, if the Twins have proven anything over the last month, it is that they are not ready to go down without a fight.

Conversely, if Minnesota can manage to win three out of four, it would send both teams into the final weekend of the regular season tied atop the Central, with the Tigers welcoming in the White Sox and the Twins going home to play the Royals.

However, we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves here.

Probable pitching matchups for the series are as follows:

• Nick Blackburn, RHP (11-11, 4.18) vs. Rick Porcello, RHP (14-9, 4.14)
• Brian Duensing, LHP (5-1, 3.33) vs. Justin Verlander, RHP (17-9, 3.41)
• Carl Pavano, RHP (13-11, 4.86) vs. Eddie Bonine, RHP (0-1, 4.60)
• Scott Baker, RHP (14-9, 4.48) vs. Nate Robertson, LHP (2-2, 5.56)

Detroit may have the slight advantage in terms of pitching, but I emphasize the word "slight". The Tiger staff contains more talent, yet it holds more question marks.

Look for both offenses to step up. MVP hopeful Miguel Cabrera has been hot for the Detroit lately (reaching 100 runs batted in for the sixth year in a row on Saturday), while the Twins, led by Joe Mauer, have gone 8-2 since clean up hitter Justin Morneau went down with a stress fracture in his lower back on September 15th.

Another race?: The Atlanta Braves still stand only 2.5 games behind the Colorado Rockies in the National League Wild Card Race. While the teams do not play each other before the season ends, it definitely should prove to be an exciting finish to what has been an intriguing race since late August.