Last season after his monster performance down the stretch, Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre finished third in the AL MVP race behind Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout, who had two of the best seasons in the history of the game.
In a normal year, Beltre might have won the award. This year, that's not really the case as the Rangers were shut out of the MVP finalists that were unveiled on Tuesday.
The finalists were announced on Tuesday and the award will come down to the two superstars of last year's race, as well, in Cabrera and Trout and then former Rangers first baseman Chris Davis, who had a monster year of his own in 2013 and prevented Cabrera from winning his second straight Triple Crown, which would've been an unheard of feat.
As great as Trout was, yet again, and as awesome as Davis' breakout season was for the Orioles, you'd have to think Cabrera is the runaway favorite to win the award for the second straight season.
The Tigers third baseman hit .348 with a .442 on-base percentage and a .636 slugging percentage — all league-leading numbers. He also hit 44 homers and drove in 137 runs, matching his homer total and falling just two shy in RBIs from his Triple Crown season in 2012.
