Chicago stars Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw won the North League’s individual awards for the 2016 season, while Oakland’s duo of Paul Goldschmidt and Zack Greinke earned the South League hardware. Read more
Oakland sparkplug Jose Altuve, the PGBL batting champion who came five hits shy of matching the single-season record, outdistanced the field to win the South League MVP award.
Altuve received five of the 11 first-place votes and totaled 121 points after hitting .345 with 235 hits and a PGBL-leading 56 doubles. He led the SL with 112 runs and 77 stolen bases while helping the Athletes top the PGBL with 116 wins.
Jose Bautista, traded from Memphis to Dublin midseason, received two first-place votes and tied Oakland’s Andrew McCutchen and St. Louis’ Lucas Duda for second with 63 points.
McCutchen and Duda joined Guinness catcher Devin Mesoraco, Las Vegas home run and RBI champ CJ Cron and Clydesdales third baseman Adrian Beltre with one first-place vote apiece.
Altuve is the first second baseman to win the MVP award. He became the third winner for the franchise formerly based in Taiwan, following Manny Ramirez, a midseason acquisition from Tijuana in 2007, and Albert Pujols in 2010.
Voting totals (first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Jose Altuve, Oakland (5) …………….121
2. Jose Bautista, Memphis/Dublin (2) …..63
(tie) Andrew McCutchen, Oakland (1) …..63
(tie) Lucas Duda, St. Louis ……………….63
5. Devin Mesoraco, Dublin (5) …………..59
6. CJ Cron, Las Vegas (1) ………………..54
7. Paul Goldschmidt, Oakland ……………42
8. Starling Marte, Twin City ………………34
9. Oswaldo Arcia, Dublin …………………31
10. Adrian Beltre, St. Louis (1) ………….29
11. Danny Santana, Las Vegas ………….11
(tie) AJ Pollock, Oakland …………………11
13. Johnny Cueto, Memphis …………….10
14. Yasiel Puig, St. Louis ………………….8
15. Carl Crawford, St. Louis ……………….8
16. David Peralta, St. Louis ………………..2
17. Matt Holliday, St. Louis ………………..1
South League Most Valuable Players
2002 – Phil Nevin, Memphis
2003 – Manny Ramirez, Tijuana
2004 – Todd Helton, Louisville
2005 – Jim Edmonds, Key West
2006 – Richie Sexson, Las Vegas
2007 – Manny Ramirez, Tijuana/Taiwan
2008 – Alex Rodriguez, Key West
2009 – Ryan Howard, Louisville
2010 – Albert Pujols, Taiwan
2011 – Joey Votto, St. Louis
2012 – Carlos Beltran, Memphis
2013 – Andrew McCutchen, Louisville
2014 – Hanley Ramirez, St. Louis
2015 – Jose Altuve, Oakland
Cleveland first baseman Anthony Rizzo has won the North League Most Valuable player for a season that saw him hit 43 home runs and lead the PGBL in on-base percentage and OPS.
The 25-year-old Rizzo, in his third full season with the Tribe, hit .292 with a .390 OBP and a .546 slugging percentage. He scored 108 runs to rank third in the NL and drove in 93.
Rizzo had four first-place votes, one more than Calgary’s Edwin Encarnacion, and totaled 92 points. Six different players topped the 11 submitted ballots.
Encarnacion, who led all hitters with 47 homers, and London RBI champ Jose Abreu tied for second with 74 points, two more than 2014 MVP Mike Trout of Chicago.
Abreu, Trout, the Roughnecks’ Victor Martinez and Ottawa’s Michael Brantley, who won the NL batting title, had the other firsts.
Rizzo became the third Cleveland slugger to win the NL MVP, following David Ortiz in 2008 and Lance Berkman in 2012.
Voting totals (first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Anthony Rizzo, Cleveland (4) …… 92
2. Edwin Encarnacion, Calgary (3) ….74
(tie) Jose Abreu, London (1) …………74
4. Mike Trout, Chicago (1) …………..72
5. Troy Tulowitzki, Pittsburgh ………..61
6. Victor Martinez, Calgary (1) ……….55
7. David Ortiz, Chicago ……………….44
8. Michael Brantley, Ottawa (1) ……..39
9. Nelson Cruz, Vancouver ……………27
10. Denard Span, Ottawa …………….12
11. Matt Adams, British Columbia ……..9
12. Matt Kemp, Cleveland ……………..7
13. Justin Turner, Calgary ……………..6
14. Marcel Ozuna, Cleveland …………..4
(tie) Chris Sale, Vancouver …………….4
16. Corey Dickerson, Calgary ………….3
17. Buster Posey, Brooklyn ……………..1
North League Most Valuable Players
2003 – Barry Bonds, Brooklyn
2004 – Barry Bonds, Brooklyn
2005 – Barry Bonds, Brooklyn
2006 – Alex Rodriguez, Vancouver
2007 – Ryan Howard, Boston
2008 – David Ortiz, Cleveland
2009 – Ryan Braun, Pittsburgh
2010 – Joe Mauer, Chicago
2011 – Adrian Gonzalez, Vancouver
2012 – Lance Berkman, Cleveland
2013 – Ryan Braun, Pittsburgh
2014 – Mike Trout, Chicago
2015 – Anthony Rizzo, Cleveland