Miguel Cabrera Worthy of AL MVP Consideration As Much As Any Red Sox, Yankees

The MVP conversations over the past month or so have essentially revolved around the player with the best stats (Jose Bautista) and the best players on the best teams (Robinson Cano, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez, Curtis Granderson ). They've also included the best pitcher (Justin Verlander).

But why do they seemingly never involve Miguel Cabrera, a man with perhaps a better resume than all of them?

From a sheer statistical perspective, he has as good a case as anyone. He's second in the AL in OPS with a .998 mark, trailing only Bautista's 1.072 but leading Gonzalez's .965 mark by a healthy margin. Like Bautista, Cabrera lacks the same lineup protection of the Red Sox and Yankees players, so he's second to Bautista in the AL in walks (98). His average is .333, second only to Gonzalez's .340 among the contenders for the award, and his 26 homers and 97 RBIs give him a fair shot to end the season with respectable 30-100 power numbers. He's been dependable, too, playing in all but one of the first-place Tigers' 149 games thus far.

He may not be far and away the best player in the league, but why is he not even in the conversation?

That discussion, when centered on Verlander's candidacy, seems to be this: He's a pitcher, and he's only out there every five days, but his offense isn't too potent and it's a mediocre team without him. The argument is flawed on many accounts, the biggest being that the Tigers are fourth in the AL in runs scored, third in average and sixth in home runs. They can hit, and Cabrera's the biggest reason why.

Verlander's no doubt been the best pitcher in baseball, but has he really been more valuable to the Tigers than Cabrera? You would think a guy would at least gain some consideration when you look at the Tigers' stats page on ESPN.com and see this:

It's interesting, to say the least. There are the off-the-field concerns that have been around for years, as he was arrested on suspicion of DUI in February. It was an embarrassing affair, but that's nothing new, and similar issues didn't prevent him from finishing second in the voting last year.

The fact that he plays in Detroit is likely among the biggest reasons why he's fallen somewhat under the radar, as Red Sox and Yankees will always receive more media attention. The lack of eye-popping power, too, plays a role, as does his defense when compared to someone like Gonzalez.

So maybe Cabrera isn't the best player in the league, and maybe at best he deserves to finish third in the voting. Maybe he's good enough to finish second, like he did last year. No matter what, he definitely deserves a lot more attention than he's getting.