Today we acknowledge the first-best player in the second-best baseball league. That kinda-prestigious honor goes to Blue Jays outfielder and bazookaman Jose Bautista (who will not be traded for Joey Votto), who edged out Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury (who also will not be traded for Joey Votto). The field was wide open this year in this category, as six different players received first place votes. Former Reds farmhand Paul Konerko received two 8th place votes, shoulda been Reds ace Dan Haren received a single 10th place vote, and future Reds ace James Shields received two 10th place votes.
Joey Bats (I wish that was Votto's nickname instead) actually improved on his breakout season of a year ago, slashing .302/.447/.608, leading the inferior league in slugging percentage, home runs (43), and walks (132). He also wears cool shades, which I think look pretty sharp.
| Num | Name | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Bautista | 10 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 211 | ||||||
| 2 | Jacoby Ellsbury | 7 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 196 | ||||||
| 3 | Miguel Cabrera | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 164 | |||
| 4 | Curtis Granderson | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 143 | ||
| 5 | Justin Verlander | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 130 | ||
| 6 | Dustin Pedroia | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 86 | |||
| 7 | Ian Kinsler | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 74 | ||
| 8 | Adrian Gonzalez | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 57 | ||||
| 9 | Evan Longoria | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 51 | |||||
| 10 | Alex Gordon | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 33 | ||||
| 11 | Robinson Cano | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 32 | ||||
| 12 | Alex Avila | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 25 | |||||
| 13 | CC Sabathia | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 24 | ||||||
| 14 | Ben Zobrist | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 23 | ||||||
| 15 | Adrian Beltre | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 23 | |||||
| 16 | Michael Young | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |||||||
| 17 | Mike Napoli | 1 | 1 | 12 | ||||||||
| 18 | Paul Konerko | 2 | 6 | |||||||||
| 19 | Jered Weaver | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| 20 | Elvis Andrus | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| 21 | James Shields | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| 22 | David Ortiz | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| 23 | Victor Martinez | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| 24 | Brett Gardner | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 25 | Dan Haren | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 26 | Mark Texeira | 1 | 1 |