MVP tracker: A's slugger building a case

Jorge L. Ortiz | USA TODAY Sports

OAKLAND -- An American League roster loaded with top-notch third basemen kept the Oakland Athletics' Josh Donaldson out of the All-Star Game.

Stiff competition from the likes of previous winners Adrian Beltre and Evan Longoria, in addition to often-spectacular Manny Machado, also figure to make the Gold Glove unattainable for Donaldson.

So the AL MVP Award seems out of the question, particularly when the main contenders include reigning Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis doing his Babe Ruth imitation and the Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout accomplishing unheard-of feats.

But Donaldson's case gets stronger with every step the A's take toward successfully defending their AL West crown, and last weekend's three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, was their biggest move in that direction, helping building their lead to 61/2 games.

Donaldson, in his first full season in the big leagues, was a major factor with two home runs, four RBI and five walks while extending his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games (it ended Monday).

The surge has improved Donaldson's batting average to .301, with 23 homers and 88 RBI. Combined with Cabrera's September slide — he's batting .229 with zero homers and three RBI while battling a groin injury — that performance has launched the A's third baseman into first place in USA TODAY Sports' MVP Tracker for the AL.

The latest compilation shows Donaldson in first with 18.7 points, well ahead of runner-up Cabrera's 13.9.

The MVP Tracker uses Wins Above Replacement, the overall measure of a player's value in all aspects of the game as computed by Baseball-Reference.com, to fairly compare hitters and pitchers. To determine a player's importance to his team, we compute what percentage of a team's total WAR the player has contributed. Then, to factor in the impact of those contributions on the playoff races, players are penalized for how far their teams trail in the standings.

The system doesn't necessarily reflect the likely outcome of the MVP voting, conducted right after the season by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Chances are Davis (50 homers, 131 RBI) and Trout (106 runs, 100 walks) will join Cabrera (.349, 43 homers, 133 RBI) in the top three in the final balloting. They're the only three players in the majors with an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of at least 1.000.

"It's kind of tough to go up against these guys who have 50 and 40 home runs and 100-plus RBI," teammate Josh Reddick said of Donaldson. "But I think he's going to get some votes, and he deserves them. It's tough company to be a part of, guys like that who are putting up video game numbers, but he's definitely not going to have his season go unnoticed."

And other than helping the A's return to the playoffs, that might be Donaldson's most remarkable achievement this season.

He was a catcher pressed into third-base duty because of an injury last year, when he was demoted to the minors twice. Now Donaldson is in the conversation for league MVP, regardless of where he finishes.

"He's been a huge asset for this team and has carried us for so long," Reddick said.

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American League

Josh Donaldson, Athletics: Donaldson ranks second in the AL in Wins Above Replacement, trailing Mike Trout of the sub-.500 Angels. Donaldson pushed his batting average over .300 last week for the first time since late July. He is the team leader in RBI and is tied for second on the club in home runs with Yoenis Cespedes with 23.

Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: Detroit keeps rolling, so much so that their ailing third baseman can rest numerous nagging injuries. That hurts his cause as his portion of the team's overall performance slides. Still, it's difficult to argue with the league leader in batting, on-base, slugging and RBI.

Max Scherzer, Tigers: Though Scherzer has slipped to 19-3, he remains effective, allowing the fewest baserunners per inning in the AL.

Anibal Sanchez, Tigers: The AL ERA leader has nearly caught Scherzer for the team lead in WAR among pitchers. Sanchez has allowed two or fewer runs in nine of his last 11 starts to join the leaders.

Shane Victorino, Red Sox: Boston leads the majors in team WAR, making it difficult for individuals to emerge, but Victorino and second baseman Dustin Pedroia, right behind Victorino on this list, have. Victorino is a strong combo of offense, defense and baserunning.

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National League

Andrew McCutchen, Pirates: He has taken over the NL lead in WAR, and he has hit .388 with a 1.060 OPS since Aug. 1.

Matt Carpenter, Cardinals: He has been leading the league in hits for a while, now leads in runs and doubles and is batting .397 over his last 16 games.

Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: He still leads the majors in pitching WAR despite actually appearing human this month (1-1, 4.26 ERA in three starts).

Adam Wainwright, Cardinals: A two-game blip in a strong season is behind him — both games against the Reds amid concern he might have been tipping pitches. Wainwright has the lowest walk rate among NL starters and is the league leader in complete games with five.

Andrelton Simmons, Braves: This is where WAR's inclusion of defense makes its mark. On a team with deep and balanced pitching and a lineup that leads the league in home runs and strikeouts, the shortstop simply makes plays. His 5.4 defensive WAR is nearly 30% better than any other player at any position in the majors.

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