The All-Star break is here and that means lots of chatter about who will take home the first-half Awards. We take a look at the top five first-half MVP’s in the American League.

The American League may not be full of tight races, but is full of good teams. 11 out of the 15 teams will enter the All-Star break with a record of at least .500, compared to the National League’s eight.

In the East, the Red Sox and Blue Jays are just two games behind the first place Orioles. In the Central, Cleveland has a 6.5 game lead, but Detroit and Kansas City are never two teams to count out. And in the West, the Texas Rangers hold a 5.5 game lead on Houston, but Texas went skidding into the Break while Houston posted a 6-4 record.

Any one player could help their team rise in the standings or stay in a race…a player I would like to call an MVP. It seems recently that the term MVP has become convoluted and forgotten. It stands for the MOST Valuable Player; which can mean most valuable to a team, a lineup, a rotation, or a win. Players who boast great stats and highlight reels, but play on losing teams clearly aren’t that valuable.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the first-half American League MVP’s.