2012 American League

Perhaps the oddest thing about the 2012 AL was that the Red Sox, recent powers in the league, finished in last place with 93 losses.  The biggest surprise on the positive side would be the Oakland A's, winning the West division with 94 victories.  The Yankees took the East with 95 wins.  Both teams were closely pursued, as the Rangers finished one game behind the A's and the surprising Orioles came with two games of the Yanks.  Texas and Baltimore then faced off in the new "wild card game," with the Orioles moving on to the division series.  The somewhat surprising pennant winner in a year of surprises was the Tigers, winners of the Central with 88 victories, three games ahead of the White Sox.

On the bottom of the standing, the Twins lost 96, the Royals 94, and the Indians 90 as the Tigers and Chisox faced a lot of pushovers.  The East was a bit soft, too, with the Red Sox down and the Blue Jays losing 89.  In the playoffs, the Tigers surprised by sweeping the Yankees in the LCS, then got swept in the World Series.

Miguel Cabrera captured the "Triple Crown," leading in batting average with a .330 mark, hitting 44 home runs and driving in 139 runs to lead those categories as well.  Mike Trout was second in batting average at .326, Adrian Beltre third at .321.  Joe Mauer led in on-base, Cabrera in slugging.  Trout led in runs with 129, 20 ahead of Cabrera in second.  Alex Gordon hit 51 doubles and Albert Pujols 50.  Austin Jackson hit 10 triples, Derek Jeter had 216 hits.  Josh Hamilton and Eric Granderson was second with 43 homers each, Hamilton was second with 128 RBI.  Trout led with 49 steals.

Jered Weaver and David Price had 20 wins each, Matt Harrison won 18.  Price led with a 2.56 ERA, followed by Justin Verlander at 2.64.  Weaver was third at 2.81.  Verlander led with 239 strikeouts, Max Scherzer had 231, James Shields and Felix Hernandez 223.  Verlander led with 238 1/3 innings, Hernandez was second at 232.  Jim Johnson had 51 saves, Fernando Rodney 48.  Hernandez hurled five shutouts.

Win Shares leaders, position players:  Mike Trout (Los Angeles) 38, Robinson Cano (New York) 34, Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) 32, Edwin Encarnacion (Toronto) 31, Prince Fielder (Detroit) and Ben Zobrist (Tampa Bay) 27, Josh Hamilton (Texas) and Adam Jones (Baltimore) 26, Adrian Beltre (Texas), Shin-Soo Choo (Cleveland), Joe Mauer (Minnesota), and Albert Pujols (Los Angeles) 25.

Win Shares leaders, pitchers:  Justin Verlander (Detroit) 23, David Price and Fernando Rodney (Tampa Bay) and Chris Sale (Chicago) 19, Josh Harrison (Texas) 18, Jim Johnson (Baltimore) and Jake Peavy (Chicago) 17, Hiroki Kuroda (New York) and Jered Weaver (Los Angeles) 16, Grant Balfour (Baltimore) and Felix Hernandez (Seattle) 15.

(Fangraphs) WAR leaders, position players:  Trout 10.0, Cano 7.7, Cabrera 6.8, Beltre 6.3, Zobrist 5.8, Alex Gordon (Kansas City) 5.5, Torii Hunter (Los Angeles) and Austin Jackson (Detroit) 5.2, Fielder 4.8, Mauer 4.7.

WAR leaders, pitchers:  Verlander 7.0, Hernandez 5.9, Yu Darvish (Texas) 4.9, Price 4.8, Sale 4.7, C.C. Sabathia (New York) and Max Scherzer (Detroit) 4.6, Peavy 4.4, James Shields (Tampa Bay) 3.9, Kuroda 3.7.

Actual award voting:
MVP (top 15):

Player, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers	22	6									362
Mike Trout, Angels	6	21	1								281
Adrian Beltre, Rangers		1	16	9	1		1				210
Robinson Cano, Yankees			6	10	1	1	3	2	1		149
Josh Hamilton, Rangers				3	6	5	8	2	3	1	127
Adam Jones, Orioles			1	2	7	5	4	3	2		120
Derek Jeter, Yankees			2	1	5	1	3	2	1	1	77
Justin Verlander, Tigers				2	3	3	2		1	1	58
Prince Fielder, Tigers					1	5	1	2	5	5	56
Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics					1	2	2	3	2	4	41
Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays					2			5		6	33
David Price, Rays			1			3		1			26
Fernando Rodney, Rays							1	5	2	1	24
Jim Johnson, Orioles			1	1			1	1			22
Alex Rios, White Sox					1				5	1	17

Cy Young:

Player, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Points
David Price, Rays	14	13	1			153
Justin Verlander, Tigers	13	13	2			149
Jered Weaver, Angels		2	14	9	2	70
Felix Hernandez, Mariners			5	10	6	41
Fernando Rodney, Rays	1		5	4	8	38
Chris Sale, White Sox			1	4	6	17
Jim Johnson, Orioles				1	3	5
Matt Harrison, Rangers					2	2
Yu Darvish, Rangers					1	1

Rookie:

Name, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Mike Trout, Angels	28			140
Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics		19	6	63
Yu Darvish, Rangers		9	19	46
Wei-Yin Chen, Orioles			2	2
Jarrod Parker, Athletics			1	1

Manager:

Name, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Bob Melvin, Athletics	16	12		116
Buck Showalter, Orioles	12	16		108
Robin Ventura, White Sox			12	12
Joe Maddon, Rays			7	7
Joe Girardi, Yankees			5	5
Jim Leyland, Tigers			2	2
Ron Washington, Rangers			2	2

Top player:  Mike Trout.  Sure, Cabrera won the "Triple Crown," but Trout was just as good offensively and much better defensively.  Baseball writers like to talk about "the little things," and "intangibles," but they only vote for them when the feel like it.
#1 Mike Trout, #2 Robinson Cano, #3 Miguel Cabrera, #4 Ben Zobrist (Tampa Bay), #5 Adrian Beltre (Texas), #6 Joe Mauer.

Top pitcher:  Justin Verlander.  Yeah, Price won 20, but Verlander pitched better.
#1 Justin Verlander, #2 David Price, #3 Felix Hernandez, #4 Chris Sale, #5 C.C. Sabathia.

Top rookie:  Mike Trout.  One of the easiest award selections ever.

Top manager:  Bob Melvin, I think.  Buck Showalter also did an exceptional job.