Congratulations, now let's get this guy signed for 5 years. Try $10.0 MM, then $15.0 MM, then 3 at $20.0 MM. Otherwise it might go $12.0 MM, then $18.5 MM, then $22.5 MM and then Free Agency.

Full voting at http://bbwaa.com/15-al-mvp/

Donaldson was 1st or 2nd on all ballots, 7 put Trout first instead with one drunk writer putting Nelson Cruz 2nd instead of Trout.

Bautista was 8th with 2 3rd place votes, named on 20 of 30 ballots.

Price was 9th with 1 3rd, 1 4th, named on 14 of 30 ballots

Encarnacion was 12th with 1 5th vote and named on 9 ballots.

Martin was in a tie for 24th with 2 10th place votes (2 points).

6 guys had 1 10th place 'I like you' votes including A-Rod.

The highest any player was who was named on just one ballot was Kendrys Morales who was put 4th on one ballot and no one else named him.

FYI: They list who voted for whom. Cruz was put 2nd by a Cleveland writer.

Toronto voters...
Richard Griffin: Donaldson, Trout, Cain, Machado, Cruz, Altuve, Bautista, Beltre, Martinez, Kipnis

Bob Elliott: Donaldson, Trout, Cain, Machado, Keuchel, Beltre, Cruz, Bautista, Cabrera, Teixeira

Martin was voted for by someone in LA and a Detroit writer.

Funny that Martin, Encarnacion, and Price didn't get a single home town vote and the highest votes for Bautisa (3rd) were by NY and Cleveland writers.

Josh is that rare animal with not only talent simply oozing our of every pore but also who's heart, determination and unabashed love of the game simply give him the complete package. It has been a rare pleasure to have followed his magnificent play all year. I strongly suspect this won't be the last time I write admiring the results of his total package. Josh Hamilton may have been tagged,"The Natural" - but he was merely a pretender to our Josh's throne.

Thank you Josh, for letting me come along and watch your ride to Glory! is it April yet?

As it should.

Kendrys Morales who was put 4th on one ballot and no one else named him.

George A. King III, NY Post. Sees baseball through an interesting lens.

A charming moment was the smile on JD's face when Rosenthal mentioned he wasn't a full time player until he was 27.

Long-term contracts are a curse.  Don't weigh down Josh with one now.  Let him have the fun of going year-to-year for a couple more years.

When the player is one year from free agency, that's the best time to make a long-term offer, if you still want him.

What if he does really well the next couple years and is more expensive to sign two years from now?  Then be happy he had two more really good years.

Post MVP is the most expensive time to sign a guy. Now is the time to go year to year unless his agent is dumb enough to propose a sub $25 mil a year deal for years 3 and beyond on a 5 year deal.

Congratulations to Josh on the MVP, well deserved ! I think it was the month of August that propelled Josh into the lead in the MVP race.Up until then, some people ( including the esteemed Greg Zaun ), would have picked Trout but Donaldson had a monster month statistically. The Blue Jays blew by the Yankees into first place in the division while at the same time Trout, and his team, were in a slump and fell out of first place in their division. Of course, leading his team to the playoffs for the first time in 22 years didn't hurt either.

"When the player is one year from free agency, that's the best time to make a long-term offer, if you still want him."

That strategy didn't work out so great for the Jays with Vernon Wells.

I wasn't a big AA fan, but he deserves a ton of props for the Donaldson trade. To acquire a controllable MVP for a package centered around Brett Lawrie is pretty darn amazing. Well done, Alex.

I wonder if Lawries value was upped by how AA said he was untradable for a bit, or the only guy he wouldn't trade due to his marketability and being such a big early win for him.

Also, who would've thought Lawrie would've played 149 games last season? And hit for just a 92 OPS+ 1.9 bWAR (negative defensive value). Graveman had a 99 ERA+ in 21 starts which is better than most would've expected. Nolan a 77 ERA+ in 6 starts which is about as expected. Barreto hit 302/333/500 in A+ at SS in just 90 games (injured?). Right now that is a very lopsided trade and will probably get more so over the next 2 years unless Barreto climbs fast.