"The psychoanalyst Helene Deutsch once said "the ultimate goal of all research is not objectivity, but truth.'' It's in that spirit that we conclude Curtis Granderson should be the American League's first-half Most Valuable Player.

A crowd of players deserves consideration. The Blue Jays' Jose Bautista is once again putting up the biggest numbers with a majors-leading 29 home runs (all numbers are entering the weekend), and Adrian Gonzalez has carried the Red Sox with league-leading totals in average (.351) and RBIs (76). Paul Konerko (.316-22-64) has been a beacon of light for the White Sox, and Miguel Cabrera has been as good as usual for the Tigers.

But at the moment, this is Granderson's world, and we're all just passing through.

Long a solid center fielder and one of baseball's best baserunners, Granderson has turned into a beast at the plate since working with Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long to retool his swing.

While helping the Tigers to the 2006 World Series, he started his swing with his bat parallel to the ground, and as time went on, opponents realized he didn't have enough bat speed from that position to get to inside pitches. They exploited the weakness to the point where the Tigers became willing to trade him."