"Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays and Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers, each presented with the Hank Aaron Award for offensive excellence Monday, said they also deserve to win their respective MVP awards this season.

Bautista, however, said he had no qualms with pitchers -- including the Tigers' Justin Verlander (24-5, 2.40 ERA) -- being eligible for the MVP award.

"As the rules pertain, he's eligible right now," Bautista said. "It's one of those things where he had such an amazing year that he's in line for the Cy Young and the MVP at the same time. I can't remember the last time I saw a pitcher have a year like he did -- maybe Pedro Martinez when he was in Boston. He was very dominant. He gave his team a chance to win every day, and the rules say that he's eligible to win it. Unless they change the rule, I don't think there's anything wrong if he ends up winning it.""