"Some baseball position players like the Jays' Jose Bautista may not agree that there are any pitchers worthy of recognition for the MVP award, but there are certain starters that should be included in any conversation and that includes the Tigers' ace, Justin Verlander. On Monday, BBWAA voters agreed as Verlander bucked recent trends, becoming the first starting pitcher since Roger Clemens in 1986 and the first pitcher of any kind since Dennis Eckersley in 1992 to earn Most Valuable Player.

Verlander, winner of the AL Cy Young and the 2011 pitching Triple Crown, was rewarded with a first-place nod on less than half the votes cast, just 13 of the 28 by a panel of the league's writers, two from each member city, but with a high total of six different players getting first-place votes, the most since 2003, it was spread out enough for the Detroit ace to take this year's MVP. He deserved it."