Felix Hernandez: MVP, Cy Young or Both?

Felix Hernandez should win the the 2014 American League Cy Young award. In addition, you could make a pretty good argument for him winning MVP as well.

At the moment, here are the eye-popping stats for Hernandez:

13-4, 197 SO (185.1 IP), 130 H, 49 R, 32 BB, 1.99 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 6.0 WAR

Those are some insane numbers, and they are certainly worthy of hardware. Where would the Mariners be without King Felix? Don’t ask. There are the obvious 13 wins, but you could make an argument that he is a force of confidence for the team even when he doesn’t get the W.

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Now, is it possible that Hernandez will lose out on the MVP to Mike Trout? That would not be a shock.

The problem with these awards is that voters add additional criteria which is not actually part of the award. For example, there are some writers that probably won’t vote for Hernandez because, in their infinite wisdom, they will decide that a pitcher should not win the award.

Let’s just say that the voters should be polled and asked if they have any of their own special criteria. If there are voters that don’t think pitchers should be eligible, they should have their votes taken away.

Follow the rules. The rule says that pitchers are eligible.

Is Hernandez more valuable to the Seattle Mariners than Mike Trout is to the Los Angeles Angels? We could debate that all day long and not come up with an answer. Why? Because there isn’t one.

Value is ultimately subjective, and picturing a hypothetical scenario where the player is removed from the team doesn’t work. After all, it is hypothetical and cannot be created.

Justin Verlander did win the MVP and Cy Young in 2011, so Hernandez does have hope that enough voters will see the light. In the meantime, he will need to keep racking up wins and strikeouts while lowering his ERA.

M-V-P! M-V-P! And Cy Young! And Cy Young!

Here’s hoping that King Felix takes home more than one piece of hardware to commemorate the 2014 season. Of course, going to the playoffs would also be nice.

Too much to ask?