IBWAA Names Harper, Donaldson MVPs

Awards season ended Thursday with the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) naming Bryce Harper and Josh Donaldson the MVPs of their respective leagues.

Harper got 95% of the first-place votes for a total of 2461 points. Paul Goldschmidt was second with 1314 points. Joey Votto, Andrew McCutchen and Anthony Rizzo rounded out the top five. My ballot was Harper, Goldschmidt, Yoenis Cespedes (he did not finish in the top 10), Rizzo and Nolan Arenado.

Over in the American League, Donaldson had 2222 points with 70% of the first-place votes. Mike Trout was second with 1820 points. Lorenzo Cain, Manny Machado and Nelson Cruz took the next three places. I had Donaldson, Trout, Cruz, Chris Davis and J.D. Martinez.

My voting clearly shows my preference for the MVP to be the player with the best season, not one who necessarily comes from a winning team. And Cespedes should have gotten more support!