Mookie Betts won the 2018 American League Most Valuable Player award with 28 out of a possible 30 first-place votes. It was a landslide margin that a Red Sox player hasn’t experienced since Fred Lynn’s tally in 1975.
Betts left no doubt in the minds of voters from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, winning the batting title with his .346 average, leading the league in wins above replacement (WAR) at 10.4, and contributing 32 home runs alongside 30 stolen bases.
Betts, quite simply, was the best player in the league, and was justly rewarded for it.