Miguel Cabrera- Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers first baseman is simply having a monster year. There isn’t much more Miguel Cabrera could do to earn his $20 million pricetag. Miguel has a realistic shot at winning the batting title and RBI’s race in 2010 with two months to go in the season. The 27-year-old leads the league in OPS, slugging, and RBI’s and is second in the league in doubles and On Base Percentage. One thing hurting Cabrera’s chances at a AL MVP award is the rest of his team. Where would the Tigers be if Miguel wasn’t having a career year? The bottom of the AL Central that’s where.

Josh Hamilton - Texas Rangers

Josh Hamilton is another American league player having a career year at the plate, but the Texas Ranger does have the luxury of playing on a team that looks destined for October. The Rangers have opened a 8.5 game lead on the Oakland Athletics in the AL West, so barring a complete collapse, Hamilton should be playing in the postseason. The 29-year-old outfielder was completely out of baseball only three seasons ago, recovering from a serious addiction to drugs and alcohol. Hamilton presently is in the driver’s seat for the the 2010 batting title and leads the Rangers in all batting statistical categories expect RBI’s (Vladimir Gurrero leads team with 86).

For a guy making $20 million a year you would think it’d be hard to live up to your paycheck, but Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera has done just that thus far in 2010. Building on a great 2009 season, Cabrera leads Major League Baseball in home runs with 19 and RBI’s with 59. If the season ended today the 27-year-old would definantly be up for a MVP award in the American League. The first baseman is hitting .332 for the Tigers who are sitting in a game and a half back from the AL Central leading Minnesota Twins. Last Sunday Cabrera blasted a three run homer to push Detroit past Pittsburgh 4-3. With the quality players both the Twins and Tigers have on roster, the AL Central race should be exciting this summer. There’s little doubt that Cabrera’s brillance will play a huge part in the Tigers’ success.

On Thursday night in Detroit a line a mile long at the Tigers’ Comerica Park stretched across the field. The line wasn’t full of kids waiting to run the bases, but to pay there repsects to a fallen friend. Famed radio broadcaster Ernie Harwell passed away this week at the age of 92, sending the Motor City into full fledged mourning. Harwell was a legend in the city of Detroit for his 42 years calling Tigers games. There was line at 7:30 AM at Comerica Park, and by the time the last person left the stadium on early Friday morning more 10,000 Tiger fans paid their respect to the legend. I moved from Detroit when I was in the third grade, but out of curiosity I turned on a few youtube clips of Harwell. Immediately I recognized his voice like an old uncle I hadn’t heard from in a decade. Fox Sports broadcasters are planning on mourning Harwell with a half inning of silence. The Tigers will honor Ernie on Monday night at Comerica Park when the Tigers take on the Yankees at 7:05 PM.

After months of speculation Johnny Damon was introduced as a Detroit Tiger this week giving Detroit a viable option at the top of their order. It’s no secret that Damon is no spring chicken at age 36, but the guy can still get it done. He brings 14 years of experience to the locker room and the ability to get on base, run the base paths intelligently, and knock in 75-80 runs a year. Damon’s arm isn’t what it used to be in the outfield, but he can still play out there or just be the Tigers’ DH. Should the Tigers make it to the playoffs in 2010, they’ll have a guy who has a wealth of experience playing in the postseason with both the Red Sox and Yankees. The Tigers are hoping to build off of their 2009 season where they choked on the final days to lose the AL Central to the Minnesota Twins.