Los Angeles Angels centerfielder Mike Trout is by far the best player in baseball and he should definitely be in the conversation for this award. The reason this writer thinks Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano should be the front-runner at the moment has to with his overall “value” to his team that is currently tied with the Detroit Tigers for the second wild card spot in the American League.

Now everyone who has an opinion on these awards have their own criteria’s for why a certain player should win these prestige awards. This writer looks at the numbers but also at the total impact to his team on and off the field.

Since Robinson Cano signed his 10-year $240 million deal, the five-time All-Star has made a drastic culture change in the Mariners organization. The Mariners are still a team that struggles offensively but considering the youth and lack of protection for Cano his numbers are still at the top of the league.

Coming into Wednesday, Cano is batting .330/.398/.471 with 10 homeruns and 66 RBI’s. The power numbers may be down but his batting average is as high as it’s been since 2006 where he only played 122 games. His staggering on-base percentage of .398 is his highest total in his career. Part of his power outage is due to the huge gaps in Safeco Field, but surprisingly he has a slightly higher slugging percentage at home.

If you are into sabermetric numbers Cano has the 3rd highest WAR (5.2) in the American League. WAR stands for Wins Above Replacement which combines a players overall value compared to replacement player. So Cano is worth 5.2 wins more than a replacement player would be.

Cano is not only an elite offensive player, he’s a Gold Glove caliber defender. Cano is tied for second in the American League with Ian Kinsler with a .994 fielding percentage among second baseman. He makes all the routine plays and makes the difficult plays look simple. The only knock people seem to have with Cano is the fact it doesn’t look like he’s giving 100%. In reality, he’s is just a smooth player who doesn’t have to make animated gestures to look like he’s playing harder than he is.

One thing you can’t quantify with statistics is the value and leadership he brings to his teammates. With a team full of young guys who haven’t won anything at the big league level, Cano really brings value when it comes to a winning mentality playing in New York all those years and winning a World Series with a guy like Derek Jeter. Those experiences have started to rub off on his teammates and it can only help coming down the stretch playing meaningful games.

Two of Cano’s teammates to focus on are Kyle Seager and Dustin Ackley. Both are left-handed hitters who have benefited greatly from Cano’s arrival to Seattle.

Kyle Seager made his first All-Star appearance this year and going into Wednesday night Seager is batting .276/.344/.479 with 18 homeruns and 73 RBI’s. His batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage are all career highs and he holds a WAR of 5.1 which is a tenth of point lower than Cano’s. Seager has become the one hitter in the Mariners lineup who gives Cano any protection.

With Cano coming to Seattle, Dustin Ackley had to make a permanent move to the outfield. It has also put pressure on him to live up to his 2nd overall selection in the 2009 MLB Draft. He hasn’t lived up to the billing so far in his young career but in the second half of this season Ackley has started to show some promise. Overall Ackley is only batting .251/.296/.385 with eight homeruns and 46 RBI’s in 374 at-bats, but in the second half Ackley is hitting .323/.337/.525 with four homeruns and 17 RBI’s in only 99 at-bats. I realize this could just be a hot streak but I think Cano has really made an impact on these hitters, and this only makes Cano more valuable because of the impact it has on the team’s success.

For those who make the argument that Cano isn’t even the most valuable player on his team and that Felix Hernandez is more deserving for the award, you’re wrong. That is a blunt statement but Cano impacts the game every day and King Felix only contributes once every fifth day. This writer is not one of those guys who think pitchers should win the MVP, that’s why they have the Cy Young Award. Now Felix has this writer’s vote for Cy Young but not MVP. But that’s a topic for another day.

Robinson Cano might not win the AL MVP because of how great Mike Trout continues to be, but he should be right in the middle of the conversation. Not taking anything away from Trout but Cano doesn’t have the luxury of having Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton hitting behind him. Cano doesn’t really have much protection behind him so in turn he gets pitched around. Whereas, Trout has two of the greatest hitters in this decade hitting behind which gives Trout more pitches to hit.

In the end, Cano brings more value to his team on and off the field and just like the Angels, the Mariners are contenting more a postseason berth. Which would be the first time for Seattle since the 2001 season.