Biggest MLB award snubs of all time

Verlander lost out to Rick Porcello by only five points in the AL Cy Young voting despite getting six more first-place votes. His 7.2 WAR was far superior to Porcello's 4.8, as he finished with a better ERA and WHIP, as well as had more innings and strikeouts.

Winning the Triple Crown is a timeless feat, but the reality is that Trout did more to help his team win than Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Cabrera finished with a 7.1 WAR after hitting .330-44-139 with a .999 OPS, but he didn't do much defensively at first base. Trout emerged in his rookie season to hit .326-30-83 with 49 steals and a .963 OPS while showing as a plus defender. As a result, Trout easily led the league with a 10.5 WAR.

Clemens had already won seven Cy Young Awards going into 2005, but he deserved one more. The Astros starter finished third place in the voting behind Chris Carpenter and Dontrelle Willis despite beating out the pair in ERA by a significant margin (1.87) compared to Carpenter's 2.83 and Willis' 2.63. He did throw fewer innings, but Clemens' 7.8 WAR led the group. Ultimately, it looks like the award was decided by wins, of which Carpenter had 21 and Willis had 22, while Clemens finished with only 13.

The voters botched both Cy Young votes in 2005, but the AL was the biggest error. Santana easily led all AL pitchers with a 7.2 WAR after posting a 2.87 ERA and 238 strikeouts in 231.2 innings for the Twins. Unfortunately, voters valued wins highly, and Bartolo Colon went 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA in 222.2 innings, while Santana won only 16 games.

Johnson was denied his fifth Cy Young in six years in 2004, finishing second to Roger Clemens in the balloting. The Big Unit was far more deserving, finishing with an 8.4 WAR, 2.60 ERA, and 290 strikeouts in 245.2 innings. Clemens won by 43 points despite a 5.4 WAR, 2.98 ERA, and 218 strikeouts in 214.1 innings.

Baseball had Dontrelle Willis fever in 2003, and the lefty with the funky delivery was even the best rookie in his league. He won the NL Rookie of the Year after going 14-6 with a 3.30 ERA in 160.2 innings and a 4.4 WAR. Webb pitched in a much more hitter-friendly home ballpark with Arizona and went 10-9 with a 2.84 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 180.2 innings. The difference in record was the only excuse voters could make for giving Willis the award, and it's not a good one.

Rodriguez's bad Rangers squad is likely all that stood between him and the 2002 AL MVP. He easily had better numbers than Oakland shortstop Miguel Tejada, hitting .300-57-142 with a 1.015 OPS and 8.8 WAR, compared to Tejada's .308-34-131 with an .861 OPS and 5.6 WAR.

Bonds failed to win his fourth MVP in 1996, but he was easily the NL's best player, according to WAR (9.7). He hit .308-42-129 with 40 steals and a 1.076. Padres third baseman Ken Caminiti still had a good year, hitting .326-40-130 with a 1.028 OPS, but his numbers were clearly inferior as was his 7.6 WAR.

With all due respect to Jack McDowell, he had no business winning the 1993 AL Cy Young over third place finisher Kevin Appier. McDowell had a 4.4 WAR with the White Sox after going 22-10 with a 3.37 ERA and 158 strikeouts in 256.2 innings. Appier won the ERA title in the AL and fanned 186 batters in 238.2 innings for a 9.3 WAR, yet he got only one first-place vote.

Bob Welch won 27 games for Oakland in 1990, which has to be the only reason he beat out Roger Clemens for the Cy Young. Welch finished with a 2.95 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 238 innings for a 3.0 WAR, while Clemens was 21-6 with a 1.93 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 228.1 innings for the Red Sox. Clemens' 10.5 WAR lapped that of Welch.

Back before on-base and slugging percentage ruled the day, batting average, home runs and RBI were the biggest factors in determining MVP. George Bell's line of .308-47-134 looks better than Trammell's .343-28-105 by those standards, but Bell's OPS was only four points better. Trammell played a much tougher position at shortstop and had an 8.2 WAR, compared to Bell's 5.0.

Henderson finished third in the MVP voting to teammate Don Mattingly and George Brett, but the leadoff man extraordinaire deserved the award. Mattingly had a 6.5 WAR and hit .324-35-145 with a .939 OPS for the Yanks. Henderson didn't get even one first-place vote despite hitting .314-24-72 with 80 steals and a .934 OPS, good for a league-best 9.9 WAR.

Gooden managed to win NL Rookie of the Year in 1984, but he also deserved the Cy Young. He didn't even get any first-place votes despite going 17-9 with a 2.60 ERA and 276 strikeouts in 218 innings. The winner was Rick Sutcliffe, who went 16-1 with a 2.69 ERA and 155 strikeouts in 150.1 innings, starting only 20 games to Gooden's 31.

Stieb was an absolute workhorse for the Blue Jays in 1982, with 285 innings, 19 wins, a 2.87 ERA and 199 strikeouts. But he had only a fourth-place Cy Young finish to show for it. His WAR was two wins better than any other AL pitcher (7.7), but the winner of the award was Milwaukee starter Peter Vuckovich with an 18-6 record, 3.34 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 223.2 innings.

Norris tied Steve Stone with 13 first-place votes in the 1980 AL Cy Young voting, but Stone won by nine points. That's a shame for Norris, who went 22-9 with a 2.53 ERA and 180 strikeouts in 284.1 innings, compared to Stone's 25-7 record, 3.23 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 250.2 innings. Norris beat out Stone in WAR by nearly two wins.

Eddie Murray beat out Page by three first-place votes to win the AL Rookie of the Year, though Page was clearly the better player in 1977. Page accumulated a 6.1 WAR after hitting .307-21-75 with 42 steals and a .926 OPS, while Murray hit .283-27-88 with an .803 OPS and 3.2 WAR.

Niekro didn't get much consideration for the Cy Young, garnering just one first-place vote and finishing in third place. He was clearly the best pitcher in the AL, however, accumulating a 7.9 WAR, 20-13 record, 2.38 ERA and 195 strikeouts in 302.1 innings with 18 complete games. He threw nearly 100 more innings than winner Mike Marshall, who went 15-12 with a 2.42 ERA and 21 saves, tallying 208.1 innings over 106 relief appearances.

Schmidt was almost nowhere to be found in the MVP voting after his breakout season with Philly, finishing sixth in voting. He easily led the league with a 9.7 WAR after hitting .282-36-116 with a .941 OPS. The winner was L.A.'s Steve Garvey, who hit .312-21-11 with an .811 OPS.

Yaz was penalized for playing on a third place Red Sox squad in 1970 but led the AL in on-base and slugging, hitting .329-40-102 with 23 steals and a 1.044 OPS. He finished fourth in the voting, while winner Boog Powell hit .297-35-114 with a .962 OPS. Yastrzemski's 9.7 WAR easily beats Powell's 5.1.

Bunning fans have a right to complain about the NL Cy Young vote of 1967. The Phillies ace finished tied for second with only one first-place vote despite going 17-15 with a 2.29 ERA and 253 strikeouts in 302.1 innings. Mike McCormick clearly got the nod due to wins, going 22-10 with a 2.85 ERA and 150 strikeouts in 262.1 innings.

Mays was robbed of the MVP for the second time in three years, getting almost no MVP consideration despite arguably his best season. He hit .296-47-111 with 19 steals and a .990 OPS, good for an 11.0 WAR. He finished sixth in the vote, while winner Ken Boyer hit .295-24-119 with an .854 OPS and a 6.1 WAR.

Mays finished only seven points and one first-place vote behind Maury Wills, but their seasons weren't even comparable. Wills won by hitting .299-6-48 with 104 steals, a .720 OPS and 6.0 WAR. Mays hit .304-49-141 with a .999 OPS and 10.5 WAR.

Roger Maris got all of the attention in 1961 for breaking Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. However, teammate Mickey Mantle had a better all-around year but finished four points behind Maris in the MVP vote. Maris hit .269-61-141 with a .993 OPS, while Mantle hit .317-54-128 with a 1.135 OPS.

Jones didn't even come close to beating Early Wynn in the major league Cy Young vote of 1959, but his numbers were clearly better. Wynn went 22-10 with a 3.17 ERA and 179 strikeouts in 255.2 innings. Jones made 50 appearances for the Giants, starting 35 games and going 21-15 with a 2.83 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 270.2 innings.

Williams' Red Sox teams weren't always winners, and that was clearly the only reason why he lost by one point in the MVP voting to Joe DiMaggio in 1947. DiMaggio hit .315-20-97 with a .913 OPS, but Williams blew those numbers away by hitting .343-32-114 with a 1.133 OPS. It was the second time in seven years that Williams should have won over DiMaggio.

Trout finished four points behind teammate Hal Newhouser in the AL MVP vote, but he had a better year. Newhouser went 29-9 with a 2.22 ERA and 187 strikeouts in 312.1 innings, while Trout was 27-14 with a 2.12 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 352.1 innings. Trout's stats were a full three wins better in WAR.

Musial finished fourth in the NL MVP vote, but his production was far better than that of teammate and MVP winner Marty Marion. Marion hit .267-6-63 with a .686 OPS at shortstop, while Musial hit .347-12-94 with a league-best .990 OPS.

Williams had unbelievable offensive accomplishments in 1941, hitting .401-37-120 with a 1.287 OPS. He led the league in batting average, home runs, walks, runs scored, on-base percentage and slugging. Yet Joe DiMaggio edged him in the MVP vote after hitting .357-30-125 with a 1.083 OPS.

Mize finished well behind Frank McCormick in the MVP vote but likely lost because McCormick's Reds finished in first place. Mize finished the year hitting .314-43-137 with the best OPS in the league for the third straight year, while McCormick hit .309-19-127 with an .850 OPS.

Vaughan had a tremendous 9.2 WAR but finished well behind Gabby Hartnett and Dizzy Dean in the MVP race. While Hartnett hit .344-13-91 with a .949 OPS at catcher for the Cubs, Vaughan hit .385-19-99 with a 1.098 OPS while manning shortstop for the 86-67 Pirates.

Tigers Mickey Cochrane and Charlie Gehringer finished one-two in the MVP vote, but fifth-place finisher Lou Gehrig was the best performer in the league by a mile. The Yankees first baseman won the Triple Crown, hitting .363-49-166 with a 1.172 OPS. Cochrane hit only .230-2-75 with an .840 OPS, while Gehringer hit .356-11-127 with a .967 OPS. Detroit finished in first place ahead of the second-place Yankees, but the Tigers' numbers don't nearly make up the difference.

Mickey Cochrane got two more points than Manush to win the MVP, hitting .293-10-57 with an .859 OPS. Manush hit .378-13-108 with a .989 OPS for the St. Louis Browns, and his 7.3 WAR easily beats Cochrane's 4.1.