Carlos Quentin Should Be the AL MVP

I was at U.S. Cellular Field last night sitting behind home plate when Carlos Quentin hit his major league-leading 35th home run of the season into the left field seats. Seeing Carlos go deep this season was nothing new, but there was something different about his blast on Monday night.

It didn't mean anything. The White Sox were already sporting a 12-5 lead on the Mariners, so his solo shot didn't factor into the game's result. Very rarely has that been the case for Quentin this season. Carlos came to the White Sox in an offseason trade with the Diamondbacks, and he came with very little fanfare.

At the time most White Sox fans - including myself - were still a little sore about missing out on Torii Hunter and local legend Aaron Rowand. So when they found out that Kenny Williams' big plan was to bring in some outfielder nobody had ever heard of, and one that was coming off of shoulder surgery to boot, Sox fans weren't pleased.

Well thank God Kenny Williams runs the team, and the fans don't.

The only reason Quentin even made the Sox roster out of spring training was due to a groin injury suffered by Jerry Owens. Owens' injury opened a spot in the outfield, and Carlos was going to keep it warm for a few games until he could come back.

Unfortunately for Jerry Owens, once Carlos took his spot in left field, he wasn't about to give it back. While the White Sox offense sputtered through the first two months of the season, Quentin put the entire team on his back and led them to first place in the AL Central. Nobody on the team has gotten off yet, either. Without Carlos Quentin in the lineup, there is just no way the White Sox are leading their division right now.

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Quentin not only leads the majors in home runs, but he's also second in the AL in RBI (96), and slugging percentage (.586), while he's third in OPS (.981). Oh, and his OBP of .395 isn't half bad either.

Now while Josh Hamilton is the nice story of the season, and he leads the world in RBI with 114 (the only hitting category he's better than Quentin in), he's tailed off in the second half a bit. Plus, his team has no chance of making the playoffs this season. I know that being on a playoff team isn't a prerequisite to winning the MVP award, but for my money, it helps.

Really, Quentin's only competition for AL MVP this season should be Justin Morneau, who is having another monster season and carrying the Twins on his back once again. If the Twins can overtake the White Sox in the AL Central, you can bet Morneau will have something to do with it, and I'd give the nod to him.

As of now, though, the only real option, in my opinion, is the kid playing left field for the White Sox who nobody had ever heard of, and wasn't supposed to be there in the first place.