Choosing the Most Valuable Player from each league is the most difficult decision of all the major baseball awards handed out at the conclusion of each season. With Rookie of the Year and Cy Young you can usually look solely at which player had the best overall stats, but Most Valuable Player sometimes involves a bit more than just stats. While it’s important that an MVP winner had a great statistical year, the best offensive player doesn’t automatically become the most valuable.

With that said, it was an even more difficult vote for me this season than it has been in seasons past. There are several players, including Josh Donaldson, Mike Trout, and even Chris Davis, who were all extremely valuable members of their given team in the American League. However, in the end, only one player can win the Most Valuable Player award.

Chris Davis posted some unbelievable stats in 2015, of 47 home runs and 117 RBI’s all while hitting a solid .262. Whenever a player does that, they have to at the very least be acknowledged as a valuable member of their given team. Even so, while Davis was arguably the most valuable Orioles player, he was by no means the most valuable player in all of the American League.

That honor came down to Mike Trout (once again) and Josh Donaldson. But while Trout had another incredible statistical season, in which he brought a tremendous amount of value, he won’t be picking up his second straight MVP. Despite an elite on base percentage of .402, along with 41 homers, Trout didn’t quite put up the numbers needed to win the award.

In my opinion, and the opinion of many others around the baseball world, Josh Donaldson is the best choice for the 2015 American League Most Valuable Player award. All season long, Donaldson came up big for the Blue Jays time and time again. Although the likes of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion did their fare share of carrying the team, it was Donaldson leading the charge. With his 41 homers, league-leading 123 RBI’s and batting average of .301, Donaldson truly earned the MVP.