LA Angels: Will AL MVP race be decided between these 2 Halos?

Through 12 games this season, the Angels (7-5) sit in first place in the AL West and they’ve established themselves as a top-10 MLB offense. When you look deep into the numbers, it’s a bit misleading as a few players have done most of the heavy lifting, two of them being Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. The duo has gotten off to a great start this season and if they continue their current trends, it’s possible the AL MVP award will be decided between the two Anaheim stars.

It’s a rare occurrence for MLB’s Most Valuable Player voting coming down between two players on the same team. The last time teammates finished first and second in MVP voting was during the 2000 season, with Jeff Kent (1st) and Barry Bonds (2nd) for the San Francisco Giants.

In that season, Kent slashed .334/.424/.596 with 33 home runs and 125 RBI in 695 plate appearances with a 7.2 WAR. Meanwhile, Bonds slashed .306/.440/.688 with 49 home runs and 106 RBI over 607 plate appearances with a 7.7 WAR.

A few players in the National League finished better statistically that season, as Sammy Sosa finished with more home runs (50), Todd Helton RBI (147) and WAR (8.9). However, the Giants finishing with the best record in the NL (97-65) likely played a factor as it usually does.

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani give the Angels two potential MVP candidates.

Roughly 21 years later, both Trout and Ohtani are making their case to rewrite history. If the Angels continue winning games and their stars are putting up big numbers, the AL MVP will come out of Anaheim