BREAKING NEWS: Giancarlo Stanton Runner Up For 2014 NL MVP

The National League MVP award was handed out tonight and Giancarlo Stanton was just edged out by Clayton Kershaw for the award. It was his third time receiving consideration, and first time as a finalist. The top three were Kershaw at 355 points, Stanton at 298 points, and Andrew McCutchen at 271 points. Stanton received 8 of the possible 30 first place votes.

Stanton was arguably the best hitter in the National League in 2014. He missed some time at the end of the year when he was hit in the face by a pitch and had multiple fractures, but he played in 145 games and still put up 37 home runs and 105 RBI, both career highs.

Stanton proved this season that he is not just a mammoth home run masher. He also hit for average and got on base, hitting .288 and a .395 OBP. Stanton even impressed on the base paths, stealing 13 bags out of 14 attempts. He had just 17 stolen bases in 4 years coming into the 2014 season.

Stanton is still under team control for two more seasons, but the Marlins are talking extension with him right now to try to keep him in Miami for possibly the next ten years. There were reports earlier today that the Marlins may be ready to give Stanton $300 million dollars for his continued services.

Stanton just turned 25 this week and is only going to continue to get better. Now that the Marlins have players around him to help the team win games like Jose Fernandez, Christian Yelich, and Henderson Alvarez, Stanton isn’t going to feel like the only star on the team anymore. The off-season is young and the Marlins may load up to prove to Stanton the team is ready to compete now.