Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer has been named the 2009 American League's Most Valuable Player, by a near unanimous vote. The award caps a season for Mauer in which he led the league in most major hitting categories, and posted career-high totals for home runs and runs batted in. However, Mauer's long-list of achievements has sparked more talk about his future with the team.
In five years as a Major League Baseball player, Joe Mauer has achieved milestones that took other ballplayers their entire careers to reach. He's won three batting titles, two Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers…and now the AL Most Valuable Player award.