MLB MVP 2015: AL and NL Award Winners, Voting Results and Reaction | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Coming into Thursday's announcement for the American League and National League Most Valuable Player Awards, the drama was not over who would win, but how large the gap between the Toronto Blue Jays' Josh Donaldson and Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper would end up being.

Donaldson and Harper were bestowed MVP honors for their brilliant 2015 campaigns, with the voting not particularly close in either league.    

According to William Ladson of MLB.com, Harper is the first player in Nationals/Montreal Expos history to win an MVP award. 

Harper's season was historically great in 2015, as broken down by ESPN.com's Eddie Matz:

Harper's 9.9 WAR was the highest by an NL position player since Barry Bonds posted a 10.6 in 2004. For those that consider any Bonds number tarnished, then Harper's 2015 WAR effectively becomes the highest by an NL position player since Joe Morgan notched an 11.0 in 1975. That's what's commonly referred to in history circles as "a really long time ago."

As such, it's hardly a surprise Harper was a unanimous MVP choice in the National League. ESPN's Keith Law had a simple, appropriate reaction after the voting was announced:

keithlaw @keithlaw

As it should be. #MVP

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Harper became the fourth-youngest MVP winner in Major League Baseball history:

ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfo

Bryce Harper is the 4th-youngest player to win MVP, the youngest to do so by unanimous vote (via @EliasSports)

Washington's superstar is the youngest unanimous winner of the NL award, per Brandon Wile of TheScore.com. Just as a reminder of how young Harper is, recently crowned NL Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant was born 10 months before him.

After being bestowed the honor, Harper said on the MLB Network broadcast (via MLB Network PR) that this was something he set out to do when the season started:

MLB Network PR @MLBNetworkPR

.@Bharper3407 on the NL #MVP: "Very happy to be able to bring [it] back to DC. At the beginning of the year, that was my goal." @Nationals

The traditional and advanced numbers show how superior Harper was to his fellow NL MVP candidates in 2015.

Even beyond the numbers, players who were on the other side of the field as Harper was putting up his tremendous year gave Washington's superstar praise for what he did. 

Speaking to Matz in a separate report on ESPN.com late in the regular season, New York Mets third baseman David Wright talked about how Harper went from being an excellent young player to the MVP in 2015. 

"(Harper's) starting to understand what pitchers are trying to do to him," Wright told Matz. "He's willing to take his walks in situations where pitchers are trying to make him chase and get himself out. That says a lot about going from how young he was to now you watch him play and he just looks like a veteran."

A biased perspective on Harper's MVP candidacy came from Matt Thornton, who pitched for the Nationals this season. The left-hander left no doubt about whom the Baseball Writers' Association of America should vote for, per MLB Network Radio:

MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM @MLBNetworkRadio

Thornton on Harper MVP: If he doesn't win it, I'll never respect the vote, of anything. He should be hands down unanimous #Nationals

Fortunately, Thornton can still respect the BBWAA and its voting process, because Harper was rightly recognized for being the best player in the National League this year.

While not quite as dominant in the voting as Harper, Donaldson became Toronto's first MVP winner since George Bell in 1987. The Bringer of Rain hit in the middle of the Blue Jays lineup, leading the franchise to its first postseason appearance since 1993. 

Donaldson and Mike Trout were locked in a virtual dead heat statistically, with Baseball Reference highlighting on Twitter three categories showing just how close the two stars were:

Baseball Reference @baseball_ref

WAR - Trout: 9.4, Donaldson: 8.8 OPS - Trout: .991, Donaldson: .939 DRS - Trout: +5, Donaldson: +11 Who is your #MVP

With no definitive separation between the two players, the fact Donaldson took his team to the playoffs certainly helped him. It's not always the right way to decide an MVP, but in a close race like 2015, it can be forgiven this time. 

It also helps that Donaldson had a season reminiscent of the best Alex Rodriguez put up when he was winning MVP awards, per ESPN Stats & Info:

ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfo

Josh Donaldson: second 3B in MLB history w/ 40 HR, 120 RBIs, 120 runs (Alex Rodriguez- 2X, won MVP both times)

Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com pointed out in mid-August the possible moment Donaldson took control of the MVP race against Trout:

Trout entered Monday in a 10-for-57 funk in which he had struck out 19 times in 67 plate appearances while generating only four extra-base hits.

Juxtapose that against what Donaldson has done the past few weeks. Going back to July 29, he's got a .324/.420/.706 slash line with seven homers, five doubles and 19 RBIs -- a transcendent showing that has aided Toronto's rapid rise up the AL East standings.

While small sample sizes don't tell the whole story, Donaldson's rise as Toronto took control of the division certainly helped his cause. 

This may not have been Trout's year, but MLB Communications did note that he's in pretty good company with his runner-up finish:

MLB Communications @MLB_PR

The runner-up @MikeTrout has now finished in the top 2 of MVP voting in 4 straight years, joining Bonds, Berra & Musial as others to do so.

After the voting was announced on MLB Network, Donaldson was taken aback by the honor, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle:

Susan Slusser @susanslusser

"I'm kind of at a loss for words." - certainly a first for Josh Donaldson.

When Donaldson was able to find the words, he told MLB Network how this season culminated in an MVP award, per MLB Network PR:   

MLB Network PR @MLBNetworkPR

.@BringerOfRain20 on the AL #MVP: "I feel like I was able to take advantage of...the opportunities that were put in front of me." @BlueJays

Per Fox Sports MLB on Twitter, Donaldson's MVP victory also puts him in a category with 2004 AL winner Vladimir Guerrero:

FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX

Josh Donaldson is the first player since Vlad Guerrero in 2004 to win the MVP award in his first season with a team.

Given what Donaldson was able to accomplish in his first season with Toronto, the pressure is on the 29-year-old to find new ways of getting even better in 2016. 

Harper and Donaldson had been favorites to capture the MVP long before the regular season ended. The voters rewarded their spectacular 2015 efforts appropriately. Both players are still well in their primes, so don't be surprised if they end up back here next season.