Former Legend Zobrist eighth in AL MVP voting

Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays, who played for the Lexington Legends in 2005 and is a member of the Legends' Hall of Fame, finished eighth in voting for the 2009 American League Most Valuable Player Award. Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins won the award.

Zobrist, a member of the 2009 American League All-Star team, was named the Rays team MVP. He batted .297 with 27 home runs and 91 runs batted in, and was seventh in the league in slugging percentage at .543.

A shortstop with the Legends, Zobrist has played shortstop, second base and all three outfield positions in the majors. He played in 68 games for the Legends in 2005, batting .304. He was traded to the Tampa Bay organization in 2006 and made his major league debut with the Rays (then the Devil Rays) on August 1 of that year. He appeared in the World Series with Tampa Bay in 2008. Zobrist was inducted into the Legends Hall of Fame in August 2009.

Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees was second in the voting. New York's Derek Jeter was third. The remainder of the top 10, in order, included Miguel Cabrera, Detroit; Kendry Morales, Los Angeles Angels; Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay, Boston; Zobrist; Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle; and Alex Rodriguez, New York.