Manny Machado finishes fourth in AL MVP balloting, far ahead of Orioles MVP Chris Davis

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado finished a solid fourth in the balloting for American League MVP, which is only surprising when you consider that he finished second in the voting for Orioles MVP this year.

American League home run king Chris Davis was named Orioles MVP in a vote of the local media, but he finished a distant 14th in the AL MVP vote by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Of course, Toronto Blue Jays third baseman -- and Machado nemesis -- Josh Donaldson easily won the award and was followed in the voting by finalists Mike Trout and Lorenzo Cain.

Machado played in all 162 games and batted .286 with 102 runs, 35 homers and 86 RBIs. He also made the All-Star team and won his second Gold Glove at third base.

Davis led the majors with 47 home runs and also drove in 117 runs, but BBWAA voters apparently focused more than the Baltimore media on his major league-leading 208 strikeouts. It marked only the fifth time a player has struck out more than 200 times in a season.

Nevertheless, Davis is expected to strike gold this winter in free agency. Machado will have to wait a while to maximize his earning potential, but is eligible for salary arbitration.

Donaldson, who batted .297, hit 41 homers, led the majors with 122 runs and the AL with 123 RBIs, received 23 first-place votes and Trout received the other seven. They combined for all but one of the second-place votes -- the outlier going to Nelson Cruz, who finished sixth overall. Machado received four third-place votes and 11 fourth-place votes.