It's late August, which means that it is time to break down the MVP races in each respective league. There is nothing like throwing all those gaudy numbers down on paper and then arbitrarily choosing which guy is best. Gotta love it.
American League.
The American League has been the dominant league this year (by far) and the winner of the hardware should probably get a bigger trophy than his NL counterpart. Which is ironic, because the Junior Circuit has been the league that has had some shaky winners this decade (on top of being called the Junior Circuit). This year there is no such problem. Here are the five guys with the best shot to take home the hardware heading down the stretch:
5. Vladimir Guerrero. He’s getting no pub, but the perennial candidate has been anchoring a pretty brutal Angels offense all season. Guerrero is hitting .322 with 27 home runs, 15 steals, and 99 RBI and continuing to break out his howitzer of an arm on occasion. As long as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (I don’t even have a joke for this anymore) are in contention and Guerrero is playing in at least 85% of the games, he is pretty much automatically in the top five every year.
4. Justin Morneau. Morneau and the Twins continue to lurk. If Minnesota wins the Wild Card and Morneau goes nuts down the stretch, he could be your dark horse candidate. He’s hitting .317 with 31 homers and 108 ribbies and if you want to know anything more about my love for this particular lefty, just go back to the last column.
3. Derek Jeter. He’s the seven-time winner of the “Most Kissed-Up-To Player” Award, but he’s never had such a good shot to win the MVP trophy. The Yankees are running away with the AL East and Jeter has been the guy carrying the load. Yes, Jason Giambi has sterling power numbers, but it is the Bronx Bombers’ captain that has been driving the offense. Jeter is second in the AL with a .334 batting average, has driven in 76 runs, scored 89 times, and stolen 26 bases. His defensive abilities have become wildly overrated in recent years, but the fact remains that he mans an important position and plays full speed at all times.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Here I was trying to think of a guy better than Ortiz this year. And there it is. YermainGuy. Good case, but wow try walking into Boston and saying that.
2 - Kevin
What if the White Sox don't make the playoffs? Voters don't like to vote for a player on a team that's home in October, though I disagree with them. And Joe Mauer should be in this discussion as well, as he has better offensive stats across the board than Jeter, and plays great defense at the toughest defensive position.
And, personally, I think your blog would be easier to read if you used a smaller font.
3 - Adam Hoff
Well, if the Sox don't make it, that will probably hurt Dye's case, although I think that you will find that MVP's can come from teams that are in the race right until the end. Either way though, I sincerely doubt Dye will get enough love to even crack the top three, let alone win it. He just happens to be my pick at this moment.
As for Mauer, I think he has a tough time overcoming the fact that Morneau is going to get most of the Twins votes. It is the same reason I didn't put Manny Ramirez or Jason Giambi on the list - they have teammates that are going to eat up those votes.
The one guy I can't believe I left off the NL list (especially in light of the fact I had to put two players from sub-.500 teams on the list) is Jose Reyes. Beltran is the man if a Mets player wins it, but Reyes might be the most exciting player in baseball and certainly should have had Berkman's spot. He plays an important defensive position and his numbers are ridiculous. Hitting almost .300, leads the majors in steals (54), is second in runs (102), and has 15 triples and 15 home runs to go with 23 doubles. He even has more RBI than strikeouts, which speaks to his improved plate discipline.
Also, yesterday gave us a pretty thrilling showdown between Howard and Beltran as they combined to drive in six of the seven runs scored in the game and each hit big home runs. Great stuff.
4 - Matthew T. Sussman
And look at that ... Dye with a two-run home run off Joe Nathan to tie it in the ninth. They didn't win though.
5 - M.D. Sandwasher
Adam,
You made me laugh out loud when I read "As long as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (I don't even have a joke for this anymore)." That was funnier than writing the obligatory joke. And when you wrote, “In fact, the similarities between Ortiz and Howard are kind of astounding…The only problem? In my most important fantasy league I missed each of them by a single pick. I need to move on before I get upset.”
I too am very high on Morneau. I like the fact that you have Jermaine Dye listed as your number one. Every writer lists the Big Papi’s and Jeter, but I have seen very little written about Dye this year and undeservingly so.
Great Article!
6 - Adam Hoff
Thanks for the kind words. There really is nothing left to say about the LA/Anaheim debacle. The best take on it I've seen is from Michael Kun in "The Baseball Uncylopedia" (a great read). He broke down the fact that when translated, the new name of the team literally comes out to "The The Angels Angels of Anahiem." Classic.
It was too bad about Dye hitting the dramatic home run, only for the Sox to still lose. I personally don't care who wins the wild card (and probably prefer the Twins), but those are the kind of moments he nees to have any hope of winning the award.
Howard and Beltran matched home runs against today ... uncanny. Those guys are both so sick. I think Howard is going to finish with better numbers than Big Papi. He's already got him in average and today he passed him in RBI (by one) and tied him in home runs. He's going to wind up with those 55 and 140 numbers, I think. If that happens and the Phillies win the wild card, they almost have to give it to him, right? Should be interesting, because all three of those guys (Pujols, Beltran, and Howard) are having incredible years.
7 - judge roy beans
Jeter ...Most over-rated player ever .if he played on Royals ..No one would of ever heard his name ....Hoqw many scratch infield hits he has this year ..like 1/2 his hits .or little dinkers
8 - Matthew T. Sussman
Curse him for getting on base and manufacturing runs.