The AL MVP — a splendidly splintered vote
Posted on November 18th, 2008 – 9:33 AMBy Howard
The American League MVP award will be announced today and it could go to…
Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox, the little second baseman who had a bunch of big hits and moved throughout the Boston batting order depending on where he was needed.
Kevin Youkilis of the Red Sox, who was a steadying force on offense and played spectacular defense. I assume the only reason Carlos Pena won the Gold Glove at first base is that Youkilis spent three dozen games filling in at third.
Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels, who set a major-league record with 62 saves and is a better MVP candidate than he was a Cy Young candidate, even though I don’t think he’d be worth a first-place vote for either.
Justin Morneau, who was probably the front-runner until his season-ending slump. That .243 average/.298 on-base percentage/.398 slugging percentage in September was the offensive equivalent of the Twins bullpen. (In July, those numbers were .360/.473/.708.)
Joe Mauer, the revisionist end-of-the-year choice as the Twins’ team MVP. A batting title and a Gold Glove and steady performace makes a good argument. not to mention that he picked up his game in the final weeks.
Carlos Quentin of the White Sox, who had 36 homers and 100 RBI until breaking his wrist and sitting out after September 1. In discussing Quentin and Morneau, what’s the difference between their two versions of not being there for the final weeks?
And what about MVP numbers for a non-contending team? Albert Pujols won the NL MVP even though the Cardinals finished 11 1/2 games out and weren’t really a serious threat. Does that have any bearing on Josh Hamilton of Texas and/or mAdonna-Rod? (Hamilton had a severe tail-off in the season half of the season and A-Rod got his love by winning in 2007.) Conventional wisdom out of the National League was that Pujols was just that much of a monster this season, playing hurt and keeping his team from being truly terrible. From a distance, I would have gone for Ryan Howard.
Today’s voting is done by two members of the Baseball Writers Association of America in each AL city, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the votes are chopped up and how writers explain their choices. Voters list their Top 10 choices and I will argue that there’s little home-town boosterism in the balloting, except that hometown writers sometimes recognize local players with votes at the bottom of the ballot.
If I voted? 1. Youkilis, 2. Quentin, 3. Mauer, 4. Pedroia, 5. K-Rod, 6. Morneau, 7. Cliff Lee, 8. Miguel Cabrera, 9. A-Rod, 10. Joakim Soria.
If you voted?
82 Responses to "The AL MVP — a splendidly splintered vote"
I don’t really have time for a top ten, but I don’t believe that a guy who played for fewer than 70 innings shouldn’t get a vote. Closers, particularly as they’re used in todays game don’t deserve MVP consideration.
Sorry about the double negative, I meant should, not shouldn’t.
My vote with two weeks left in the season would have been:
1.) Morneau, 2.) Youklis, 3.) Mauer, 4.) Pedroia
My vote post-season would be:
1.) Mauer, 2.) Youklis, 3.) Pedroia, 4.) Morneau.
Quentin’s injury was self inflicted as he threw a temper tantrum and punched a wall or something like that. There is no value in that. I can see a combination of Mauer Morneau Youkilis and Pedroia in the top 4.
Howard, I think you’re being a bit harsh on Doc, voting him below KRod. But then I have a tough time including any pitcher in an MVP ballot. I agree with your #1 pick though.
1.Youk, 2. Mauer, 3 Pedroia, 4. Quentin, 5. Morneau, 6. Lee, 7. Longoria, 8. Bradley, 9. A-Rod, 10. Texiera.
I’m pretty set on my top 2. The 3-6 I could swap around without a lot of consternation. And 7-10 I don’t have a lot of strong feelings about either, but those were my ‘off the top of my head’ selections.
I voted this way in an internet poll:
Quenton, Pedroia, Morneau, Youklis, Mauer, Josh H., Dye and Vlad G.
I definitely dont believe closers should be considered for MVP–and if they were Papelbon, Nathan and Rivera had better years–K Rod just had more save opportunities. I also dont include starters cause they get CY.
DAM
Morneau faded and his value to his team was second to Mauer. Youklis in my mind was the main cog in the Sox lineup and he should win. Pedroia isn’t a power hitter to be feared. So even Quentin and his short season surpasses Pedroia. Next year Morneau needs more DH days and rest. His season burned out in late August.
1)Mauer, 2)Quentin, 3)Youkilis, 4)Pedroia, 5)Morneau
After that… I dunno. Maybe LNP. 
1. Nick Punto, 2. Nick Punto, 3. Nick Punto, 4. Nick Punto, 5. Nick Punto, 6. Nick Punto, 7. Nick Punto, 8. Nick Punto, 9. Nick Punto, 10. Nick Punto.
Remember when Josh “2nd Coming” Hamilton was the best story in all of baseball, and a shoe-in for the 2008 AL MVP?
Remember how ESPN, FOX, and all the other media outlets laid laurels at his feet following the All-Star Game? (strike that, just through the Home Run Derby)
Boy, did he ever fall off the face of the Earth in the second half…
On a more serious note, I don’t think Rodrqiuez will get MVP…he shouldn’t even be in consideration.
Seeing the voters refusing to give the NL award to Manny (thank GOD), I have faith they’ll exercise the same judgement here.
From the Twins, Mauer gets the MVP nod moreso than Morneau. Morneau had SO MANY opportunities in the final week of the season to prove he was the man…but he came up short in every single one of them. (That KC series still gets me riled up)
It’ll probably be Youkilis or Pedroia. It SHOULD be Youkilis if it’s anybody from Boston, but since Pedroia got hot at the right time (read end of the season) it’ll be him in the ned.
I have a hard time seeing MVP candidates and awards who played for teams that did not make the post-season. My logic is that a truly valuable player should propel his team to victory.
Chase Utley should have won over Pujols (the highest VORP in an NL postseason team).
With the same logic, Dustin Pedroia should win it for the AL
Probably will be Youk’s year but I wouldn’t be surprised if Morneau won or Pedroia for that matter, but if they give it to a closer that’s a travesty and an affront to all the real pitchers and players!!
I don’t think an MVP should have to be from a playoff team. I do think that an MVP should be from a playoff-contending team. In other words, I don’t think that a Twins player should go from MVP candidate to non-MVP candidate because they lost one game.
I think Joe C’s blog last week on ball park factors said a lot too. The Dome proved to be the most difficult place to hit in 2008 while Fenway Park was the easiest hitter’s park in the league. Like Joe said, that wasn’t really readily available at the time people voted, but still interesting.
My other reason for not thinking that actually making the playoffs should be a final indicator. Look at that year when A-Rod and David Ortiz were the top two MVP candidates. They went into the final weekend very close and the team’s were very close. What if the team that won two out of three games in that series had made the playoffs and the other one didn’t. What if the Red Sox had swept the series and won the division, sending the yankees home? Does that make Ortiz the MVP? What if that happened and Ortiz went Oh-For-the-Weekend while A-Rod went 10-12 with 8 homers and 13 RBI? Ortiz still wins because his team went to the playoffs?
My vote:
1.Pedroia
2.Mauer
3.K-ROD
4.Morneau
5.Youk
6.Cliff Lee (same reason as Pujols for MVP.) Without Lee the Indians would be looking at a top 5 pick in next years draft. Which might not have been a bad thing.
Ortiz still wins because his team went to the playoffs?
different points of view, but in my mind he does. It is the valuable part of the equation. I know there are several ways to see that, and I would not disagree with the statement that Pujols had a better season than Utley, but (in my mind) Utley was more valuable because he was the best position player in a team that actually got somewhere last season.
I’m gonna be the oddball and choose:
1. Morneau
2. Youkilis (although this pains me, since I irrationally dislike the guy)
3. Mauer
4-10 Random players in any order
[begin rant]
Quentin’s out because of his ridiculous injury. And I see a big difference between a guy being physically out and a guy playing first base every game and struggling.
The way Morneau ended the season was really too bad. He has this slump in June or July, and it wouldn’t be held against him. The Twins ended the season on top of the AL Central, and who was a big reason for that? The guy with 129 ribbies- the guy pitchers feared. I remember one of the AL managers (Ozzie?) saying he didn’t want to lose to Morneau. I watched most of the games this year, and I saw numerous game-winning hits, clutch bases-clearing doubles, and great defense to haul in errant throws from third. Morneau lead this YOUNG team by example with a great work ethic.
No Morneau=ABSOLUTELY no pennant race.
The season is 162 games long- it sucks that two weeks of hitting difficulties changes the entire MVP equation for the Twins’ best offensive weapon.
[Rant finished.]
Might have posted my top 10 before, but here it is!
1. Mauer
2. Youkilis
3. Sizemore
4. Pedroia
5. Morneau
6. Quentin
7. A-Rod
8. Hamilton
9. Cabrera
10. Longoria
‘My logic is that a truly valuable player should propel his team to victory.’
Isn’t that what VORP basically does? Measures how much a player propels his team to victory over a replacement player? I mean, I understand what you are saying, but in this case - Pujols had a VORP of 98.7 this year - compared to 63.7 for Utley. 35 points? That’s massive. For comparison, 35 points is roughly the difference between Utley and a guy like Connor Jackson.
I guess using the playoffs as a ‘tie-breaker’ of sort would make sense to me. But to deny Pujols the MVP when he was clearly the most valuable player because the Cardinals finished 4 games out of a playoff spot seems to be the wrong way to go.
PeteD,
Pujols had the highest VORP in the NL, where did that get his team? 4th in the division. Not valuable enough for his team in my mind. Again, there is no right or wrong here. I get your point. Pujols was the best player in the NL. I agree with this statement; however he was not as valuable as Utley (again my personal opinion)
Dustin Pedroia is the MVP.
Howard went with the ugliest man in all of sports, huh? He’s a heck of a player, for sure, but I go with Dustin. He’s got an amazing glove to go with his offense and speed.
Seth Speaks officially needs a new moniker: Homer Speaks.
Joe Mauer? An argument can be made, I suppose, but only if that argument originates within the friendly confines of a state that borders Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas. Mauer never developed into a three hitter despite being given that job four days into the season. You can’t argue with the batting average (obviously) and he even cranked up a few more RBI this year…but 9 HR is not MVP caliber for a three-hitter.
Joe Mauer’s 2008 stats are very similar to Kirby Puckett in 1989. Puck did not win the MVP that year; obviously the Twins were a lot worse as a team, but it was Robin Yount, who wasn’t far behind in average but doubled Puck in HR and had 20 more RBI who took home the hardware.
Same can be said for Dustin Pedroia this year…he also hit more than double the HR than Mauer; RBI are similar.
And for those dusting off their keyboards for the “who cares about HR” comeback…I’m pretty sure it was a HR that ended the Twins’ season in Chicago this year–would’ve been nice if the critical long ball would’ve come from one of our boys!
So you want to talk about defense? Puck, like Mauer, won a Gold Glove in 1989.
We love Mauer…well, some of us don’t glorify him as much as others do, but he’s not an MVP this year. In a close call, an objective or biased observer has to give it to the playoff team…Dustin Pedroia is your winner.
1. Mauer
2. Youkilis
3. Pedroia
4. Morneau
5. Longoria
6. Quentin
7. Sizemore
8. Hamilton
9. Hunter
10. Mike redmond
Pedroia is clearly the MVP. Morneau would have won it if he hadn’t gone south in September. Mauer is second after Pedroia, then Youkilis, then Morneau.
“I think Joe C’s blog last week on ball park factors said a lot too. The Dome proved to be the most difficult place to hit in 2008 while Fenway Park was the easiest hitter’s park in the league.”
This is pure propaganda, folks. I don’t care what the numbers say, no one in their right mind would argue the Dome is anything but a hitter’s park. Any ball put in play has the potential to get a guy on base. That statement above, even with the support of Joe C’s blog, is about as asinine as when Doug Mientkiewicz–who I am a fan of–told the newspapers that the baggie in right field cost him a lot of homeruns when he played here.
Howard,
Did you forget about Grady Sizemore? He should finish at least in the top 6 in my opinion.
Wouldn’t it be something if Morneau did manage to win and YET AGAIN got accused of “robbing” someone of their rightful award?
1. MVP 2006 Derek Jeter… Whoops.
2. Home Run Derby champ 2008 “Jason” Morneau
The poor guy can’t get any respect.
All,
Interesting comments. Keep ‘em coming.
jama: I thought about Sizemore (12th last year, 11th the season), but I think he’s a cut below the top 10 again. That’s about where I’d put Hamilton, too.
Anyone else notice that if you look at the NL ballots, someone didn’t have Ryan Howard in his/her top 10? And that Philly closer Brad Lidge got 2 first-place votes.
Swannie: Jeter will eventually get his “lifetime achievement award.”
Gus and others: I’m not sure a reliever should win the MVP award, but giving him a middle-of-the-pack vote shows proper love for a record-breaking season.
Pedroia is not even the most valuable player on his own team. Youkilis is, just watch him for awhile. But take away either, and the Red Sox are still there at the end. Now take away Morneau, and we aren’t in first at the end of a 162 game regular season. That being said, Justin Morneau, Two Time Al MVP ! ! !
What ever happened to the guy who drives in runs on a playoff contending team being MVP?….46 more than Pedroia, and in the least hitter friendly park in the majors. Vote should go to #33, the Farmer!
I would love if Mauer or Moreneau won MVP, but there’s no way I could see it happening. Morneau because he personally played the Twins out of the playoffs with his extremely un-clutch play the last few weeks of the year. I don’t think the problem for these two will be taking votes from each other, but I don’t think the MVP will come from a team that had two candidates and didn’t even make the playoffs.
My guess it will be Pedroia. The writers will offer some sort of “ushering out the steroid ear” angle for the under-sized infielder. Too bad, Morneau had a good handle until late in the season. Hopefully, the coaching staff will find a way to give this guy some rest during the regular season. My prediction is Pedroia, Youk., the Mauer and Morneau. Quentin’s market size could dictate a high finish in the voting
give it to Mauer and spread the love.
Thank God you don’t vote, A-Rod???? Are you kidding, and Cliff Lee???? WOW! Quentin and Mauer ahead of Pedroia and Morneau?????? Don’t get me started.
“Morneau because he personally played the Twins out of the playoffs with his extremely un-clutch play the last few weeks of the year.”
Seriously, TwinsInND?
If you believe that, then you also have to believe the Twins would be battling the Royals and Tigers for last place if Justin had a down year.
He personally took the Twins out of the playoffs–that is laughable. How dare he not continue his torrid RBI pace through September when no other player in the lineup seemed to be able to drive in runs…
If any “personally” kept the Twins from the playoffs it would be Michael Cuddyer, who got a fat contract and was a no-show prior to and subsequent to his injury, which sidelined him for over half the season.
Is that so far-fetched, Jason? I think the Twins WOULD be battling the Royals and Tigers for last-place if Justin didn’t perform like he did.
And that’s why he’s the MVP. 
Howard,
I’m guessing that most of the voters don’t look at the stats of the last two weeks or last month when they vote. I can see Morneau winning because of this and his reputation. Lidge was lights out for the Phillies, but to say that he was their most valuable player, no way. The award should go to someone who is most valuable every game, not every other day, or every fifth day.
It could be a historic moment for the United States.
After 150 years, Dustin Pedroia will become the first of his species to be elected MVP.
I believe he is a chipmunk.
Here is an actual piece of news: Kouzmanoff underwent shoulder surgery yesterday. The reason for the surgery was that he had pain later in the season, but the nature of the surgery is somewhat of a mystery, since all reports I read do not get more scientific than “cleanup”. Given that, looks like they might have removed some bone fragments
(and btw, here is another quote from the same article:
A Padres official described as “inaccurate” a report that the Twins are interested in trading outfielder Delmon Young for Kouzmanoff.
Like Charlie Waters is ever accurate…)
Back to previously scheduled MVP talk
I think if you include Cabrera, you also have to include Hamilton. He had almost the same season as Cabrera (and A-Rod). No K-Rod. The Rolaids award should be enough.
“however he was not as valuable as Utley (again my personal opinion)”
Fair enough.
I guess I never tossed my hat into the ring. Let’s see…I would go with the following :
1. Kevin Youkilis
2. Joe Mauer
3. Dustin Pedroia
4. Alex Rodriguez
5. Carlos Quentin
6. Justin Morneau
7. Grady Sizemore
8. Milton Bradley
9. Josh Hamilton
10. Aubrey Huff
The bottom of the list could change easily based on how I was feeling on any particular day. But the top 6 or so are pretty solid, I think.
[…] A Fan’s View – […]
Everybody seems to be on the Joe Mauer bandwagon and down with Justin Morneau but if I remember right Justin led the team in RBI’s and Homeruns and hit above 300. It sure is nice to win a batting title but the way Joe is built I think it is time he should be giving Morneau a little help in the power category. Everyone is worried about him losing his hitting ability well it sure doesn’t seem to affect Morneau. I would rather see Mauer hit 300 with 25 to 30 homers and over 100 RBI’s than to see him win batting titles. Also if this is the MVP award it has to go to Justin and the reason I say this is you talk about Dustin Pedroia if you put him on the twins team he doesn’t put up half those numbers but if you put Justin on a Red Sox or Yankee team and he leads the league in homeruns and RBI’s. He is the only power threat on the Twins and still delivers that is an MVP.
I didn’t realize “developing into a 3 hitter” was a key component to winning the MVP. Is Joe Mauer in charge of the batting order now too? Did Puck or Yount play catcher? Last I checked there weren’t too many catchers winning batting titles in the AL. Overlook the defense if you want; but voters shouldn’t be dismissing how he handled an inexperienced pitching staff. Whether he wins it or not, he’s going to get some votes; and he deserves them.
Call me a sucker for the obscure, but I’m by far most fascinated with Howard’s #10 pick.
I don’t know about you guys, but I am dying to hear his explanation on Mr Soria.
For the sake of trivia, when was the last time a Royal made the top ten in MVP votes? That’s gotta be a ways back.
Put me in Morneau’s camp, always. I love the guy. I probably have a big man-crush on him.
But he doesn’t belong in the top 10. His annual, yes, I said annual, September crash - crash, not slump - puts him way out of the running. The season is 162 games, not 135. He doesn’t deserve to be considered, even with the good average, great doubles and rbi totals. When his team needed him at the end, he rolled over and played dead. He does it every September.
I want to see Morneau get MVP. I would love to see him get it every year. Not this year, though. It’s a no-brainer.
I know; most of you will consider that I have no brain. Don’t worry. I agee with you.
Taye,
Without Soria, who may have been the best closer in the game last season, the Royals finish below St. Olaf and Macalester in the MIAC. He had 42 saves, 58 runners in 67.3 innings.
In 2003, then-Royal Carlos Beltran finished 9th, just ahead of Bret Boone.
“For the sake of trivia, when was the last time a Royal made the top ten in MVP votes? That’s gotta be a ways back.”
Carlos Beltran - 2003. 9th place.
Likely MVP voting:
1. Pedroia
2. Youkilis
3. A. Rodriguez
4. Varitek
5. Jeter
6. Rivera
7. Ortiz
8. Damon
9. Ellsbury
10. Giambi
Pedroia wins.
1. Quentin, 2. Mauer, 3. Youkilis, 4. Sizemore.
Quentin gets a bonus for getting his team to the playoffs. I have a hard time giving it to a 1B (Youk) when a corner OF whose team was actually close to not making the playoffs (Quentin) was a clearly better hitter.
I also have a hard time giving it to Pedroia when he’s not as good as Youk, and when Mauer had blatantly better year. Mauer and Pedroia had almost the same OPS, but Mauer had more OBP (OBP>SLG) and played in a worse hitters park. Also, Mauer’s defense is phenomenal whereas Pedrio’s is merely good.
It’s nice when the MVP made the post-season. It’s a ridiculous when you call a person the “MVP” when there were 2-3 clearly better players just on account of their team’s success. I’d rather be not nice than ridiculous.
I liked Howard’s respect for Soria. It takes an extremely rare case for me to consider pitchers for MVP, but if I were going to consider RPs in the voting Soria would have been right at the top of my list with Nathan and Rivera… and well ahead of Rodriguez.
My preference of Mauer over Morneau probably comes from the respect I have for anyone who can play that position well defensively, work well with a variety of pitchers (young ones, in the Twins’ case), and still produce at a very high level offensively. Disrespecting him because he doesn’t live up to someone’s subjective idea of what a #3 hitter should be is just silly, imo.
Pedroia wins, Morneau 2nd according to MLB.com
No surprise with Pedroia’s win. He led a team to the playoffs.
Darn,
Looks like Justin did give it away. 2nd and 4th in voting is not a bad finish for our Twins stars, but it’s still a bitter pill to swallow…worse yet, his slump probably sealed the deal on their post-season hopes too.
An argument can be made, I suppose, but only if that argument originates within the friendly confines of a state that borders Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas.
The sentiment I believe is that of the Twins, Mauer did more over the final stretch than Morneau…I’d have to actually check the numbers to see if that’s the case.
Nonetheless, I think you’re confusing “Mauer should get consideration over Morneau” for “Mauer is AL MVP”.
Looking at the vote totals, it appears that there was one writer that left Pedroia off his ballot, and one that left Mauer off of his. That’s amazing.
Oh, and Jason Barlett got a 5th place vote from someone.
Gee, what a shock….i counted no less than 10 people out of maybe 15-20 commenters who voted either Mauer, Morneau, or Punto.
This in spite of the fact that every baseball observer pretty much knew it was going to Pedroia.
Morney finishes second with 7 first place votes. That sounds about right…we would have been no where without him.
Objectivity, baby. That’s all it takes.
‘Barlett’, of course, should read ‘Bartlett.
“This in spite of the fact that every baseball observer pretty much knew it was going to Pedroia. ”
Knowing that it will go to Pedroia and thinking it should go to Pedroia are not the same thing. I knew it would go to Pedroia, yet don’t think he should have won.
As is always the case, there are a few voters who clearly have no business even expressing an opinion. It’s hard to believe that people who have risen to the level of their profession where what they write is given considerable weight could actually be so totally clueless when it comes to evaluating talent.
Anyone who totally left Pedroia, Morneau, Mauer, Youkilis or even Quentin totally out of their top 10 should not only have voting priveleges revoked, but be fired from their positions as sportswriters immediately… or at least re-assigned to something like… I dunno… hockey.
Jason, I believe the question Howard posed was “if you voted?”… it was not “what order do you think the voters will place the contenders?”
12 writers didn’t vote Pedroia #1… I don’t think it’s all that terrible that a fair number of comments also chose someone else.
Honestly, I would have to go with Mauer. Never before have we seen a catcher this talented when it comes to hitting and fielding. He plays a demanding position and if a Closer can be considered for MVP, lets give some credit to the catcher. The catcher’s decisions can change a game. It’s physically demanding. Add Mauer’s batting title to that, and his leadership on the team, and my vote would go to Mauer.
Objectivity, baby. That’s all it takes.
Says the guy who’s ballot would’ve been Dougie, Tyner, Ford 1-2-3.
You’ve lost all credibility with this reader… Morneau 6th?
I’d argue his importance to his team, his 2-out hitting, his run production in a line-up with no protection and his raw offensive numbers are above and beyond Pedroia’s. Plus, he’s a gold glove-caliber 1st baseman.
Don’t banish him to 6th place because of a bad month. It’s a long season, everyone has a bad month, his just happened under more of a microscope. And don’t say he’s unclutch in key situations down the stretch. His numbers prove he’s one of the best clutch hitters in baseball.
His [Monroe’s] numbers prove he’s one of the best clutch hitters in baseball.
Check this out from the Hardball times:
“Clutch” is the name we’ve given to the portion of Bill James’s Runs Created formula that includes the impact of a batter’s batting average with runners in scoring position and the number of home runs with runners on. The specific formula is Hits with RISP minus overall BA times at bats with RISP, plus HR with runners on minus (all HR/AB) times at bats with runners on. This stat is not a definitive description of “clutch hitting,” just one way of looking at it.
Here is the top 15 MLB hitters in Clutch rating in 2008:
Youkilis 15.7
Howard 14.7
Mora 13.0
Alexei Ramirez 12.4
Morneau 12.4
Adrian Gonzalez 11.7
DeJesus 11.6
Kinsler 11.2
Thome 9.6
Garret Anderson 9.6
Garko 8.7
Damon 8.1
Rollins 7.8
Mark Reynolds 6.4
Aramis Ramirez 6.0
Indeed Morneau was one of the best clutch hitters, but looking at the names in the list, it is pretty obvious that clutch hitting does not make someone MVP.
I don’t know, thrylos. Youkilis, Howard, Morneau- they all got pretty close to MVP honors. And Alexei Ramirez made a strong case for rookie of the year.
Strange that I don’t see Pujols or Pedroia on that list…
Totally unrelated,
but this effort by Craig Breslow should get a bit of visibility in the Twin Cities’ media:
What about this question:
Would anyone think that a trade of Justin Morneau for Dustin Pedroia, straight up, is fair based on last season’s performance? I sure wouldn’t make that trade. I might even conclude that Morneau is more valuable.
(I also don’t think a Mauer-for-Pedroia swap is equitable, either.)
Swannie,
I would not make that trade. On the other hand, I think it easier to replace a big, power-hitting 1B than a 2B who batted .326 had 213 hits and also hit 17 HRs w/ 83 RBI as a 25-year-old. In the long run, I think it would be a good trade.
That was cute T but you should know better…I’ve never been a Tyner fan!
Dougie and Lew on the other hand…yep, still miss ‘em.
“12 writers didn’t vote Pedroia #1… I don’t think it’s all that terrible that a fair number of comments also chose someone else.”
12 out of 60. (2 writers per market, correct?) I think that puts non-Pedroia voters in a distinct minority…
To phrase it another way: Howard didn’t ask to make the case for your favorite Twin…he asked who you think deserves it. I would have been thrilled if Morneau or Mauer would have won the award, but it doesn’t mean I personally thought they deserved it. I know that statement seems to be a contradiction, but hey, it’s the same thing when the ref blows a call in your favor–you take it! However, when asked, would you have called pass interference on the Lions, I would say “no”.
Jason,
AL market only. 12 out of 28.
“Would anyone think that a trade of Justin Morneau for Dustin Pedroia, straight up, is fair based on last season’s performance? I sure wouldn’t make that trade. I might even conclude that Morneau is more valuable.”
I’ll turn that around and ask if you think the Sox would make that trade. My guess is that they would not. Would that lead you to conclude that Pedroia was more valuable?
Saam,
Point taken. A better question: Pedroia for Mauer?
With Varitek’s abysmal numbers- I bet the BoSox would go for that in a heartbeat. No way the Twins take the offer, though, even though they need a second baseman (moving Casilla to short).
Swannie
‘In a heartbeat’ may be a little strong, but I think they would likely pull the trigger on such a trade. I guess my point was more that you can’t judge a player’s relative MVP value by whether or not he would be traded for this or that other player. Jason Veritec’s offensive impotance should have no bearing on the MVP voting other than that no one should be voting for him.
Hard to make trades when you close one hole and create another…
With that logic why were you not the one doing the voting? We could have used you. La Velle had no clue. Next time, you vote!!!!!!!!!
I think Nick Punto could be a darkhorse candidate!!!!
I think taking Mauer over Pryor was not a bad move after all.Maybe the front office does have a clue after all!
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