OK, you know I'm not happy about how the AL Cy Young vote went. Rather than dwelling on it, I'll just ask this question: If King Felix had been 12-13 and not 13-12, would his name have even been in the discussion? My point exactly. Anyway, now we move on to the NL MVP, which is cleary defined as Most Valuable Player, not Best Player (evidently that clarification also needs to be made with the Cy Young Award). That distinction makes it pretty certain that the MVP usually goes to the right guy, although it might not in the AL this season (more on that tomorrow). The best example I can remember with this is 1998, where Mr. 70 Mark McGwire was the National League's best player, but Sammy Sosa was rightfully named MVP after leading the Cubs to the playoffs.
With that being said, I think the NL MVP debate should be a short one. Albert Pujols was Albert Pujols again this year. He's cleary the best player in the National League, if not all of baseball. Now don't get me wrong, I love Albert Pujols. I give him a significant number of all-star votes every year. But simply being Albert Pujols doesn't mean he should just automatically be handed the MVP award every year. This year is one of those years. Without Joey Votto, the Cincinnati Reds don't win the NL Central. That's why our Canadian friend is the 2010 National League MVP.
Now on paper, you could make the argument that Albert's numbers were better than Votto's. Pujols finished 1st, 2nd or 3rd in six different offensive categories, leading the league in homers (42), RBIs (118) and runs (115). However, he was only sixth in hitting at .312. Votto, on the other hand, was only top three in five categories, although he was fourth in runs and sixth in hits. Votto led the National League in on-base percentage (.424) and slugging percentage (.600) (that obviously means he also led the NL in OPS, but since that's a stupid, insignificant fantasy stat, it doesn't count). Pujols topped him in both homers and RBIs (37 and 113, both third), but his average was significantly higher (.324, second in the NL). None of that really matters, though. Votto's the MVP because he was the heart and soul of a Reds team that no one expected to contend, let alone win 90 games and make the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. And the Reds are in the same division as the Cardinals, who had won the Central in each of the last two years. That can't be overlooked, either. Without Votto leading the way in Cincinnati, St. Louis probably wins that division yet again.
The only other guy even worth talking about is "CarGo," Rockies center fielder Carlos Gonzalez. Some experts will try to argue that the Rockies have two MVP candidates (Troy Tulowitzki being the other), but they barely have one. I'm just including CarGo to be nice (and for the sake of talking about more than just two guys). Gonzalez does have good enough numbers to legitimately put him into the discussion (league-leading .336 average and 197 hits, second with 117 RBIs and a .598 slugging percentage, not to mention 34 doubles, plus that crazy hitting streak), but he's going to finish third. Now, he is the best defensively of the three, and his second half was just ridiculous, but overall his numbers just don't measure up. The Rockies were kept in the race longer than they should've, mainly because of CarGo. He deserves consideration, but I'd be incredibly surprised if he gets a first-place vote (although, two guys did vote for Gaby Sanchez for Rookie of the Year over Posey and Heyward, so you never know).
So, there's the top three. Voters get 10 votes, so a lot of guys are going to be named on the ballot. If I had a vote, this is what mine would look like: 1. Votto, 2. Pujols, 3. Gonzalez, 4. Roy Halladay (I don't get why pitchers are never really considered for MVP), 5. Troy Tulowitzki, 6. Hanley Ramirez, 7. Ryan Howard, 8. Adrian Gonzalez, 9. Brian McCann, 10. Brandon Phillips. Your vote probably looks different, which is the whole point of putting 10 guys on the ballot in the first place. Until tomorrow, when I know they'll be some debate about the American League MVP (I'll give you a hint, my vote isn't for Josh Hamilton).
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