NL MVP

The writers got one right.  Justin Verlander was named AL MVP, as he should've been.  That moved me to a perfect 7-for-7 in baseball award picks with one to go.  And this one might be the most challenging of the bunch.  NL MVP.  Are Matt Kemp's otherworldly numbers for an otherwise mediocre Dodgers team enough to overcome Ryan Braun, who led the Brewers to their first division title in 29 years.  As I see it, it's a race between those two.

If the Dodgers hadn't been an 82-79 third-place team, the decision to go with Kemp would be easy.  His stats blew everyone else out of the water.  He was in the running for the Triple Crown all season, finishing first in homers (39) and RBIs (126) while finishing third in average (.324).  Kemp also led the National League in runs (115) and total bases (353), and was second in hits (195), slugging percentage (.586), extra-base hits (76) and stolen bases (40).  He also played a Gold Glove center field. 

Yes, the Dodgers finished third, but that wasn't held against Clayton Kershaw in the Cy Young voting.  I don't think it should be held against Kemp either.  Besides, he didn't really have any protection in that lineup.  If anything, that makes his numbers more impressive.  (I'm aware that I used the exact same argument against Jose Bautista, but the difference is that Bautista's overrated and Kemp isn't.  That and the fact that Kemp hits more than just homers.)  Matt Kemp is your classic five-tool player.  This was his breakout year, but he'll have plenty more seasons like 2011.  The Dodgers were smart to lock him up to a long-term deal.

Ryan Braun and the Brewers aren't the Upper Midwest's little secret anymore.  Braun led the league with a .597 slugging percentage and finished second with a .332 average, 336 total bases and 109 runs.  He also won his fourth straight Silver Slugger Award while leading Milwaukee to the division title.  Braun missed the All-Star Game because he was on the DL.  When he came back, the Brewers were half a game out of the wild card race.  They ended up winning the NL Central by six games.

The 800-pound gorilla in the room is Braun's teammate Prince Fielder (go ahead and insert the obvious joke about Prince's weight here).   His numbers weren't too shabby, either.  Batting behind Braun in that awesome Milwaukee lineup, Fielder hit 38 homers and drove in 120.  He also finished second in the NL in walks (107) and on-base percentage (.415).  Prince was the only player in the Majors to play all 162 games, which can't be overlooked either.

I think the two Brewers will cancel each other out.  Milwaukee had a tremendous season.  But they wouldn't have done it without both of them.  Take Fielder out of the lineup and Braun has no protection.  (We'll see how well that works out for the Brewers next season.)  Take Braun out of the lineup (and left field) and that entire lineup is made weaker.  I'm not saying they weren't both valuable.  On the contrary, I think Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder are clearly the two most valuable players on that team.  But it's tough to differentiate one's value over the other.  They just complement each other so well.

Those are the big three, but there are obviously plenty of other candidates, too, starting with Diamondbacks right fielder Justin Upton.  He hit .289 with 31 home runs, 88 RBIs and a .529 slugging percentage for a surprising Arizona team that won the NL West.  That doesn't happen if Upton doesn't have the kind of season he had.  Nor does it happen if Ian Kenndey doesn't come out of nowhere to go 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA.  And don't forget the two pitchers who've already won awards.  Dodgers lefty, the Cy Young winner, won the pitching Triple Crown this season, while Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, the Rookie of the Year, set a rookie record with 46 saves and pitched every freakin' day until his arm fell off in September.

There's a reason Albert Pujols is always in the MVP discussion.  He had the worst regular season of his 11-year career in 2011.  Albert hit just .299 and drove in only 99 runs this season, the first time that he didn't hit .300 or have 100 RBIs.  God, he sucks.  Just a hunch, but I think the World Series ring made up for it.  Jose Reyes became the first Met in history to win the batting title, but had two separate trips to the DL.  There's no question that the Mets were a better team with him in the lineup.  And you can't ignore all of those Phillies pitchers.  Philadelphia was the only team in the Majors to win 100 games for a reason.  Oh yeah, they had guys like Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard, too.

My pick: Matt Kemp-His numbers were too good to ignore, and I think Fielder's going to take some votes away from Braun.  Yes, the Dodgers finished third and only won 82 games, but how much worse would they have been without Matt Kemp?  The rest of the ballot: 2-Ryan Braun, 3-Prince Fielder, 4-Justin Upton, 5-Albert Pujols, 6-Clayton Kershaw, 7-Roy Halladay, 8-Jose Reyes, 9-Ian Kennedy, 10-Craig Kimbrel.