2020 MVPs

We've reached the grand finale of MLB Awards Week--the MVPs.  And these are the first ones all week where I really have no idea who's going to win.  I know who I would've voted for and who I think will win, but this isn't an AL Cy Young-type situation.  The MVP races should be ridiculously close, especially on the NL side.

While this is really a head-to-head race between the top two finalists, I've gotta ask how Manny Machado is the third.  He wasn't even the Padres' MVP!  Yes, Machado had a great final few weeks, but Fernando Tatis Jr. is the Padre who should be in the top three.  Tatis was probably the favorite for this award until mid-September, and it's not like he fell off a cliff!  Besides, he was the one everybody was talking about.  So, no offense to Manny Machado, but they got it wrong.  Right team, wrong player.  Fernando Tatis Jr. is the clear No. 3 on my ballot.

With that being said, however, this race comes down to two guys who are incredibly deserving--Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.  Freeman has been the face of the Atlanta Braves for a decade, while Betts was the difference-maker who finally brought the Dodgers over the top.  Frankly, it's a coin flip.

And remember, the voters get 10 places on their ballot, so there are a lot of other names who'll get some consideration.  Guys like: Braves DH Marcell Ozuna, who led the NL in both homers and RBIs during his first season in Atlanta; hits leader Trea Turner of the Nationals and his electrifying teammate Juan Soto; perennial MVP candidate Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies; Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer of the Reds; and even World Series MVP Corey Seager.

But back to the main two.  Betts has perhaps surpassed Mike Trout as the best player in the game.  His value cannot be overstated.  He's exactly what the Dodgers needed, playing Gold Glove defense in right field and providing a spark at the top of the lineup.  Early in the season, Dave Roberts had him hitting third and he wasn't doing well.  Roberts then moved Mookie back to the leadoff spot where he belongs and he started playing like Mookie Betts again.  The numbers speak for themselves, but if you look beyond them, when Mookie Betts played well, the Dodgers played well.  When he didn't, they didn't.

As much as I love Mookie Betts, though, he wouldn't get my vote.  Freddie Freeman has never won MVP in his brilliant career.  That should finally change.  He was one of the first players to have a positive COVID test and got off to a slow start because of it.  Yet Freeman still played in all 60 games.  He also had one of the best offensive campaigns of his career--.341 with 73 hits, 13 homers, 23 doubles, 51 runs scored and 53 RBIs.  And the Braves, of course, won the NL East once again.

Like I said, it's a coin flip.  If you prefer Mookie Betts, I have no issue with that.  His presence is what brought the Dodgers over the top.  Freddie Freeman's numbers weren't just better than Mookie's, he put them up after missing almost all of Summer Camp because of COVID.  Is there a better representative of the Pandemic Season?

So, ever so slightly I give the edge to Freddie Freeman, who's been an MVP-caliber player for his entire career and should finally win the award.  Here's my full NL ballot: 1. Freeman, 2. Betts, 3. Tatis, 4. Ozuna, 5. Machado, 6. Soto, 7. Blackmon, 8. Turner, 9. Seager, 10. Bauer.

AL MVP, meanwhile, apparently isn't Mike Trout's birthright after all.  Frankly, I thought his newborn son was gonna get some MVP votes, too.  But Trout had a "down" year (by his standards) and the Angels once again missed the playoffs.  I think the voters have finally realized they can't continually overlook that fact.  As a result, he didn't finish in the top three (although, he was still likely Top 5).

Although, I think they got one of the finalists wrong in the AL, too.  And once again, it's a teammate who took his spot.  Because, say what you want about "pitchers shouldn't be MVP."  You can't convince me that Shane Bieber doesn't belong in this conversation.  Yes, it was only 12 games.  But if he'd had a full season and continued what he did over those 12 games, we'd be looking at 2011 Justin Verlander or 2014 Clayton Kershaw (or even 1999, when Pedro Martinez should've won MVP).

I get why the writers were hesitant to vote a pitcher who only appeared in 12 games as MVP, though.  Especially since the season was only 60 games long.  And Bieber's teammate Jose Ramirez had another solid year.  Ramirez is kind of the AL version of Freddie Freeman, a perennial MVP candidate who never wins the award.  I think that'll be the case again this year.  Because, despite his .292/17/46 line, he wasn't even the best player on his own team.

That leaves us with DJ LeMahieu and Jose Abreu.  Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised LeMahieu finished in the top three.  He deserved a top three showing last year, but ended up fifth.  This season, LeMachine kept it going.  There was a stretch where he and Luke Voit were the only guys on the Yankees who could hit at all, and it's not a coincidence that the Yankees' 5-15 stretch in the middle of the season started when LeMahieu went on the injured list.  When he came back, he had another multi-hit game.  He's had a lot of those in two years in Pinstripes.

However, believe it or not, LeMahieu is not my choice.  That would be Jose Abreu.  Abreu was outstanding from Day One, ranking among the top five in virtually every major offensive category, leading the way in RBIs (60) and hits (76) while putting up a .317 batting average without missing a game.  More importantly, he was the clubhouse leader for a White Sox team that ended its playoff drought.

For me, that's enough to give Abreu the edge over LeMahieu.  I had Abreu as my AL MVP at midseason, and he kept it going the entire way.  He came over from Cuba in 2014 and won AL Rookie of the Year unanimously that season.  It won't be unanimous, but this season he should add an MVP to his trophy case, becoming the first Cuban winner since Jose Canseco in 1988 (there's that year again...sorry Dodgers fans!)

The remaining players worthy of AL MVP consideration will sound familiar, because they're teammates of the top three.  I already mentioned Shane Bieber, but the White Sox wouldn't have done what they did this season without Tim Anderson, and the same can be said about the Yankees and Luke Voit.  If you're looking for candidates from other teams, you've got Kansas City's Whit Merrifield, Toronto's Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez, Michael Brantley of the Astros and the Twins' Nelson Cruz, as well as that guy who plays for the Angels.  What's his name again?

It is refreshing to learn that Trout isn't automatically a finalist, though.  As for where he finished, I've got him at No. 7.  Here's my full list: 1. Abreu, 2. Bieber, 3. LeMahieu, 4. Ramirez, 5. Voit, 6. Anderson, 7. Trout, 8. Cruz, 9. Merrifield, 10. Gurriel.