Baseball - Most Valuable Player award discussion

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Null

Null

I don't intend to discuss specific candidates for MVP, though there's a lot to be talked about there. I'm talking about the award itself, and the standards used. It seems to me that too often the MVP award is really given as a "Player of the Year" award, rather than an actual "Most Valuable Player". Think about the MVP awards won by Alex Rodriguez, on the last-place Rangers. Was he really that valuable, costing the team the price of at least 3 quality starters that might have moved them into 4th, or maybe even into contention? Whereas a guy like Curtis Granderson this year with the Yankees may not be Player of the Year, but between his bat and his defense, you can make a strong case for him being a big part of the Yankees' success this year.

There was a discussion earlier with Michael Kay, Paul O'Neill, and Ken Singleton during the Yankees-Blue Jays game, about whether pitchers should be eligible for the MVP, or if they should only be up for the Cy Young award. The thing is, the Cy Young award only awards the best pitcher, not the pitcher most valuable to their team. Now, Justin Verlander is probably a shoe-in for the Cy Young - but you can make the case that he's also the Tigers' MVP.

Do you think there should be a separate "Player of the Year" award?
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

First of all, it's Ryan Freakin' Braun.

Secondly, no. I think the MVP should be for position players, and the CYA be for pitchers.
 
Zappit

Zappit

Staff member
I'd give a nod to Verlander. Hell of a season. Not too many guys can really be contribute huge to what, over 1/5 of a team's wins? That's value, more so than the position players in the discussion.
 
Null

Null

MVP, or player of the year for Braun? Now, since the Brewers have all but locked the NL Central, that makes a stronger case for MVP - I honestly don't think MVP should go a player whose team didn't make the playoffs.

I'd make the case that there should be a separate "Player of the Year" award, for players who have had amazing years, leading the division in numerous categories, but didn't necessarily drive their team to overall success. This would be for, say, A-Rod in his Texas Ranger years, when they finished dead last despite his amazing numbers, or Ichiro Suzuki in his prime.

I'd have to say AL MVP would be Verlander. Without Verlander, the Tigers don't make the postseason, it's really that simple.
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

No, we're not returning it.

Something stinks about this. I'm willing to believe Ryan at the moment.

EDIT: And I trust WADA about as much as I trust the kids at my workplace.
 
Krisken

Krisken

This is starting to get kinda fishy.

Milwaukee Brewers' star
outfielder Ryan Braun​
's original test for performance-enhancing drugs as the playoffs were winding down in October was "insanely high, the highest ever for anyone who has ever taken a test, twice the level of the highest test ever taken," said a source familiar with the developing case in which Ryan was reported to have tested positive for an elevated level of testosterone caused by a synthetic substance, triggering a possible 50-game suspension if the test results are upheld.​
​
Read more: ​
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/ryan-braun-initial-ped-test-results-insanely-high-nl-mvp-lawyer-insists-client-peds-article-1.990020#ixzz1gGp80gqL​
Click to expand...
Twice the level ever found? Really?!? His head and neck would have been indistinguishable by now!
 
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