Pujols Wins NL MVP

[pcgd]

Discuss:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2224756

[Jigga]

I wonder if everyone that bashed the A-Rod pick is going to do the same with the Pujols pick. Maybe didn't have the best season, but had great numbers and was the best player in the friggin' league. Same thing.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Who cares? He still lost the NLCS.

[yh]

Who cares? He still lost the NLCS.

Maybe so, but the voting is done prior to the playoffs. I'll excuse your lack of knowledge on the subject, being a Braves fan and all.

[SEMOSTLfan]

Who cares? He still lost the NLCS.

So we should give the NL MVP to who then? Chris Burke? Or maybe you just wanted andruw jones to win it despite the fact that he didn't even hit .300. But that couldn't possibly be it because He still lost the NLDS.

What a stupid comment.

[yh]

What a stupid comment.

Awww, c'mon now. Let it go. It's part of his CJoe's schtick.

[CC97]

Yeah that STL bias shines through again

[no97]

Discuss:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2224756

Derrek Lee's been away from Florida for two freekin' years, and they can't find a freekin' pic of him in a Cubs hat, yet they find a photo of Carlos Delgado in Florida Teal and Black?

And Greg, I'd argue Pujols being the best player in the league...

I'd take A over B:

A - .335 BA, 46 HR, 107 RBI, 3 3B, 50 2B, .418 OBP, .662 SLG

B - .330 BA, 41 HR, 117 RBI, 2 3B, 38 2B, .430 OBP, .609 SLG

When you factor in that player A (Lee) played on a much worse team than player B (Pujols), and that player A lost so many RBI opportunities, because there just wasn't anyone on base for him to drive in... That's when you realize DLee's season was simply amazing... (And, sadly, how good the Cubs could have been...)

Moose

And I just want to point out that I don't think Derrek Lee should have been MVP - just that he had an amazing year.

[ProvidenceRI]

Most Valuable Player.. i think we need to change the name to: Willie Mays best stats and defense winner, because clearyl writers arent valueing a player's worth to their team's success.

Do I think Pujols is the best player in the league when it's a regular season game? Absolutely.

Would the Cardinals be much worse without him? No. Maybe 5 or 6 games.

Is Andruw Jones the best player in the NL? No, but almost.

The Braves would have been much worse if he had been hurt this year, no doubt.

[yh]

Is Andruw Jones the best player in the NL? No, but almost.

The Braves would have been much worse if he had been hurt this year, no doubt.

And that's why Bobby Cox didn't deserve to be Manager of the Year.

[SEMOSTLfan]

Im just happy that albert has finally been recognized. He has been the model of consistancy for the past 5 seasons but he was always over shadowed by Barry Bonds. Pujols had another solid season and finally got the opportunity to break out of that shadow and I'm happy that he was rewarded for his performance.

[gashouser27]

The Cardinals would have been much worse without Pujols. Esepcially with Rolen out almost all year. Sanders, Edmonds, Molina, Walker all missed a lot of games too.

Part of being MVP has to do with leadership on a winning team. There were years when guys like Yount and Stargell won with good seasons because they also did things that didn't show up in stats to make teams winners..

A-Rod did it. Pujols did it. Not to say Jones and Lee didn't have great years. They did. But people obviously think Cox is the genius that keeps the Braves going.

The Cardinals won 100 games two years in a row and Pujols is the leader of the team. MVP

[pcgd]

Most Valuable Player.. i think we need to change the name to: Willie Mays best stats and defense winner, because clearyl writers arent valueing a player's worth to their team's success.

Do I think Pujols is the best player in the league when it's a regular season game? Absolutely.

Would the Cardinals be much worse without him? No. Maybe 5 or 6 games.

Is Andruw Jones the best player in the NL? No, but almost.

The Braves would have been much worse if he had been hurt this year, no doubt.

I'll just say that I thought either of these 3 were fine choices for the MVP. D. Lee simply had an amazing year. When it comes to the MVP, he unfortunatly played on a below .500 team. Pure most value, I'd have to give it to Lee. Without him the Cubs are much worse.

Andrew Jones to me, his biggest downfall was his batting average with runners on base and his batting average period. Both well below the .300 mark. The MVP has to bat .300 in my book. But he had an outstanding year and I would have been fine with him as the MVP.

Obviously I'm glad pujols won, but he didn't have any statistical weakness at all. He lead the Cardinals in steals for god's sake! Add to that, the cardinals were without 4 of their opening day starters for long stretches of the season. No other player on the team hit 30 HRs (Edmonds had 29), no other player on the team had 90 rbis (again, edmonds had 89), and Pujols played a good portion of the year with Yadier Molina, So Taguchi, John Rodreguez, or John Mabry batting cleanup behind him.

I think you can argue that perhaps D. Lee deserved it more because of his value to the team, and same with Jones. But any of the three deserved it.

[ProvidenceRI]

Part of being MVP has to do with leadership on a winning team. There were years when guys like Yount and Stargell won with good seasons because they also did things that didn't show up in stats to make teams winners..

A-Rod did it.

Um... no Arod didnt.

Jeter is the leader and rallyer of that team.

Don't get me wrong, I think Pujols was an excellent choice... I just think people should be focusing on the words "Most Valuable" when making the selection.

[no97]

Derrek Lee's been away from Florida for two freekin' years, and they can't find a freekin' pic of him in a Cubs hat, yet they find a photo of Carlos Delgado in Florida Teal and Black?

They must have gotten enough e-mails, as DLee's hat is suddenly blue with a red "C"...

Moose

[illinirox1]

Shoulda been Lee. The Cubs were a much weaker offensive team and didn't even have a leadoff hitter. Somehow he still managed those stats...

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Jones didn't deserve it either, asses. I already explained this in the AL version of this thread: These awards are meaningless.

I mean really, would Pujols or A-Rod rather have 100 MVP trophies, or 1 WS trophy with their name on it?

I'm not sure about them, but I damn sure would rather have the WS, that's an accomplishment. Having some guys sitting in an office decide who was the "most valuable" player to their team, isn't a competetion.

I'm sorry STL fans, you still the lost NLCS, just like the Braves and the Padres lost the NLDS. I know it's sad, but hey..there's always next year..or not.

Personally, if they have to give out these dumb awards, why not give it to someone who actually had to work for their stats (or work at all, for that matter). If you have to have an MVP award, give it to someone who's team didn't win the most games in the League then choke against a wild-card in the most desperate moments. Give it to someone who didn't make the playoffs, even. Give it to someone who had to work their ass off just to make a decent run at it.

It's Most Valuable Player, not "Who should've won the LCS."

I believe if anyone deserves it, it should've been Derrick Lee (however you write his first name.)

I hate the Cubs (and most everyone else), but as I'm sure some unbiased fans are thinking, "He didn't get it not because he wasn't valuable..but because his team didn't make the playoffs."

Oh, and to all the people moaning about how I wish Jones had won it..just remember..I'd rather have a World Series trophy.

[JPBlueHen]

Pujols was the best choice for this award. He had great regular season stats and took the burden of the offense with all the Cards' position players missing games. Plus, Pujols was the only offensive weapon for them in the NLCS; who could forget that dramatic game-winning homer in Game 5?

[STL FANATIC]

Albert was the right choice.

D. Lee should have won the player of the year awards as voted by the players, but Jones won those instead.

Albert deserved the MVP though. People (thankfully not the voters this time), seem to think the Cards did so good because they were a stacked team. Nobody wants to pay attention to the fact that they were devastated by injuries. It's the same reason La Russa should have been at worst a close second to Bobby Cox in the MOY awards, not 100 points behind.

Here's a comparison of each player and their team I put together:

                 R     H    2B  3B   HR  RBI  SB   AVG   OBP   SLG

Albert Pujols  129   195   38   2   41  117  16  .330  .430  .609
STL W/ Pujols  805  1494  287  26  170  757  83  .270  .339  .423
STL W/O Pujols 676  1299  249  24  129  640  67  .263  .327  .401

Andruw Jones    95   154   24   3   51  128   5  .263  .347  .575
ATL W/ Jones   769  1453  308  37  184  733  92  .265  .333  .435
ATL W/O Jones  674  1299  284  34  133  605  87  .265  .331  .418

Derrek Lee     120   199   50   3   46  107  15  .335  .418  .662
CHC W/ Lee     703  1506  323  23  194  674  65  .270  .324  .440
CHC W/O Lee    583  1307  273  20  148  567  50  .262  .312  .414

I feel that the stats show that no one player can be easily tagged as more valuable to his team.

If you had to pick one, it would probably be Lee, but just slightly, and certainly not be enough to overcome his team not even being in the race for the wild card.

After that, it is close between Albert and Andruw. I think the advantage would lean in Albert's favor, but regardless, I think there is one statistic that forces it to lean in Albert's favor: Batting Average. Not just the fact that Jones hit a very low .263, and Albert hit .330 to beat him by .067 points, but rather the fact that Albert hit .060 above the Cardinal's team average, while Andruw Jones actually hit .002 BELOW his teams average.

Of course, this is all based on stats. Other factors like leadership are supposed to go into the thought process as well. I don't follow the Cubs or Braves close enough to determine leadership for them, but I do know that Albert is always the first and loudest guy cheering for his teammates. He's the guy who always wants to be up to get the key hit, but has faith in anyone on his team to get that hit. He's the guy who coached Yadier Molina out of something like a 1/36 slump to open the season into a .252 hitter. Like I said, I can't give this type of info about the other two guys, but I can say that Albert has all the intangibles.

This was certainly a close, close MVP race, but I think the right choice was made.

Re: Anti-STL Bias:

I'm glad to see it may not be there, anymore at least. I still feel like some of the media overlooks the Cards (whether intentional or not), but obviously, since the voters are media members, a lot of them haven't overlooked the Cards.