MLB - 2008 All Star Break and Beyond!

[snoopy369]

AL sounds like a race between Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Quentin, and (Some Guy From The Twins), with Milton Bradley shaking his fist at the voters... I suspect it largely comes down to whether voters give Quentin the nod based on his numbers being based on a lesser number of games, and basically equalling A-Rod in the important stats (identical OPS, nearly identical OPS+, more HR (by 1) ... Mauer/Morneau look good, of course, but they both are behind A Rod/Quentin on most of the Sabermetric rate stats by a significant amount.

I certainly could see justification for about 5 offensive players, plus Cliff Lee and K-Rod, winning the MVP, though.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I think I'd give it to Quentin myself. But I can see the lesser games argument (that is part of a player's value). A-Rod is an equally deserving player, IMO.

[snoopy369]

The real question, though, is do you give Quentin a boost based on putting up equally great stats with fewer games, or take away from him? I think you could argue both ways. And, does the White Sox' performance w/o him hurt or help? They collapsed and nearly lost the division, which says he was important, but then they managed to take the division at the end of the day without him ... and beat some good teams to do so.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I believe you can really make arguments either way (as you pointed out). It may be really close tomorrow.

[-Jrabbit]

No way. Arguments are not votes. It will be near-unanimous for A-Rod. FACT.

It's not just. It's not fair. But historically, it's the way the voters think.

IMH-and-non-researched-O.

[Imran Siddiqui]

You could be right, but A-Rod wasn't far and away the best player in the league (an argument can be made that Bradley was) and his team finished a distant 3th in the division. Though he is the 3B for the Yankees and that can't be discounted.

[-Jrabbit]

This should be a good test of Yankee and star-power bias in ALMVP voting.

We'll see tomorrow.

[Berzerker]

aint it ironic Pujols went so far down in many drafts? I think I got him in the 2nd round in 1 league after taking Utley. That sore arm I guess scared people away...

[Stuie]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Stuie, can you even argue this selection?

No - I just love the fact that Pujols whined about not being voted MVP in 2006 based on the fact that Howard's team didn't even make the playoffs while the Cardinals did. As one Phillies fan pointed out, if Howard had been even average for the first three months of this season, the Phillies would have run away with the division. Instead, he stunk for three months. Bad.

Of course, homer Phillies beat writer Phil Sheridan thinks this is all just wrong. But he's an idiot.

[Imran Siddiqui]

It's probably a result of him being a much better player in 2006:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL_2006_t.shtml

[snoopy369]

So, is this guy an idiot, or does he know something we don't?

His favorites: K-Rod, and Josh "First Half" Hamilton.

His second tier: Dustin "Vote for me, I play in Boston" Pedroia, and Justin Morneau

His third tier: Carlos Quentin, and Kevin "I play in Boston too!!" Youkilis

His rest-of-the-pack: Grady Sizemore, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Nathan, Vlad Guerrero.

I vote for 'idiot', personally. Too many Red Sox in there, no relation to statistical performance whatsoever, and some real doozies in there anyhow ... Joe Nathan (the fourth best closer, perhaps), but no John Danks (the fifth best starter, perhaps, and on a team that actually made the real playoffs, largely due to his own pitching)?

[Imran Siddiqui]

I'd vote for idiot too. Though enough BBWAA voters are idiots (and this year they haven't made a mistake yet... so they are due ).

[-Jrabbit]

Idiot, I say.

But I would not be disappointed if it was Pedroia.

I despair of Quentin getting it, since he wasn't in uniform for the last month. Big loss of mindshare -- even though the Sox struggles without him is a pretty good argument for "most valuable." But it's not gonna happen.

[Fistandantilus]

2 Red Sox are too many?

I believe Pedroia shouldn't be that high also but doesn't Youkilis have pretty much the same numbers as Quentin?

Your favourite would be Danks?

[snoopy369]

I would be. Pedroia might have a high batting average, but that's all he's got ... his OBP is only 50 points higher than his BA (.376) and well under most other hitters' in this discussion, and his slugging % is a measly .493 (nearly a hundred points below Quentin and A-Rod in the low .570s). He got a lot of hits, because pitchers wouldn't pitch around him (because of his lineup), but that certainly doesn't sound like an MVP - it sounds like somebody taking advantage of a good lineup. Put Quentin or, god forbid, A-Rod, in that spot in the lineup and they'd do much better - or, more likely, be the one pitched around.