OT -- AL MVP ... Joe Mauer?
the lack of football leads me too the interesting question of who should be Al MVP ... Mauer is on a team that has almost 0 shot at the playoffs yet has absolutly sick numbers (.383 avg, 25 hrs, 77 rbis, .448 obp etc.) even though he plays the hardest position to hit at because it beast you up as a catcher and missed the first month ... on the other hand is he more valuable to a losing team then say tex or (ack)jeter is to the yanks or even cabrera is to the tigers? i always tend to go with the player who a playoff team can least afford to lose (in this case cabrera because the tigers cant score without him) but mauer has been so good ... thoughts?
August 19th, 2009 at 7:17 PM ^
I would say Joe is definitely the leader for the AL MVP at this point.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:42 PM ^
by a long shot right now. I'm completely willing to look past his teams losing record. He is the best player this side of Albert Pujols.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:44 PM ^
0 shot a making the playoffs? That's not true. Save that phrase for non-contenders like Cleveland or Baltimore.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:51 PM ^
but 5 games under .500 and 6 1/2 back ... even in the bad al central id be willing to beat a shit ton on them not making it .... mabye not my house but just about anything else ... if they do make it i think he is an automatic mvp
August 19th, 2009 at 6:59 PM ^
to whoever negged me for that ... put your money where ur mouth is and take the bet then
August 19th, 2009 at 6:55 PM ^
currently sit at 12.2 percent for making the playoffs.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:34 PM ^
to go along with divisional games packed in the final month. The Twins aren't out of it yet, much to my dismay.
The Tigers are the most likely to make the playoff because they have the pitching to do it. The offense just needs to be good enough to put them over the top.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:48 PM ^
won the AL MVP while roided up on a last place team. Jou Mauer is the most valuable player in the AL.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:51 PM ^
This is a no-brainer, IMO. Unless he really drops off or another guy has a nasty last 40 games, he should win it.
And UQ, I kind of agree with you, but I'd say Minny has about 2% of making the playoffs.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:06 PM ^
I think it's Mauer's to lose. I don't think the Twins are definitely out of it though. The Twins are sneaky bastards and I wouldn't put it past them to make another late season run. I won't count them out until they've been mathematically eliminated. The AL Central is such a cluster fuck, the Tigers end the season playing 13 games out of 16 against the Sox and Twins which can dramatically fuck up the standings. The Tigers and Sox are definitely the favorites, but the Twins are still hanging around.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:17 PM ^
Your avatar is Jesus.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:02 PM ^
I heard the argument today (on espn) that the MVP should come from a team with a good record. I usually would agree, but I just think Mauer's having such an excellent year that he deserves it.
August 19th, 2009 at 9:14 PM ^
Yes, a player's value is measured in part by team success. But that doesn't mean the player on the better team is automatically more valuable. Replace Mauer with an average MLB catcher, and the Twins would be utterly awful. Replace, say, Cabrera or Texiera with an average MLB first baseman, and the Tigers or Yankees would be worse off but still in the hunt.
Mauer leads the majors in batting average and OBP, and trails only Pujols in slugging (and leads the AL by a whopping .090). He's in the top 10 in the AL in homers and RBI despite missing a month. It would be an absolute joke for a player who's done far less to get the award because he has better teammates. If it's close, I can buy the argument that team success could act as a tiebreaker of sorts, but when someone is this far ahead of the rest of the pack, you'd have to be nuts to give it to someone else. (That could change in the last month and a half of the season, but for now it's not close.)
August 19th, 2009 at 9:56 PM ^
Replace Cabrera on the Tigers with an average first baseman and I can guarantee you that they are not in first place in their division right now. Cabrera is batting .330 while the next best batter on the Tigs is at .275. While even Cabrera isn't thriving with runners in scoring position he is still the only constant offensive threat on the Tigers.
The only real counter-argument is that the Tigers are winning with defense and pitching and not hitting but even the best teams need to score runs to win games.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:44 PM ^
How Lloyd McClendon hasn't been fired as hitting coach is beyond me. Detroit sits in the bottom half of nearly every team offensive category in the AL.
August 19th, 2009 at 9:24 PM ^
I respectfully disagree. I think its important that an MVP plays for a winning team. Part of being an MVP is raising the level of those who play around you. If your doing a good job of that, your team should be a contender.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:28 AM ^
I agree with the sentiments above...give me a player who's anywhere near Mauer's caliber and Ill think about it (if they're on a quality team)... there's no one.
August 20th, 2009 at 1:22 AM ^
1. Mauer
2. Teixeira
3. Cabrera
I'm biased but Cabrera has pretty much been carrying this offense on his back down the stretch.
August 20th, 2009 at 7:47 AM ^
I think that this will happen. The real question is at only 26 does he have the chance to be the best hitting catcher ever?