Winners:
Stem
JR
Tomke
Viano
Eli
I'm refusing to write anymore this week in protest of the fact that a guy who hit .335, won a Gold Glove and put up an 1.080 OPS finished THIRD in the National League MVP voting. I'll be too busy hunting down and killing 33 national baseball writers.
15 comments:
How valuable was Derrek Lee if the Cubs didn't make the playoffs?
Wow, I like Derrek Lee as much as you do, but value-wise? Third may be too high.
With Albert Pujols, the Cardinals make the NLCS. Without him, they win 79 games.
With Andruw Jones, the Braves make the playoffs. Without him, they fall apart in June.
With Derrek Lee, the Cubs don't make the playoffs. Without him...nothing changes.
It's not his fault the team stinks...he kept them in the race for so long...blah blah. Fact is, Lee hit .278, with a drop of 70 points in OBA and over 100 points in SLG during the second half of the season, when the Cubs were still close to the wild card. Uncle Albert's OPS rose in the second half, as did his AB/HR ratio.
Even Lee finishing 4th behind playoff-bound Morgan Ensberg wouldn't bother me either. You should be hunting down the one guy who put Scott Eyre on his ballot.
This is no travesty at all, and we deserved a recap despite it.
Wait wait, somebody put former White Sox salad tosser Scott Eyre on his ballot? I'll be honest here, I thought I heard he got mauled to death by a bear like four years ago.
-andy
Ed, I'm sorely disappointed in you.
Jones wasn't even in the top 10 in the National League in OPS. He hit .263. He didn't score 100 runs.
Jones and Pujols weren't more valuable to their teams. The teams they played on were better because of a ton of factors. Those are two totally different things.
It'd be like deciding the Cy Young award based solely on wins and nothing else. Which they did this year in the American League.
How do you actually define value? It's a meandering, out-of-grasp bullshit concept.
As I can best see it, "most valuable" means "getting your GM to sign better players to put on the field around you so your team can make the playoffs."
You're not going to like my Krukian view on value, but it's something I am reluctant to let go of. To me, the most valuable thing that a player can do is take his team to the postseason. There are some exceptions, like when Barry Bonds drags a mediocre Giants team into meaningful games until Sept. 30th, but I maintain that if you aren't in the playoffs (or anywhere near), your value is moot.
I nearly had a heart attack when A-Rod won the MVP on a last place team. Where would they have been without him? last place, still.
Same for this year. Where would the Cubs have been without Derrek Lee? They still would have finished BEHIND THE BREWERS. Who gives a crap if a guy is the difference between a 65 win team and a 79 win team? 79 wins sucks.
Martin St. Louis won the Hart Trophy because he's a bad ass.
-Tomke
That's fine. You're entitled to that.
But to me, the most valuable player in the league is the best player. Only in baseball thinking could an inferior commodity have "more value."
Lee could have hit .415 with 75 homers this year, and the Cubs still would have missed the playoffs. It would have been absolutely impossible for a single player to drag the Cubs into the postseason with all the problems they had. That's not his fault.
I think I was just cranky because I was looking forward to a recap.
And I was cranky because I hate Elkhart.
Let's never fight again, Ed.
THE BREWERS WILL WIN 90 GAMES NEXT YEAR.
And Britney Spears will top JR's rock chart.
Good heavens. I leave for a night at Walgreens and we have all this fighting.
*group hug*
Scott Eyre indeed recieved as many votes as Brad Lidge (voting taking place before the postseason). Guess I know who Kruk voted for.
I'm ok without a recap this week for two reasons. One, I lost. Two, I figure John Clayton is twice as likely next week. Boo-yeah!
-Drew
Well, now I have to make sure John Clayton appears. Damnit. That takes like four hours.
;)
Gentlemen,
You seem to have gotten away from the discussion toward the end of the comments, but the MVP award in baseball is similar to the Heisman in college football. It should go to the most valuable player (ie where would that team be without him). Instead it goes to the guy with the best numbers on the best team, as is the case with Pujols. Andruw Jones without question was the most valuable player to his organization (as the Cards would have won more than 79 games without Albie). Occasionally, the guy with the best numbers who's also the most valuable coincide as it will in December when Reggie Bush wins the Heisman.
-Stem
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