AL MVP Race

[Fnazxc0114]

That might be about the best sleeper pic ive seen. Hamilton has carried the rangers a lot more than Young and vlad have. Young is a horrible defender. He is the backbone of the rangers, but he isnt as clutch as hes been in the past.

How about Adrian Beltre? .323 28 and 102 with gold glove caliber defense on a team that was alive until there was a handful of games left in the season that was also missing its two best players for much of the year. It should be noted that in the AL West, NL Central or NL West or NL Wild Card the Sox would still be in the mix. They are 16 games over .500. Honestly I have no idea who I would vote for. If a guy missed the most important month of the season, September (Hamilton) can he really be MVP? Or a guy whose team was eliminated before the All Star Break who does not play defense? (Miguel), or a guy who is having a great year but arguably is the fourth player in his own infield? (Cano), or a guy who hits alot of homers on a fourth place team who is sitting south of .260 and does not even have 150 hits? (Bautista) or a guy who has not broken 20 hrs or 100 rbis despite hitting 3rd in his lineup? (Crawford). To me all the candidates are flawed with pluses and minuses.

[legaleagle92481]

What about Konerko? The Chisox were in it for a while. They even led the division at the break. This year was a major resurgence for him after a rough year last year.

He is another one, wow his numbers are high.

[legaleagle92481]

Personally, I would pick someone from the Rangers considering it's the first time in several years that they have made the postseason and have two guys in my mind that are intrical parts to their success, Michael Young and Vladimir Guerrero. Young's numbers may not be MVP worthy but he really is a clutch, team player.

Can you really argue Young is the MVP of the league? He is hitting 15 points below his career average, as a 3rd baseman he won't top 100 RBIs or even 25 homers. He has many 200 hit seasons, this year unless he gets five plus hits in each of the next three games he will fall short. He may not even break 100 runs. How clutch is he? The team has run away with the division and he has never played a postseason game. His defensive is terrible. Yes he is a good team player and the way he switched positions last year for a rookie was admirable and classly but that does not make him MVP of the entire league. Longoria, Beltre and heck even Arod are having better years as 3rd baseman and Bautista played 48 games there and is obviously having a better year. If he were selected it would probably be the most dubious selection ever.

Vlad slumped for most of the second half and other than RBIs is another guy short on stats (he does not even have 90 runs or 30 hrs) and he is a full time DH. If you took the give it to him just cause of the team philosophy the MVP Award would be meaningless and the team is not all that good. They are not the 98 Yankees. Of the already clinched playoff teams and the probabale NL wild card Braves the Rangers are tied with the Reds for the worst record despite playing in MLB's weakest division. No other division was remotely close to as bad as the AL West. They won the Division by 11 games no other division was closer than seven. Also no other division did not have at least one and in many cases two other .500 teams in it.

[sox83cubs84]

What about Konerko? The Chisox were in it for a while. They even led the division at the break. This year was a major resurgence for him after a rough year last year.

I'd enjoy seeing Paulie win it, but it won't happen. The White Sox don't get much national love (see Ken Burns thread), and the writers will likely turn their attention to either more intriguing stories (Cabrera or Hamilton) or overexposed players from the ESPN-sponsored teams (Cano or Jeter).

Dave Miedema

[cjclong]

If a player were picked from the Rangers I would have to disagree with Vlad or Young as much as I like him and go with Hamilton. Young showed an example of his being a clutch player when he won the All Star game for the American League when he knocked in the winning runs with a two out hit in the ninth inning with two strikes against Trevor Hoffman when the American League was losing by a run. He also hit a sacrifice fly to win another All Star game in extra innings. Not many players drive in the wining run in the 9th inning or later in an All Star game. That said, he isn't quite the hitter he was several years ago and Hamilton carried the team when a lot of guys were slumping. I don't know where the gripe about Jeter comes from, I hadn't heard his name at all this year. And you could make a very solid case he deserved the MVP the year Morneau won. 'The fact that so many names are mentioned proves there is no one outstanding candidate this year although several players have had very good years.

[Fnazxc0114]

Any idea which weak team sweeped the yankess a few weeks back? In the playoffs none of the crap you mentioned matters. 1-9 the rangers are one of the toughest teams in baseball. They battled with injuries from key guys for a large part of the season. I could care less because ill be going to all of the playoff games here in the metroplex.

Can you really argue Young is the MVP of the league? He is hitting 15 points below his career average, as a 3rd baseman he won't top 100 RBIs or even 25 homers. He has many 200 hit seasons, this year unless he gets five plus hits in each of the next three games he will fall short. He may not even break 100 runs. How clutch is he? The team has run away with the division and he has never played a postseason game. His defensive is terrible. Yes he is a good team player and the way he switched positions last year for a rookie was admirable and classly but that does not make him MVP of the entire league. Longoria, Beltre and heck even Arod are having better years as 3rd baseman and Bautista played 48 games there and is obviously having a better year. If he were selected it would probably be the most dubious selection ever.

Vlad slumped for most of the second half and other than RBIs is another guy short on stats (he does not even have 90 runs or 30 hrs) and he is a full time DH. If you took the give it to him just cause of the team philosophy the MVP Award would be meaningless and the team is not all that good. They are not the 98 Yankees. Of the already clinched playoff teams and the probabale NL wild card Braves the Rangers are tied with the Reds for the worst record despite playing in MLB's weakest division. No other division was remotely close to as bad as the AL West. They won the Division by 11 games no other division was closer than seven. Also no other division did not have at least one and in many cases two other .500 teams in it.