The MVP Award

[TedWilliams101]

I was just looking through the past MVP winners and looked at all the head-scratching selections. In particular 2002 with Tejada winning over Arod. I'm wondering, what do people here think of the MVP award. I understand that the writers who vote aren't always objective and can be biased, but clearly people have much different opinions as to what the MVP award means. Also there's the fact that pitchers have virtually no chance at winning, do you guys think that's right?

 

Some people think it should go to the guy with the best hitting stats, some think it should be the best overall player, the most valuable player to a team, only players on winning teams or 1st place teams, etc. What do you guys think about the MVP? Personally, I view it as value to a team. It doesn't matter if the team is a last place team, it's the wins the player contributes, not how many wins the rest of the team contributes.

[Chamomile]

To me, the MVP award means exactly what it says it's supposed to mean - MOST VALUABLE player. That means that it takes defense and position into account. We already have an offense only award named the silver slugger. The MVP shouldn't be the same thing.

[ORS]

Clearly, TW101 didn't take Jounalism 101 where they teach that "value" to a team only counts if the team makes the postseason. What is this, "Most Value to The Team", concept? Nobody will understand that. Just give it to the guy with best stats on the best team and move on.

[TedWilliams101]

I know a lot of journalists believe that ORS, I'm just wondering what you guys think. I think that the "best team" approach is fundamentally flawed. Take the 2002 MVP for example, if you swap Arod to Oak and Tejada to Texas, Oakland would have had an even better year and Arod would have won unanimously. That means that he didn't win when in Texas only because of his team-mates performances. That doesn't make sense. Most valuable means value to a team.

 

Just take this theoretical example: Some player comes into the league and is beyond a monster, hits 100 HRs, drives in 250 RBIs, Bats .500, etc etc. He alone wins 40 games and is worth 60 wins overall. However, his teammates are AAA quality and the team manages to finish 3rd in their division. Clearly, this player is the best player and most valuable player to their team (or any team), yet is he to be disqualified because his team sucks? That just doesn't stand up to logic. It's an individual award in a team sport, you can't hold the player accountable for things he has no control over. Value doesn't have anything to do with standings. A players value is simply how many wins he contributes to his team, thus someone who contributes 20 wins on a losing team is more valuable than someone contributing 10 wins on a 1st place team. (Of course, then you have money value, which is something entirely different).

[Northern Star]

The proof is whether they give it to Pujols if the Cardinals finish last. A pretty pointless award, anyway. Does anyone really give a s***?

 

And don't get me started on the Heismann, they should just call it the award for the best college QB or RB. Ridiculous.

[TedWilliams101]

The proof is whether they give it to Pujols if the Cardinals finish last. A pretty pointless award, anyway. Does anyone really give a s***?

 

And don't get me started on the Heismann, they should just call it the award for the best college QB or RB. Ridiculous.

 

Yeah, I agree. I don't like how it's almost impossible for a pitcher to win the MVP. I think Pedro should have run away with the MVP in '99. 23-4, 2.07 ERA, 0.923 Whip, 313 K, 13.2 K/9, 8.46 K/BB, 213IP in the AL East in the height of the steroids era. That's beyond sublime.

[Northern Star]

Yeah' date=' I agree. I don't like how it's almost impossible for a pitcher to win the MVP. I think Pedro should have run away with the MVP in '99. 23-4, 2.07 ERA, 0.923 Whip, 313 K, 13.2 K/9, 8.46 K/BB, 213IP in the AL East in the height of the steroids era. That's beyond sublime.[/quote']

 

Good pitching defeats good hitting.

[Keeper]

I'm still upset juicing Giambi took an MVP away from Frank Thomas.

[TedWilliams101]

Good pitching defeats good hitting.

 

Trying to get through stacked, juiced lineups night in night out is not easy. Pedro made it look easy.