MLB 2022: The Long and Winding Thread

O's still in the hunt.

 

And this is the problem with the MVP debate over the next decade -- as long as Ohtani is above average as a hitter and as a pitcher, no one can touch that type of production. You see all the tweets weekly -- he's got the stats of Mookie Betts the hitter and Justin Verlander the hitter.

So if that's the case, no one else has a chance to be the AL MVP, unless Ohtani has a bad year or is injured and misses significant time.

I'm not saying that Ohtani shouldn't be in the MVP discussion. He should. But there are a significant portion of his backers that are turning it into the above point -- he is the defacto MVP, regardless of someone like Judge having an historically dominant season (he also has a chance at the triple crown).

 

This year, the MVP vote is almost surely going to turn on a factor nobody much likes, but usually decides. The Yankees are in first in their tough division and without Judge, they wouldn't be. Ohtani, great as he is, can't keep the Angels from being a poor team. IMO, the MVP has to account for a player having an historic season. Since nobody's even tried to do what Ohtani has done since 1919, he's always historic. That, much as Mike Trout's excellence in the 2010s, works against him if another player goes nova in any one season.

 

What’s relevant is that this discussion happens every year. It’s resolved when a bunch of people who barely watch a game but get paid to have an opinion as a professional sports critic vote. There is no really right and true answer. You can eliminate all but 2 players this seasons in the AL. There’s an intentional
Lack of guidance within the definition of MVP which allows for discussions but doesn’t allow for a correct answer.

 

Goldschmidt or Arenado for the NL MVP. One or both.

 

Probably Goldschmidt.
And three Dodgers could realistically finish in the top 5 with Freeman, Betts and Trea Turner.

 

An answer that is based on where a player ranks within his own team's history, however, is absolutely a wrong answer.

 

Damned libruhl virtue signalers.
(Final: Rays 11, Jays 0.)

 

It wasn’t meant to solve the MVP definition. After 50 years even the baseball writer snowflakes can’t decide what it means.

Just thought it was interesting. And its the Yankees. He’s done something that Gehrig didn’t do, DiMaggio didn’t do. ARod didn’t do as a Yankee. 4 more stolen bases and he’ll have 50+ HRs and 20 SBs, Bonds never did that.

 

The Jays I recall were the first team to make scouting and signing Dominicans a key part of their strategy. Started with that conveyor belt of shortstops.