al mvp race

At this point (we have a quarter of the season after all) nobody could possibly bitch if either Jeter or Mauer was selected. They're both having amazing seasons.
Historically, catchers have a leg up on the MVP for big offensive years. Look at 1998, when Pudge beat Pedro's unbelievable year and Manny's 165 RBI.

 

If I had a vote, right now it would be:

Mauer
Teixeira
Jeter

Teixeira is the MVP of the Yankees, despite what the Jeter lovers think.
Jeter has had a great year, he'd also have about 6-8 throwing errors if he didn't have Teixeira saving him (and A-Rod, too)

 

Just throwing it out there: Bobby Abreu deserves a little consideration.

 

Because it measures your total success as a hitter. If you have a poor leadoff man ahead of you (or if you are the leadoff man) it charts how many bases you collect per at bat. And going from first home by advancing to the next base four times is how you score a run.

I cannot think of a more fair hitting stat.

Heck, I would rather have a hitter that hits 80 extra-base hits but only 20 home runs than a player that hits 60 extra-base hits with 35 home runs.

 

No shit.

And does anyone on the East Coast have any clue who Morales is?

Abreu, Figgins (94 runs!!!) and Morales all have insane stat lines.

 

I think it's sometimes been overstated. Take away Mauer from the Twins and are they even in the hunt for the AL Central for much of this season? If not, that makes Mauer a pretty valuable player in my books.

Now let's look at Teixeira -- are the Yankees in first place in the AL East without him, with the seven other guys who will likely finish with 20-plus home runs?

 

I see your point that individual improvements don't really count for MVP arguments, but Mauer also leads the league in on-base percentage, which you could discard if you want.
But, Mauer leads the majors in getting on base. No one is getting on at a better rate than him which, if you want to discard, fine. But it's helping his team whether he hits a homer, singles or walks. As FH points out, other than Morneau, no one in that lineup's really worth a damn except Kubel and perhaps Cuddyer. Someone's got to get on base to score the runs.
He also leads the AL in slugging. So while he doesn't lead in homer totals, a good percentage of his hits are going for more than singles. He's being very productive.
There's probably an argument out there against him for not playing the entire season. While he's been a monster in his games played, he has missed some games. It sucks, but it's true. I don't think he's a lock, but I do think he should be given more credit than simply having a good average.

 

Actually, devil, slugging percentage is the measure of how many bases you collect per at-bat (total bases divided by at-bats).
On-base pct. measure how often you get on base (hits + BB + HBP divided by total plate appearances).

I'm not certain what is accomplished by adding those two to get OPS when you can just as easily look and see that Mauer has a high OBP and a very good slugging pct.

And in case youo haven't noticed, Mauer leads the AL in BA, OBP, slugging and (obviously) OPS.

 

Morales: .302 avg, 27 hr, 82 rbi, .577 slg% and .926 ops
Teixeira: .286 avg, 31 hr, 92 rbi, .559 slg% and .943 ops

 

Except OBP, SLG and OPS, in which Mauer leads the league, you mean? He's got 10 homers more than Jeter despite missing a month, his batting average is higher than Teixeria's OBP and he's the best defensive player in the league at his position, which is the most valuable on the diamond.

 

If Mauer wouldn't be your MVP, I'm curious who it would be. What's your top three?

 

Courtesy of the Poz blog:

Here are eight average, home runs, RBI lines for first basemen … without looking it up, pick out Tex’s.

1. .318, 39, 105
2. .307, 32, 108
3. .298, 28, 94
4. .334, 24, 72
5. .268, 32, 98
6. .283, 31, 89
7. .302, 27, 81
8. .295, 24, 83