al mvp race

Yep.

I continue to maintain he'll finish closer to Dickey and Piazza's .362 than he will to Williams' .406.

But as has been noted, Mauer's not an MVP contender solely because of his batting average.

 

But they haven't sailed all year. They had one of the worst Aprils imaginable, were 5 1/2 out on May 30 and still 4 1/2 out as recently as June 12, when they beat the Padres to go over .500 at 30-29. Starting with that game, they are 44-18 (a .710 winning pct, which prorates out to 115-47 over a full season). Over that span, Morales is hitting .341-19-50.

Hmm. Morales has a much better case than I thought.

 

The problem with Morales is that he is lousy against left-handed pitching (.263/.270/.442 with 3 HR and 18 RBI). He's having a great year and he is the one who picked up the slack while Torii Hunter was out, but I think you have to hold him back at least a little because he is so weak against lefties.

I know Teixeira has a lot of help in New York, but he is still the Yankees' MVP this year. Not only are his offensive numbers outstanding, but his glove is a big factor for the Yankees as well.

To me, that's good enough to put him second in the AL MVP race to Mauer. None of the MVP contenders makes the impact that Mauer does defensively because he is a catcher and because he is so good at it. I am still amazed at the way he has stepped forward offensively this year after pretty much losing his entire offseason, spring training and the month of April to injury.

 

sorry, buds, but i didn't know i needed to have a pick in august.

i just began the thread because of all the noise for mauer, which struck me as odd because the twins are not currently in contention and his production numbers don't strike me as extraordinary.

 

He's on pace for 33 home runs, 103 RBI and 97 runs scored. That alone would be damn impressive for the best defensive catcher in the league. That's before you get to him leading the league in batting average, OBP and slugging.

The Yankee bias is absolutely showing.

 

Morales hits only a three points lower against left handers (.263) than Teixeira hits on the road (.266).

 

Even funnier when we're on the same side of a debate, isn't it?

To be fair, you can't give Mauer credit for things he didn't do. Maybe he would have sucked in April. But pointing out that his numbers project out to a lead in all three Triple Crown categories does show just how dominant he has been since his return May 1.

 

oy. when you take into account my primary criteria being the mvp be on a team who, you know, makes or comes close to making the playoffs, what does yankee fandom have to do with it?

methinks yankee hatred is every bit as much a factor in this discussion as anything. especially since i have not advocated the award necessarily going to a yankee.

c'mon, folks. gimme a sliver of street cred on this one, will ya?

 

It's not Yankee hatred to say Mauer is having the most extraordinary -- and historic -- season in the American League in 2009. By any number of measures, especially because of his position.

 

True, but Teixeira's OBP on the road is .372. Morales has a .270 OBP against lefties. He is slugging .490 on the road. Morales is slugging .440 against lefties. I won't get into the counting categories because the sample size is a bit small for Morales against left-handed pitching.

You also have to remember that Morales sat quite a bit against left-handed pitching the first half of the season, which is a big reason Teixeira has 44 more at-bats despite walking a lot more than Morales does. Teixeira has 83 walks this season. Morales has only 34.

They are both having tremendous offensive seasons, but Teixeira has been better.

 

Where is the Yankee hatred showing? Hell, I've been arguing for Teixeira for No. 2 in the race.

 

i have no choice yet. as noted, by the end of the season, mauer may be the choice if the twins can get back into the race, if not, i'll have to see who has done what for the division winners/wild-card team.

my point again being that i am not convinced mauer's numbers will hold up to be the mvp from a non-playoff team. he may well finish with some historic b.a. or ota or ira or era seamheads love to point at and jack off over.

but they're just not the most important criteria to me when it comes to the mvp. not saying at all that i'm in the majority. just my stance.