al mvp race

In other words, you're not even reading a word any of us is writing. Nobody is giving Mauer credit for what he would have done had he missed a month. We are looking at what he has done since May 1, which is more than Jeter has done in a full season.

How can you say that he's not in your top three while insisting that you don't even know who your candidate is?

 

Tim is waiting until 2011 to weigh in on this.

 

Then you will be interested, I'm sure, to know that Mauer leads the league in runs created, with 109 entering Saturday's games. Teixeira is second with 102.

There's your run production.

(Not that I have any idea how to calculate runs created. But still. ... Oh, and it's not a "rate" stat. It's based on actual production in actual games. Mauer has created more runs in 97 games than anyone else in the league has in 122. THAT's how dominant he has been.)

 

sigh. because i am pretty sure my top three will not include anyone who has missed almost a quarter of the season AND who also does not play for a playoff team.

clear enough for ya, big guy? every voter brings their own criteria to the vote. some have shown they will vote for the best offensive players of the year, regardless of where the team finishes. i go the other way, seeking offensive and defensive excellence -- which tex, jeter and mauer have tjhis season -- along with impact on a successful team. several players fit the latter criteria, yanks and non-yanks alike. maurer, in my view, does not.

hey, maybe the majority of voters will disagree with me. who knows? we shall see.

thanks for helping me kill a day with lively discussion.

 

I suppose all the things that have been discussed on this thread can be taken into consideration for MVP: playing for a contending team, games played, rate stats, aggregate stats, etc. Each can be weighed according to personal preference, so if you think the MVP ought to be on a contending/playoff team, you give more credence to those players' cases.
But I think there's a way to take everything into consideration, allowing for the extraordinary. Meaning, if there's a guy who has such ridiculous or record-setting numbers, but he happens to play for a non-playoff team, his MVP case is just as good as a player who has very good numbers on a team that's in contention. And I think that's where Mauer falls in for me. If his overall numbers were a bit lower, he'd be having a great season but his MVP case wouldn't be as great. But what he's actually doing isn't just great, it's extraordinary, and certainly MVP-worthy.

 

You put Jeter in there with Mauer and Teixeira when mentioning defensive excellence and we're supposed to believe that isn't your inner Yankee fanboy showing? You've got to be kidding me.

The Twins aren't dead right now. It's not like they have been a bottom-feeder all year, though they would have been without Mauer.

And he didn't miss a quarter of the season. He missed a month. We are now nearly five months into the season with another to go.

If Mauer finishes out anywhere close to where his current pace puts him, any ballot without him in the top 3 is a joke.

 

okay, oop, i'd argue that your yank/dj hatred has gotten the better of you if you are not willing to give dj the credit he much deserves for playing a fine ahortstop this season. and please don't let your drive to support mauer turn me against joe, a terrific, unassailable young player.

folks take it way to personally if -- heaven forbid! -- someone opines why a great player having a great year (mauer, in this case) isn't an mvp candidate in his eyes. it's not as if i'm knocking mauer in any way, shape or form. he's just not going to be in my top 3 mvp candidates, unless things change dramatically on the current landscape.

sorry to have bruised anyone's feelings. sheesh!!

 

Though usually bad, Jeter's had a good season defensively. His UZR is in the top ten in all of baseball this season.

 

You don't need to pick, per say, but we did want some thought as to which way you were leaning -- a top three would do. It's one to say one guy shouldn't be MVP, but if you do, most of the time there's a reason for it. It's because you usually have someone else in mind.

 

my silliness has taken us through 4 boards.

i sincerely didn't realize my nay for mauer was silly. i gave my reasons. you find 'em silly or obtuse, bless you. color me silly. i can live with that.

you want to argue that mauer has been the best player in the al during his 97 game-span? maybe he is, maybe he isn't. even if i were to come around and agree he's had the best season -- which is debatable, certainly -- i do not believe for a minute it means he has been the league's "most valuable."

per usual, methinks we are debating in circles on this one.either i'm not making my point clearly enough or i fear others are the ones being stubborn. either way, can we simply agree to let it go for now until the season has ended?

 

In all seriousness, shock -- would you consider Boston out of the race in the AL East?