al mvp race

for the division title? yes.

and the twins are three games under .500! does anyone really expect they can suddenly turn around their season in the final month?

like i said, i'm not rooting against 'em at all. if they do, i'm sure mauer will be a huge part of it, in which ase he's obviously a top 3 mvp candidate.

my thread was generated in reaction to where the twins are as of today, combined with several assertions i've been reading here that mauer has to be the al mvp.

i posted the thread in reaction to that, thinking, "wtf?" and nothing i've learned today has led me to alter my opinion -- that mauer, while a tremendous player having a tremendous but shortened season, is not in my eyes a valid mvp candidate.

little did i realize the firestorm that would ensue. you'd think i was attacking mauer on some level when nothing could be further than the truth.

i guess i'm sort of like that crotchety old owner who once refused to give home run king ralph kiner a raise, telling him, "we finished last with you and can finish last without you."

plenty of players in the past have had sensational seasons but not been in the top 3 in the mvp race. why? through no fault of their own their teams did not do well.

it's not as if the twins are headed for 90 wins and just falling a bit short of the playoffs. at the moment they seem to be headed straight for 81-81, give or take.

with several players on division winners also having mvp-calibre seasons, i just do not believe mauer merits consideration.

others strenuously disagree. i am genuinely surprised he has so many supporters on this issue. such is life. ain't america grand?

 

Lemmings For Mauer!

 

Shoes for Mauer, shoes for the dead.

 

What, are you offended that Scotty Pods isn't in the discussion?

 

I was originally gonna post, "What about Scotty Pods?" See, he's got ya thinkin'.

 

Hey, he's fourth in caught-stealing.

Which is higher than any other White Sox player ranks in any other offensive category.

 

Nice try. Just because I make my point strongly doesn't mean you've managed to bruise anything. I'm not the fanboy here. You are, particularly when it comes to Jeter. You have proven that time and again around here.

For me, it's not personal. I just think your opinion in this case is ridiculous. I even demonstrated that Mauer has been better than Jeter even if we stick to the Triple Crown categories only, but you just ignored that and went on crying about everybody hating the Yanks.

I am giving Jeter credit for what he has done this season defensively by saying he is average. That is a step up after playing below average defense the last few seasons, though it was pointed out earlier that Teixeira is a huge reason for that improvement. The Yankees went from terrible defense at first base to one of the best in the business and that has made everybody else better in that infield.

But a shortstop doesn't make the same impact as a catcher and Jeter is not nearly as high among his peers defensively as Mauer is among his. If things play out as they are now, I do believe that any ballot that has Jeter in the top three but not Mauer is a joke. Or the result of being a fanboy. My apologies if my opinion bruises YOUR feelings, but that's how I see it.

 

Who would be in your top three? I mean, if you know Mauer won't be in your top three, then you must have some sort of idea as to who would be in your top three.

 

If Jeter gets consideration for MVP then you also have to consider Jason Barlett and Michael Young.

My choice - Tex

 

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.

Oy vey. Staggering.

'ota or ira'? You try to have an "adult" discussion, and you make up stats, because you can't grasp anything more than much more than ribbies or team standings? Just mind blowing.

 

Just one point. I reject, and in the past actual MVP voters have rejected, the idea that being on a winning team is a prerequisite for the award. There couldn't be a more bogus idea. The best player on a struggling team is almost more valuable to his club by definition, since when he doesn't perform, the team is much more certain to lose than if the star of a big winner doesn't. It's a lot easier to imagine the Yanks winning with Tex going 0 for 5 than it is to imagine the Twins winning with Mauer doing the same.
Ernie Banks won back to back MVPs on a big loser. A-Rod was MVP on a loser. AND THEY WERE DESERVING WINNERS!!!!
A sad number of MVP votes are determined by the principle-look up homer and RBI totals for players on playoff clubs, then select. That plug-in formula is pathetic.

 

I think this sort of thinking is kind of why the "playoff team" requirement for the MVP is mind-blowing. Ok, the Twins might get back into contention, but what more could Mauer do than he's done already? The only way the Twins turn it around is if their starting rotation stops sucking so badly. Minny's team ERA is 25th in the league. That's really on them, and Mauer would have to hit like .600 with 65 homers and a .900 slugging percentage, he'd have to put up some really cartoonish numbers, for the Twins to be in contention with that staff. So to take him out of the discussion because of that seems a little absurd.