MLB 2018 regular season thread

[Della9250]

Ramirez is losing votes to both of them. Vote splitting is a misnomer.

But if Ramirez is the consensus No. 2 on ballots, he will gain on both of them. The problem is going to be the muddle of candidates. Where is Trout going to slot thanks to his injury? How many first-place votes will Ramirez get? What happens if Martinez does sneak the Triple Crown?

 

[Della9250]

Davis is 24th in the AL in WAR
Davis is 33rd in the AL in OBP
Davis is 7th in the AL in OPS

Those stats don't really scream MVP.

The narrative will, however. Especially if the A's win that division, he's the face of the offense.

 

[John B. Foster]

The narrative will, however. Especially if the A's win that division, he's the face of the offense.

Matt Chapman is 4th in the AL in WAR
Matt Chapman is is 18th in the AL in OBP
Matt Chapman is 15th in AL in OPS
Matt Chapman is 1st in AL in dWAR

In other words, I respectfully disagree with you. Chapman is clearly the MVP and face of this A's team.

 

[swingline]

Who's the NL MVP?

 

[JC]

But if Ramirez is the consensus No. 2 on ballots, he will gain on both of them. The problem is going to be the muddle of candidates. Where is Trout going to slot thanks to his injury? How many first-place votes will Ramirez get? What happens if Martinez does sneak the Triple Crown?

Being on the same team does not change this.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

2019 schedule out.

Another A's/Mariners series in Tokyo to start it on March 20-21. Will Ichiro unretire to play in a game?

Rest of 'em start on Thursday, March 28. Indians at Twins ... brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

2019 MLB schedule highlights

 

[Della9250]

Matt Chapman is 4th in the AL in WAR
Matt Chapman is is 18th in the AL in OBP
Matt Chapman is 15th in AL in OPS
Matt Chapman is 1st in AL in dWAR

In other words, I respectfully disagree with you. Chapman is clearly the MVP and face of this A's team.

I actually don't disagree with you. But the narrative will be -- guy hits almost 50 homers, leads team in RBI and is the main cog. It's how MVP voting still goes. Defense and base running are still not viewed the way they need to be.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I would argue that groupthink has gotten even more powerful in voting in the modern era, and everyone is going to come to the same conclusion because of Betts' defense. I don't think there will be any vote splitting.

There is much in what you say. A particularly foolish argument now roiling on sports talk radio here is that Betts is AL MVP, but Martinez is Red Sox MVP.

 

[outofplace]

Does it help Ramirez's case that he doesn't have another MVP candidate on his team? I'm not talking about splitting votes. I'm talking about being more valuable because he doesn't have a teammate as good as Martinez or Betts.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Francisco Lindor will get MVP votes. Not to win it, but he'll be on several people's ballots.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

Bubba Starling just kicked the kitties across the room.

Maybe Bubba is sticking with baseball just long enough to see who KU's next football coach is. Maybe? Maybe? Please?

 

[Hermes]

Lindor makes it look so easy that people don't appreciate just how good he is.