Tampa Bay Rays - Dioner Navarro - The ex-Yankee farm hand has matured into an excellent signal caller and a consistent hitter in the Rays' lineup. He is still very young at 24, is a switch hitter and hits well in some clutch situations (.375 with the bases loaded this year). He made his first All-Star team this year and is part of the unbelievable young nucleus of talent the Rays possess.
Honorable Mention (HM) - Dan Wheeler - In his second year as a Ray he has solidified the bullpen (especially when Percival has been hurt).
Boston Red Sox - Kevin Youkilis - Granted that Dice-K and John Lester have made up for the huge disappointments Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett have been this year; however, Youkilis is the heart of that team and his stats speak for themselves. He hits over .350 with RISP and over .400 with the bases loaded. His average after the All Star break is .333 and he hits over .350 against the Yankees. He has gotten to the head of Joba (who throws at Youkilis all the time) and can play all over the field. He regularly plays a gold glove first base, but filled in well for Mike Lowell at third when Lowell was injured. He is a team guy and without a doubt the Red Sox MVP.
HM - Dice-K - He has had some luck this year, but 15-2 speaks for itself.
New York Yankees - Mike Mussina - A few Yankees have had very solid years (Rivera, Damon, Abreu and A-Rod); however, Mike Mussina did not deserve to pitch this year based on last year's performance. Dreadful is not a sufficient enough term to describe how bad he was. And, after pitching like last year through a Thursday in April (17th) against Boston (I remember the absolute bomb Manny Ramirez hit to left), Mussina found a method of consistently getting hitters out. He is now 16-7 and may end the season with his first 20 win season. This remarkable personal story has kept the Yankees in the wild card race. Similar to A-rod keeping the team alive for the first few months of the season while almost everyone else struggled; Mussina has held the rotation together while others have faltered to injuries (Wang, Joba, Hughes), ineffectiveness (Hughes and Kennedy) and inconsistency (Pettitte, Rasner and Ponson). The Yankees will likely bring him back for another. Velocity is by no means key to Moose's new found success, so he may pitch effectively for some time to come.
HM - Xavier Nady - Hasn't been here long, but if the Yanks make the playoffs, it will largely be due to Nady's huge contributions in his few months thus far in pinstripes.
Toronto Blue Jays - Roy Halladay - This is not a choice that solely applies to this year. Roy Halladay is possibly the most underrated pitcher in baseball and one of the top 5 pitchers in the majors. He is consistent and pitches very deep into games (he has more complete games than any entire team in the division). He pitches to contact which allows him to pitch a lot of innings and has a great ERA. The Jays have lacked hitting all year (disappointment from Vernon Wells and Alex Rios), but the pitching has been stellar and the staff leader is clearly Halladay. Kudos to this unknown stud who has elite stuff and quietly has built a great career.
HM - Marco Scutaro - He has played 5 different defensive positions in the absence of some key offensive contributors (Scott Rolen, Aaron Hill, David Eckstein), has hit his best with RISP (over .400 OBP) and is just a classic utility player. What he lacks in skill, he makes up for in effort and hustle.
Baltimore Orioles - Aubrey Huff - I recall when the only hitter that put a remote amount of fear into the eyes of a pitcher on the Devil Rays was Aubrey Huff. He had power and batted over .300. That hitter disappeared for a few years at the end of hit time in Tampa Bay and continued to Minute Maid Park in Houston. After a season of adjusting back to the superior American League, Aubrey Huff has had an outstanding season in his second year as a 'bird'. The Orioles are a last place team (largely because of their pitching) but Huff has collected many RBIs by hitting .317 with RISP. He has the advantage of often hitting with the scrappy Brian Roberts and the potential superstar Nick Markakis always on base ahead of him. Huff should finish with more than 100 RBIs and runs scored, a .300 batting average and 35 home runs - those numbers, at a time when many thought his career was in its twilight make him the Oriole MVP.
HM - Melvin Mora - He has been an RBI machine!
Hope you enjoy and feel free to disagree! Comment with your choices.
Yaros
I agree with most of this. A couple comments. Nady has been a Yankee for less than a month. the fact that you would give HM to Nady over Mo Rivera proves just how much Rivera has spoiled Yankees fans over the years. Trust me, from watching Billy Wagner implode all season, Yankees fans don't realize how truly lucky they are to have the greatest reliever in history - by far. That said, I agree with Mussina as yankees MVP but Mo HAS to be #2.
ReplyDeleteI agree about Youkilis, Halladay and Huff (I was lucky enough to get Huff for $2 in my fantasy league). Halladay is probably only underrated b/c so many ppl play fantasy baseball, and since he's not a big strikeout guy, he gets undervalued. As for Tampa Bay, I'd choose Longoria over Navarro, but really I'd have to give it to Jim Hickey, the pitching coach. Rays arent winning cuz of their offense. No player is hitting over .280! But their pitching which has long been their weekness has been excellent - they have 5 starters who they can count on getting a quality start from (ironically it's kazmir who is least likely to give a quality start - he throws so many pitches that he usually lasts only 5 innings). And their bullpen - as you have mentioned has been very good.
A couple of things. HM was meant as a point about a player who has not had the biggest role or success, but has made above expectation contributions. Rivera is obviously having a better year than Nady and AJ Burnett than Marco Scutaro, but HM is not meant to be "who came in second". I could not give the MVP to a guy who came up late and is now injured. He is the best player on the team and his League MVPs will come, so be patient there sussman. Also, Navarro has what to do with the pitching success of the team and no single pitcher deserved the award. Thus he got it - but they really do play a team game.
ReplyDeleteYaros
Dioner Navarro: .292 avg, 6 HR, 43 RBI, .753 OPS.
ReplyDeleteEvan Longoria: .278, 22, 71, .885.
I don't mean to devalue Navarro as a catcher, but with that huge disparity in numbers, how could Navarro possibly be MVP ahead of Longoria?
~~~
Dice-K, before today's outing by Daniel Cabrera, led the league in walks. "Some luck" is an understatement. Wins are a lousy statistic by which to measure a pitcher. How about a guy by the name of J.D. Drew as the honorable mention?
~~~
I agree that Moose is the Yanks' MVP, but it's hard to consider Nady, even though he has been great since his arrival. Mariano Rivera has been there since the start of the season, and I'd rank him ahead of Nady any day.
~~~
Very good call with Melvin Mora.
(By the way, as you put it, Longoria came up late and is now injured. Yet his numbers are still far superior to Navarro's.)
ReplyDeleteI think one of the biggest shocks in baseball of the last few years is that JD Drew has actually earned the money in his contract. 14 mil a year for 5 years was stil ridiculous but I don't think ANYONE (other than Theo) thought he'd be as good as he has been.
ReplyDeleteI think Longoria is a far superior player to Navarro; however, Navarro has contributed critically this year, both hitting well and calling games well. There are a lot of guys who deserves HM, but JD Drew has had an up and down year and does not have good numbers. He is only batting .280 with 19 homers (decent) and a pathetic 64 RBIs. First, that is not worth 14 million and second, not worth an HM.
ReplyDeleteI heard the Mo over Nady crap already. And maybe Sussman is correct that I under appreciate Mo, but I think that right handed bat will be uber-important down the stretch and Mo's value sort of goes with out saying. Almost, he is beyond the HM.
Yaros
"I think Longoria is a far superior player to Navarro; however, Navarro has contributed critically this year, both hitting well and calling games well."
ReplyDeleteBy this logic, shouldn't a catcher win MVP every year?
And 6 HR/43 RBI is not "hitting well." I mean, you called 19 HR from Drew "decent" and 64 RBI "pathetic." I know the expectations are different, but the fact is, Navarro has not done too much hitting at all. He's got an "empty batting average" and at .292, it's not even all that spectacular. Plus, Navarro is batting only .245 in the second half. That's awful! I highly doubt his decent batting average will hold up, and he certainly doesn't have any power numbers. I guess Jason Varitek could be named Red Sox MVP, no?