Debate: AL MVP?

Mitchell

Let’s face the facts: the AL MVP race is simply much more intriguing than that of the NL. There are several players in the AL who, if in the NL, could easily win the MVP. However, only one of those players, a group that includes Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Canó, Adrián González, Jacoby Ellsbury, and José Bautista, among others, can be rewarded with baseball’s highest individual honor. However, one player stands out among the others in my opinion, and that is Adrián González.

Alex

Gonzo has been very good, but he doesn’t have the power or the (as much as I hate to say it) RBI leads. Grandy holds both of those and he has 20 steals while also leading the league in triples and runs. He is the all-around player that is competing for the league leads in most every major category other than batting average. I think that Curtis and Joey Bats are the only two real candidates because they are the only ones leading the league in more than three categories, Grandy with four and Bautista with five. José gets on base the most, slugs the highest, walks the most, both intentionally and unintentionally, and also leads the league in Home Runs. Those two are on top of the rest of the possible candidates, including those listed above.

Mitchell

There’s no question: both Granderson and Bautista are great ballplayers, and are deserving of MVP votes. However, Adrian Gonzalez is simply a better and more complete baseball player than both Granderson and Bautista. Alex speaks of Bautista walking the most and having the highest OBP. This is simply the result of him being the only offensive threat on the team. Other pitchers would rather pitch to Adam Lind, who pales in comparison to Bautista. Additionally, lone wolves like Bautista are known to try to hit more home runs, because their team is more desperate for runs. Therefore, it’s no coincidence that the former Padre is hitting for a career low in HRs and a career high in batting average in his first year with the Sox. Gonzalez is proving this year that he’s the most talented hitter in baseball, by choosing to hit for contact instead of power. And don’t think he is just a hitter; Adrian Gonzalez is probably the best fielding first baseman in the MLB. Gonzalez is the most valuable player on the Red Sox, and in the AL.

Alex

Since I wrote a series on the Awards Voting over the past five seasons, I have learned that the voters favor Home Runs and unfortunately, RBIs over any other statistics, including batting average. This does not mean that the top Home Run hitter automatically wins the MVP every year, but it means that someone with 15 Home Runs (González) has a slim chance to win the MVP while Granderson, who Mitchell refused to argue against, has 33. Bautista also has 33 (August 14, 2011). Though both are hitting for a much lower average than Gonzo, they have over twice as many Homers as Adrián. The award is called the Most Valuable Player, but it is not voted on as so. It is awarded to the top all-around hitter only; no fielding stats matter unless a player is head-and-shoulders the best fielder in his league, which González is not. And giving the award to the best player on a playoff team does not always happen. In 2003, Álex Rodríguez won the MVP for a crappy Rangers team, beating out Carlos Delgado, who played for a third place Blue Jays team. This means that Bautista deserves hit shot and so does Grandy. If either of those two lead the league in round-trippers among other categories, they will deserve the MVP over Adrián. If leading the league in Batting Average while also hitting for decent power was an automatic lock for MVP then Michael Young, Nomar Garciaparra, and Magglio Ordoñez should all have won MVPs. They didn’t, players like A-Rod and Josh Hamilton won because of mostly power and a dash of batting average.

Mitchell

Sorry, I forgot to rebuttal against Curtis Granderson. You talk about league leaders in batting average not winning MVPs. Neither do players who hit for a low batting average but for power. Reggie Jackson won one MVP in his career, and he did it with a .293 batting average, the third highest in his career and about 20 points higher than Granderson’s. Additionally, your trends are very myopic, since you picked out very few instances to make your point. However, the big picture shows that MVPs are traditionally on playoff teams. In fact, in the last six seasons, only two MVPs were not on playoff teams. Only four of those MVPs led their league in HRs. If you look at Josh Hamilton’s 2010 MVP season, it is noticeably similar to Gonzalez’s, except with lower RBI totals. Gonzalez will finish the season with right around 30 HRs, well over 130 RBIs, and will lead the AL in batting average by 20 points. Notwithstanding an injury or sharp decline, Adrian Gonzalez has history on his side, along with the fact that he’s the league’s best player.

Alex

If Gonzo hits 25, I might be a bit surprised. He has 18 currently and with only about 50 games left, another 15 is highly unlikely. And Hamilton hit 32 in ’09 while also leading the league in slugging and OPS. Hamilton also played in only 133 games that season, 16 more than Gonzo has currently (August 15, 2011). Your point about batting average is valid, as no AL MVP has hit lower than .293 since 1969, excluding pitchers. You have yet to bring up the statistic of walks. Barry Bonds, Ted Williams, Chipper Jones, Jason Giambi, and Frank Thomas have won a combined thirteen MVP awards. Eleven of those times, the player either led the league in walks and/or had a good eye and did it 125 times. Gonzo has walked 47 times this season while Bautista leads the leauge with 93. I agree that González has established himself as one of the best hitters in baseball and he may be the best player in the league, but he is not deserving of the Most Valuable Player award based on his 2011 season alone.

Mitchell

Firstly, since June 18 to the present, Adrian Gonzalez has actually been slumping: sure his batting average is .352 over that stretch, but only about 23% of his hits are for extra bases, including only three homers. However, Gonzalez goes on “power tears,” since by mid-June, he already had 15 bombs in 69 games. Don’t be surprised at all if he hits seven home runs in fifty games, Alex. Don’t be surprised if he his 15. Also, I addressed walks earlier; Bautista’s walks aren’t due to his nonexistent great eye at the plate. They’re due to the fact that any pitcher with a brain would rather pitch to Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion than Bautista, which clearly makes him the MVP on his team. Pitchers are forced to go right after Gonzalez because if they walk him, then they have to face Youkilis, and Ortiz, and Crawford…Though they are a factor, they cannot be the only factor. Think about the situations: Bautista comes up with no one on base a lot, and he may as well try to hit a home run, and succeeds some of the time. Gonzalez on the other hand, comes to the plate with runners on, and he doesn’t try to hit for power, even though he could. Instead, he delivers an RBI single, because that’s what his team needs. If the Red Sox needed power, he would be hitting for power. He was the best power hitter in the league for the Padres (who needed home runs), and now the best contact hitter in the league for the Red Sox, proving himself the best hitter in baseball by far. I think the BBWAA will get this right, but only time will tell.

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