Three weeks ago Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander culminated a dominant 2011 season by winning the American League Most Valuable Player Award. His significant achievement marked the first time a pitcher had won an MVP award since Dennis Eckersley did it with the Oakland Athletics in 1992. Ironically both Verlander and Eckersley won the American League Cy Young Award during their respective MVP seasons.
Many argue that pitchers have their own award, the Cy Young, and should not be eligible for most valuable player consideration. However, according to Baseball Writers Association of America rules, “all players are eligible for MVP, including pitchers and designated hitters”. The BBWAA does state that number of games played should be considered in the MVP vote. So, in a sense, it is somewhat unfair to identify a pitcher as most valuable to his team when he has played in just 20% of the team’s games. But in Verlander’s case, he clearly was the Tigers’ most valuable player; without him the team likely would have finished the regular season at .500.
Should Major League Baseball and the BBWAA make changes to the seasonal awards structure?
The Associated Press awards three major distinctions to National Football League players; NFL Most Valuable Player, NFL Offensive Player of the Year, and NFL Defensive Player of the Year. I think that the BBWAA should implement a similar structure. To go along with the Cy Young and Kennesaw Mountain Landis (MVP) Awards, an offensive player of the year award should be installed; perhaps being called the Babe Ruth Award. In fact the MVP should be renamed the Player of the Year Award. In this scenario the best pitcher gets his appropriate award, the best overall hitter gets his appropriate award, and the most dominant player in his respective league (regardless of position) wins the top honor.
Of course this is just my opinion of how baseball can best select MVP winners. In reality, no matter what mechanism is in place, there will always be much debate about who is eligible for the games highest honor. Perhaps it is indeed time for MLB and the BBWAA to revamp the current system.