If Jose Bautista continues his torrid pace, he deserves to be the American League MVP. The problem is that modern voters, fans and other “experts” believe that because the Toronto Blue Jays will not make the playoffs, Bautista shouldn’t get the award.
What a ridiculous condition that, taken to an extreme, limits the MVP to four teams in each league.
Bautista leads the league in WAR (7.7), on base percentage (.456), slugging average (.645), on base plus slugging (1.101), home runs (36), bases on balls (103), runs created (124), intentional walks (18) and at-bats per home run (11.1).
Yes, but he plays on a team that will not make the playoffs.
If Bautista played on a playoff team, the MVP vote wouldn’t be close, which brings us to an interesting view.
Context driven statistics such as RBIs and runs scored have been denigrated because they depend on the team.
Curtis Granderson’s Yankees have scored 680 runs this season, Adrian Gonzalez’ Red Sox have scored 681 runs. The Blue Jays have scored only 599 runs.
Bautista’s RBs and runs scored totals have been affected by his team. The fact that the Blue Jays hitters have failed to support him as efficiently as the Yankees hitters have supported Granderson and the Red Sox batters have supported Gonzalez must not penalize Bautista.
But it will.
The The Most Valuable Player is the player that added the most value to his team. It is not the player with the most value on a team that makes the playoffs.
Curtis Granderson, Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Verlander play on teams that will join the Texas Rangers this October in order to determine which team will have the chance to lose the World Series. They are the front runners for the award.
How fascinating it would be if a league’s four playoff teams each had a well-balanced offense and a well-balanced pitching staff with players who had solid, but not outstanding seasons, while a last place team had a slugger who produced a Barry Bonds type season.
What would the voters do?
Many players have won the MVP award while playing on non-pennant winners or non-contenders..
In 1952, Hank Sauer batted .270/.361/.531 but he led the National League with 37 home runs (tied with Ralph Kiner) and 121 RBIs. His Chicago Cubs finished fifth, 19 and one-half games behind the first place Brooklyn Dodgers.
I remember (yes, it was my second season as a fan) thinking that Stan Musial, not Sauer, was the MVP.
That same year, Bobby Shantz of the fourth place Philadelphia A’s, a team that finished 16 games behind the first place Yankees, was the MVP. Shantz was 24-7 with a 2.48 ERA, a 160 ERA+ and a 1.048 WHIP.
There are others. Ernie Banks won it in 1957 when the Cubs finished last. He won it again in 1958 when the Cubs finished fifth.
In 1958, Jackie Jensen of the third place Red Sox was the MVP. Jensen hit 35 home runs and led the league with 122 RBIs, which was the only category in which he led the league.
There have been other MVP winners whose teams didn’t win the pennant or make the playoffs. The precedent was set, but lately, it has been ignored.
Jose Bautista is dominating Granderson and Gonzalez. The former is close to Bautista in home runs (36 to 35), but Gonzalez trails badly with 20.
A player’s value is not tied to his teammates success.
Value doesn’t depend upon the big picture.
Let’s say that I have a $100 bill and 20 $1 bills.
You have four $50 dollar bills and a few $20 bills. What is the most valuable bill?
You get the picture. You have more money (wins), but I have the most valuable bill.
Jose Bautista is the MVP.