The Not-So-Social Morgan Network

School just started up for me again, which means boring professors galore and plenty of free time to look for pieces of sports literature that frustratingly tickle my funny bone in just the right spot. What better way to come back from a long hiatus than to take a look at 'ol Joe's "JoeChat."

IT'S T-SHIRT TIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!

Jay (South Korea: Love ur work Joe! Last night's gem against Washington locked up Halladay for Cy, do you agree?

Joe Morgan (11:09 AM: Well, the fact that Jimenez has not been able to win, I would say yes. Jimenez has pitched well, but he hasn't been able to win and Halladay has won. I think with the fact that the Phillies have won that Halladay will win it.

Number of forms of "win" used in paragraph: 5
Number of forms of "win" necessary in a Cy Young argument: 0
Number of min left in this boring International Business class: 97
Number of billion dollars Mark Zuckerberg has made from Facebook: 22

M@ (Hattiesburg, MS): As wide open as the AL CY Young race is, I haven't heard Jon Lester mentioned once, even though his numbers are better than C.C.'s. across the board, an equal to Felix. For instance, opponents hit .243 off CC, .213 against Felix and .214 against Lester. Did his flirtation with a no-hitter against the Yankees Saturday put him on the map, finally? Who would you give the CY to?

Joe Morgan (11:12 AM): I think he's always been in the race in my mind. I like what Felix Hernandez has done, but he has won only 12 games.

Irrelevant.

People say that he doesn't get support from his teamamtes,

Hernandez has 12 losses. In those 12 losses, the Mariners have scored a grand total of 14 runs. 14. As in two more runs than the number of games lost. As in 1.2 runs scored per game. For 12 starts, saying he didn't get support from his teammates was almost literally true. He was literally 1.2 runs of support away from getting literally no support from his teammates. Literally.

but guess what, every award is a team award.

No it's not. As a matter of fact, I can't think of any actual "team" awards besides the World Series Title. Other than the super obvious ones like Silver Sluggers, Gold Gloves, and MVP's, I mean.

Anyways, among A.L. pitchers with at least 160 innings pitched, Sabathia ranks 8th in run support with 7.31 runs per game. Hernandez is dead last (42nd) with 3.75 runs per game.

You can't win the MVP without your teammates.

Yes you can. The M.V.P. award, according to trustworthy Wikipedia, stands for "Most Valuable Player", not "Most Valuable Team-Player As Deemed By Joe Morgan And His Painstakingly Outdated Chass-Like Ways Of Looking At Things" (or M.V.T.P.A.D.B.J.M.A.H.P.O.C.L.W.O.L.A.T.).

Do we look at an MVP candidate and say his team didn't give him a chance to drive in runs?

Who's "we"? Because my answer to your patronizing, sarcastic, condescending, leading, naive, ignorant, arrogant-poised question is... HELL YES!

Also, the Seattle Marines scored less runs than any other team in baseball this year. The Yankees scored the most. You will ignore this information.

The fact is that Felix has won 12 games and CC has won 20.

True fact (well, technically King Felix has 13 wins now, but at the time of the JoeChat this was a true fact). You know what else is a true fact? Felix beat C.C. in ERA, FIP, xFIP, WAR, K's, IP, CG, K/9, BB/9, K/BB, HR/9, and WHIP. True fact.

It is harder to win in a championship environment in New York than in Felix's situation.

Yeah, it's easier to win when your team scores 3.75 runs for you per game and more difficult to win when your team scores 7.31 runs per game. Poor Sabathia man... King Felix has it easy, bro! He's got a castle and a queen and servants and shit!

Just look at AJ Burnett this year.

Awesome example. For heaven's sake just last year this guy threw 207 innings, struck out 195 batters, and posted a 3.1 WAR! What happened? All of the sudden he comes to New York and can't pitch anymore?! Are you kidding me??? Sack up and grow a pair Burnett, this is the Damn Yankees!!!



(**browses at Burnett's Baseball-Reference page**)



....Nevermind all that. Apparently Burnett pitched for the Yankees last year too. My bad.

Felix has done a good job this year, but he's not in the same difficulty level of pitching this year as CC.

Major League Baseball has been around since 1869. During that span the world has witnessed things such as the invention of the automobile, airplane, radio, television, air conditioning, computer, telephone, Coca-Cola, Beatles, Jersey Shore, and--above all-- Facebook. The world has developed drastically in almost every way over the past 141 years. However, what has not developed is the ability of sportswriters (specifically Joseph Morgs) to ignore the ever-so-attractive "wins" category when evaluating pitchers. I'm fairly certain that even Snooki could understand the basic concept if it was written at a 3rd grade level on a spray tan can label.

I'm tired. Class is over. Time to devote the next couple hours to coming up with an idea that will allow me to--much like Mark Zuckerberg did after inventing Facebook--drop out of school and become a billionaire.

Intangibilistic Infatuations

Okay, "intangiblistic" isn't technically a word, but role with me on this. More than any other sport, Major League Baseball seems to be the most attractive for pointing out the "intangibles" of a player. Perhaps it's the history of the game, perhaps it's the poetry (am I right, Plaschke?), or perhaps it's the fact that it's been forever dubbed America's National Pastime. The fact is that very seldom does someone who is very good at their job get recognized for what they actually do well. Chase Utley is a prime example of this.

Today, in June, Rick Sutcliffe will attempt to explain why Utley is emerging as the next MVP candidate on the Phillies. That's right, it is never too early to start MVP talk, even when there's three and half months left in the season.

The Phillies might have another MVP on their hands. Ryan Howard won the MVP award in 2006 and Jimmy Rollins won it in 2007, but it's another name from the Phillies' lineup that comes to my mind for the 2009 National League MVP trophy.

Chase Utley is one of the most--if not the most--underrated players in all of baseball. The fact that he's never even come close to winning an MVP is pretty mind-boggling when you consider the numbers he's put up the past four seasons:

2005- 7.4 WAR (T-3rd in NL)
2006- 6.8 WAR (4th in NL)
2007- 8.0 WAR (2nd in NL)
2008- 8.1 WAR (2nd in NL)

You could very easily make a case that this man has been the best player in baseball since 2005. And yet, twice he has been deemed to not even be the best on his own team. Anyways, the point is that recognition for Chase Cameron Utley is long overdue.

Also, this is an MVP article in June.

No, not Raul Ibanez, although his numbers obviously have been very impressive so far and he certainly could get consideration come award season. The guy I'm focused on right now for MVP is second baseman Chase Utley. When you talk to the team, the name mentioned most often when you are talking about what manager Charlie Manuel calls "special players" is Utley's.

Cool. They say he's "special" because of his great defense, right? Or perhaps the fact that he is continually able to produce far better offensively (defense, too) than any other second basemen in the game?

(Sidenote: Does anyone else think it's weird that Sutcliffe ended the paragraph with "Utley's"?)

Utley is special. Obviously, the fans have known this for a while. He is leading the National League votes for the All-Star Game and has been voted to start the past three All-Star Games. Look at his offensive numbers (.309, 15 homers, 44 RBIs, 47 runs scored) and you notice he is strong in all categories, especially when you consider those numbers are coming from a middle infielder. Utley, however, did go 0-for-4 Wednesday in the Phillies' loss to the Blue Jays.

Alright, we got our first mention of stats. Albeit they aren't really beneficial at all for evaluation, but stats nonetheless. So, Sutcliffe, what else makes this guy really valuable?

What makes his performance even more special is the fact that he is coming off extensive hip surgery in the offseason. Right around the start of May 2008, he started feeling pain in that hip, but he somehow gutted through the rest of the year all the way through October. This guy is tough; he could have been a really good boxer.

He could have been a really good boxer..... I feel like Manny Pacquiao would be extremely insulted by Sutcliffe's apparent ignorance as to just how much pain an everyday boxer is forced to endure. Oh, and this is still an MVP article in the middle of June.

We know he can take a punch. He has those lightning-quick hands that he shows off all the time in batting practice. Coaches and players talk about his tremendous strength from the elbows down, and that gives Utley the ability to take the bat anywhere in the zone at any time. That is part of why he is so successful at the plate. As with Howard, Utley's defense is getting better each and every year.

First of all, I can't believe that you are continuing to compare the characteristics of a Major League Baseball Player to that of a freakin boxer. A BOXER. A man who gets punched in the face, ribs, sternum, collarbone, and abdomen for a living (among other things). Also, while Utley's defense has been utterly awesome throughout the course of his career, he's been rather subpar so far this season. His 0.6 UZR ranks 11th among all second basemen, his .825 RZR is 13th, and his 15 OOZ are good for 12th. History tells us these numbers are going to rise by season's end, but it would seem as though he's most likely not going to match the defensive prowess he obtained last season. By the way, you'd be hard-pressed to find any evidence that suggests Utley's defense is "getting better each and every year". His amazing defensive display in 2005 pretty much shoots down this theory. I hate it when writers say things just to say them. C'mon Sutcliffe, you should know by now that there are entire blogs dedicated to scrutinizing stupid shit sportswriters put out on a daily basis. We live in our mothers' basements, we will find you. Trust me, we have nothing better to do.

I should mention that my mother's basement does have a calendar, though, and it says we're in the month of June, and yet I'm reading an article about the candidacy of a player for MVP...Weird.

But something that was said a few years back really illustrated just how special Utley is. His former teammate, Aaron Rowand, paid him the ultimate compliment by saying Utley was everything you could ask for in a teammate, a friend, a husband, a father and a man. To me, that says everything you need to know about the guy.

How to score big points with Rick Sutcliffe so he writes a column about you deserving to be an MVP candidate:

Step #1- Become his friend.
Step #2- Become a woman's BOYfriend, propose to her until she says yes, and then proceed to marry her.
Step #3- Make a baby with said wife (or perhaps someone else instead, it would appear that either are acceptable).
Step #4- Possess both the X and Y chromosomes.

We are five paragraphs into this column and the only tangible evidence brought forth for Utley's MVP candidacy were four statistics--if you can really call them that-- which were mentioned in parenthesis. Instead, Sutcliffe has opted to go more in depth about boxing and how hitting a baseball with a bad hip is like getting punched in the face by Floyd Mayweather.

It's so hard to repeat as champions, but a lot of people think that, at least on paper, this year's team is better than last year's Phillies. That's an awfully big compliment, considering the 2008 squad won 92 games and the World Series. There are two big reasons people are saying this group is better: The Phillies added Ibanez to the lineup, and, at least so far, it appears they are headed toward an entire season with a healthy Utley. Every special team has at least a couple of special players. Utley certainly fills that role for the Phillies.

Believe it or not, that is the end of the column. Rick "Red Baron" Sutcliffe took time out of thousands of humans' lives to say absolutely nothing... in about 483 words. I think we've all learned a few things here today: first, don't read columns that have the word "MVP" in them until September. Second, don't read Rick Sutcliffe columns that have words in them. And third, Chase Utley sadly remains one of the most underrated players in the game--at least for what he does on the field. He is, however, becoming more and more recognized for being a great four-tool teammate (friend, husband, father, man). I guess that's a start.

Simple Jon

Since we're on the subject of Jon Heyman, I thought it'd be appropriate to bring up this jewel I came across just the other day. It's an oldie, but I trust that you'll come to appreciate it almost half as much as I do. Enjoy!

Was a half season of CC Sabathia's dominance and heroics enough to carry him to this year's award? And was less than half a season plenty for that savant turned savior, Manny Ramirez?

Short Answer: Hell no, no way in hell, not even fucking close, no. Hell no.

My answer is an enthusiastic yes to both questions.

Shocking.

Both candidates are deserving. I don't care that they were late arrivers to the National League this season. Sabathia (11-2, 1.65 ERA in 17 starts for Milwaukee) and Ramirez (.396, 17 homers, 53 RBIs in 53 games with L.A.) easily made the biggest impacts.

False. The guy who made the biggest impact was the guy that played at a higher level than anyone in baseball--and for an ENTIRE season. That man is Albert Pujols. Let's see where Heyman placed Albert Pujols on his "theoretical ballot" (Pujols, just to clarify again, is by far the best choice for MVP. I mean, just by GLANCING at the stats you can tell that it so painstakingly obvious that he provided more valuable production than anyone else in baseball. It's like talking about this year's NBA MVP, you may want to make up some intangible reasons as to why other players have been more valuable, but when it comes down to it, it's not even really worthy of debate because the evidence is just so overwhelmingly in Lebron's favor).

NL MVP

1. Manny Ramirez, Dodgers. The savant saved the storied franchise, slugging .743 and lifting the Dodger dogs to the NL West title.
2. CC Sabathia, Brewers. Carried them with three straight outings on three days' rest, and oh yes, had a league-leading seven complete games.
3. Ryan Howard, Phillies. Huge September (.352, 11 HRs) probably will get him the award.
4. Brad Lidge, Phillies. Second perfect season for a closer ever. That's 41 for 41 in a park that was supposed to be tough on him.
5. Albert Pujols, Cardinals. Kept the Cardinals in the hunt with .357 average despite a banged-up elbow.
6. Ryan Braun, Brewers. Two big bombs in final week aids his cause.
7. Johan Santana, Mets. Worth every penny after a perfect second half (8-0, 2.17 ERA).
8. Carlos Delgado, Mets. Great power run put Mets in playoff position before they blew it again.
9. Chase Utley, Phillies. Huge start still counts.
10. Lance Berkman, Astros. Houston was just a little too late to the party.

Now, just for fun, let's look at Heyman's ballot with each player's WARP1 attached:

1. Manny Ramirez- 5.3
2. C.C. Sabathia- 6.6
3. Ryan Howard- 5.0
4. Brad Lidge- 6.3
5. Albert Pujols- 13.0
6. Ryan Braun- 8.2
7. Johan Santana- 8.6
8. Carlos Delgado- 7.8
9. Chase Utley- 10.4
10. Lance Berkman- 10.9

So basically, the only players on his ballot that are really worthy of finishing in the top ten are Pujols, Santana (arguably), Utley, and Berkman, all of whom don't even come close to winning in Heyman's ancient, intangible-focused, "stats-don't-mean-jack-shit" excuse for a brain. Plus, I'm pretty sure Ramirez only played in about 16 games. They were an awesome 16 games mind you, but Pujols did basically the same thing over a 270 game span. I don't have the schedules in front of me right now, but I'm fairly certain those numbers are accurate.

I wonder what his AL MVP ballot will look like.

AL MVP

1. Francisco Rodriguez, Angels. An alltime great season with a record 62 saves.
2. Carlos Quentin, White Sox. Broke his hand in a fit of anger, costing him the top spot here.
3. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox. The "jockey'' may actually win it with a scrappy attitude and solid stats (118 runs, 54 doubles).
4. Justin Morneau, Twins. Without him and his 129 RBIs, what does that lineup look like?
5. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox. The Red Sox campaign is for Pedroia, but this guy is just as pesky (.569 slugging, 115 RBIs).
6. Joe Nathan, Twins. Another great, underappreciated Twins star.
7. Joe Mauer, Twins. Great two-way catcher who won another batting title (.330) and is easily the best in his business.
8. Jermaine Dye, White Sox. Unnoticed star had a nice season.
9. Josh Hamilton, Rangers. As talented as anyone playing, including A-Rod, and 130 RBIs doesn't hurt his cause.
10. Evan Longoria, Rays. Even better, they already locked him up for six years.

Francisco Rodriguez... because he saved 62 goddamn games. Here's a few facts about K-Rod's "record season" that Heyman is apparently choosing to ignore:

-He had 69 save opportunities, which was 18 more than the next closer, Jose Valverde.
-If he had blown 14 saves, for a success rate of 65%, he still would've had the most saves in baseball with 45.
-He pitched a total of 68.3 Innings. That's right he actually had more save opportunities than he had innings pitched.
-Twelve of his saves were completed when the team was leading by three or more runs.
-There were eight saves in which he had to record less than three outs--five of them being those ultra-crucial "one out saves."

Rodriguez was the main benefactor of an Angels team that was unbelievable lucky. So lucky, in fact, that they were somehow able to outperform their pythagorean record by 12 wins! Also, I don't know how the guys like Heyman who love to say "where would the Angels be without K-Rod" justify the fact that the Angels won the division by twenty-one games. I don't think team record should factor into it, but what other kind of reasons can you use to explain such a ridiculous pick?

Alright. Moving on.

NL Cy Young

1. Santana. Gets edge over CC for ERA title and for being in the NL all year.
2. Sabathia. Sheer second-half dominance.
3. Lidge. Though tough to leave out Webb and especially Lincecum (18-5, with a league-leading 265 strikeouts) in this year with at least five deserving candidates.

I can deal with Lidge and Santana. Choosing Sabathia and completely leaving Lincecum out of the top three is borderline insane. Whatever. I'll let it pass. Next!

AL Cy Young

1. Cliff Lee, Indians. Once-in-a-decade type season for this reclamation project (22-3, 2.54 ERA).
2. Roy Halladay, Blue Jays. The one pitcher in the league who can complete what he starts (nine complete games).
3. Francisco Rodriguez. Now holds the alltime saves record.

Ah yes, what a perfect way to end the critiquing of this already discredited fake ballot. Mr. Heyman, you are officially the dumbest make-believe voter on the planet (the dumbest PERSON on the planet is whoever decided to cast Cherry Jones as the boring, unconvincing woman president of 24). Francisco Rodriguez, whom Heyman claims to have had a more valuable season than anyone else in the American League, is somehow not a more valuable pitcher than either Cliff Lee nor Roy Halladay. Don't get me wrong, those are good choices for 1-2, but if you're going to be a lunatic and pick K-Rod as your AL MVP, at least have the intelligence to select him as your Cy Young as well. In no instance does it make sense to pick a pitcher for the MVP and not pick him for the Cy Young. If you are the most valuable, then you are the best. If you are the best, you are the best. Cy Young = Best. Best = Cy Young. Cy Best = Young. Best Young = Cy.

I don't think I can make it any clearer.

I have a feeling that Jon Heyman will eventually cause me to hate a network that broadcasts nothing but baseball 24/7, something which God intended to be beautiful, sacred and pure in its existence. Damn you Heyman. Damn you.

Manny 4 VP!

Had enough MVP talk yet? Cool, me neither. If you read the Press-Enterprise, you undoubtedly have heard of column-writer Gregg Patton. For those of you who have not, you're in for a treat.

Manny Ramirez is in LA now, so it figures he'd get movie star-style hype.

But he deserves the Most Valuable Player Award about as much as he deserves an Oscar.

Cute analogy. LA, Movie Star, Oscar--classic. But yeah, I pretty much agree here. Manny for MVP = Dumbass Decision

Putting the Dodgers left fielder in the MVP discussion is just silly talk. He's been a difference-maker only slightly longer than Sarah Palin.

Another great analogy. Spot on. Although, if we're going to put the impact of Manny on the same level as Palin, I think it'd be safe to say that Manny deserves the MVP.

Anyway, me and Gregg are still pretty much in agreement at this point.

Two months does not an MVP make, no matter his statistics or the effect on the team. It wouldn't be an issue if the league had a clear-cut candidate. But if Ryan Howard gets Philadelphia past the New York Mets or into the wild-card spot, it suddenly has one.

Wow...

Ryan Howard
.337 OBP-- 51st in NL
.874 OPS-- 20th in NL
31.6 VORP-- 33rd in NL
4.6 WARP1-- Bad

Manny Ramirez
4.6 WARP1-- In 467 less plate appearances

I would seriously give the MVP to Manny Ramirez over Ryan Howard at this point (neither one even comes close to deserving it, though). It puzzles me how Howard can be considered for MVP despite having an OBP ten points below league average. Also, Carlos Delgado > Ryan Howard. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

The fact that the Dreaded One

lol... Clever.

has been averaging about an RBI per game and a home run every three games, and that his batting average is pushing .400, makes a pretty good case -- for a second consecutive Player of the Month citation, but not the big trophy.

How he manages to go from insane to sane in a matter of sentences is a mystery to me.

And now let's move on to the AL:

As good as the Angels are, they have only one MVP candidate, and he's a dubious choice because he's a relief pitcher.

Oh boy... I think we all see where this is going.

I'm not a big fan of pitchers winning the MVP anyway -- since they have their own Cy Young Award to put on the mantle -- but Francisco Rodriguez will get votes and deserve them.

Yes, he will get votes. No, he will not deserve them.

Interestingly, while it's a foregone conclusion that Cleveland's Cliff Lee will get the Cy Young, K-Rod and his record-breaking number of saves made the Angels the best team in the league.

That right there sums up the absurdity of the interpretation of the MVP award. Cliff Lee will be deemed the superior pitcher, while K-Rod will be deemed as being more valuable to his team. So basically, less production equals greater value. I know, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Also, while it's still very debatable as to whether or not the Angels are the best team in the league, I think it's safe to say that if they were to claim that spot it would be largely in part to the addition of Mark Teixeira, who has a 179 OPS+ with them in 43 games. Francisco Rodriguez does not make them the best team in the league.

Sounds like an MVP in a league that really doesn't have a standout candidate.

I just have one thing to say to this.

Clifton.





Phifer.





Lee.



And one lonely tidbit on football before we go.

After the Chargers lost their first game to Carolina on the last play of the game, San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers said that blowout wins were nice, but the most fun he has in football is playing in tight games that come down to the wire. Maybe so, but I'm guessing he'd be more than thrilled with one of those blowout wins right about now.

Some things, Capt. Obvious, just go without saying.

Since We're on the Subject

It seems that recently there's been a lot of MVP/Cy Young award talk going on, which makes sense as the season starts winding down; so I thought it'd be good to just let it be known what a few of ATH's picks are at this point. I'm fairly confident we all share the same opinions (having discussed this quite a few times), but I'm sure anyone who disagrees will let it be known soon enough. Here we go!

A.L. Cy Young








Cliff Lee







N.L. Cy Young








Tim Lincecum









A.L. MVP








Cliff Lee (Again)









N.L. MVP







Albert Pujols










Now, how many of these guys will actually win is another question. At this point, I'd say Lee will most likely win the AL Cy Young, but have no chance at the MVP (although he should). Lincecum has a decent shot at the NL Cy Young, but if Webb has even an okay September with 3-4 more wins I could see the voters easily giving it to him. Pujols, even though this should be one of the easier decisions, is probably a close call. He doesn't seem to be getting nearly as much recognition as he should and if his team falls out of the playoff race I could easily see it going to a David Wright, Chase Utley, Ryan Braun, or even a *gasp* Carlos Delgado. None of them should win it, but I could see the voters going that way.

There really wasn't any point to this post other than attempting to lay our picks out for scrutiny just as much as others.

One more month!

More MVP chatter

On the front page of mlb.com, we are presented with this lovely photo of Red Sox 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia:










Presumably, he either believes he can fly or is trying to act out something from "Hamlet 2". Anyway, the headline states:

MVPedroia? Second baseman makes his case

He is having a very nice season (.327/.372/.490, 59 XBH, 3rd among AL 2nd baseman in Revised Zone Rating, 6th in Out of Zone outs, 9th among AL position players in VORP). However, he must bow down to our current pick for AL MVP:



I bet if Lee pretended to be Jesus, he would get more MVP love.

Look Things Up: Part I

ESPN highlight, Phillies/Cubs game.

Chad Durbin replaces Madson, facing Derrek Lee, the former MVP.

Amount of times Derrek Lee has won the MVP: Zero.

The New York Daily News

apparently agrees with Marino.

Carlos Delgado once seemed destined to be a goner at season's end. Now, he may be an MVP candidate...

I am completely and utterly speechless. If Delgado finishes top 5 in the MVP voting I will start a petition for the immediate disbanding of the BBWAA. I'm pretty confident I could get at least four people to sign it.

3 Guys And A Sports Page

I'm not sure how many people out there have heard of the website, 3 Guys And A Sports Page. I honestly don't know what kind of popularity it has. It looks like it's been up and running for at least a year now? I don't know.

Anyways, apparently they write some pretty crazy shit.

Is Carlos Delgado an MVP Candidate?

That's the headline. Like I said, crazy shit. The author's name is Daniel Marino. I'm looking into whether or not he spent any time as a quarterback in the Miami Dolphins organization. So far my search yields no results.

In May, if you had told me that Carlos Delgado would be mentioned as a possible MVP candidate, I’d have laughed at you.

Today, if you told me that Carlos Delgado would be mentioned as a possible MVP candidate, I would laugh at you.

On June 1st, he was hitting below .230 and looked lost at the plate. But I stand (or sit) here today, writing it myself: Carlos Delgado has become a legitimate NL MVP candidate.

I laugh at you.

Plain and simply put: there’s no way the Mets would be in first place without Carlos Delgado.

You could also make an argument that they would not be in first place without Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, or Johan Santana (among others).

Nope... Carlos Delgado > All the above players.

Delgado now has 90 RBI. That’s only 9 RBI behind team leader David Wright (who has been mentioned in MVP discussion).

Wright also leads him in OBP, SLG, OPS+, SB, VORP, EQA, WARP, and almost any other valuable statistic ever made, by a pretty large margin.

His 90 RBI are better than Pujols, Utley, Holliday, Braun, Burrell, and Fielder.

This is awesome. I'm so glad Peter Gammons did not write this. So Delgado is the MVP because he has some of the best players in the league getting on base in front of him. Gotcha.

It’s no coincidence that since Delgado started hitting with authority in July, the Mets started winning games (31-17 since July 1st).

Teams often tend to perform better when their players start to perform better. Especially when that player had a .726 OPS(!) up to that point. It also probably helps that Santana, Perez, and Pelfrey have a combined ERA under 2.50 during that time. Maybe? There's also that guy that plays short. He's not too bad.

There are many worthy of consideration, but perhaps no one has been more valuable to his team during the last two months than Carlos Delgado has been to the Mets.

Since July 1st, Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday each have an OPS at least 75 points better than Delgado. They also lead by quite a bit in RC and RC/27. Those may not be the best stats in the world, but it would seem rather obvious that Delgado has not been the most valuable even over the last two months (although he's been very good). Also, keep in mind that these players, along with many others, have put up very good numbers throughout the entire season, and not just the last two months.

Albert Pujols is always in the MVP discussion, but the Cardinals are in 3rd place in the NL Central and it will be difficult for them to overtake the Brewers or Cubs. Pujols is also losing consideration to teammate Ryan Ludwick who is also having a monster season.

First of all, how a player's team performs should in no way reflect the value of that player. If the Cardinals were in the NL West, they'd probably have already ran away with the division by now and Pujols would be at the top of everyone's list. Does that really sound fair? Team success does not equal or reflect that of individual value.

Secondly, do not compare Ludwick's season to that of Pujols. This goes for all voters, writers, thinkers, human beings, etc. Pujols currently leads him in like 50 different categories. He is the best player in baseball. Please stop trying to prevent him from winning awards and please stop trying to conform people to your crazy way of thinking.

Ryan Braun is perhaps the most legitimate MVP candidate at the moment. I dare say that Braun and Delgado are 1-2 respectively in my MVP voting if the season ended today.

Holy.Shit.

I don't know who you are, Daniel Marino (still not sure if you played football), but if you had an MVP vote I would lose all faith in the integrity of the award. If there were seriously voters out there who would have Ryan Braun and Carlos Delgado as their FUCKING 1-2 ON THE BALLOT, then there would be no point in caring about this prestigious, 96-year old award at all.
Luckily, though, he's not a voter and the BBWAA get's it dead on every single year.

Fortunately, the season does not end today. The NL MVP Award will come down to the final week of the season. But if Delgado continues his tear (he’s even playing well on defense),

He's currently 8th in RZR and 8th in OOZ among NL first baseman. So he's pretty much average. You'd be better off not mentioning anything about a first baseman's defense unless it's damn good (like Albert Pujols). Otherwise it's pretty moot in an MVP argument.

and the Mets are able to make the playoffs, it will be difficult not to look in Delgado’s direction

I think I could resist.

David Wright has been hitting well the entire season, yet the Mets struggled early on. It wasn’t until Delgado started hitting that the Mets became serious contenders again.

What??? It took more than one player to win baseball games? Weird...

And in September, when the last regular season pitch is thrown, it may just be Carlos Delgado who is a serious contender to become the NL MVP.

Oh man. This is bad, Daniel Marino. I don't care how many passing yards you threw, there's really no excuse for this. Carlos Delgado is currently 44th in VORP among all NL players. That's not very valuable. Yes, he's been doing great lately, but you must realize that you're potentially rewarding him for playing horrible for the entire first half of the season.
There's no justifying such a decision. I think even the current (dreadful) BBWAA would be ashamed of something like this. Perhaps the Dolphins can rebound this season and you can regain some of your sanity. Until then, I very much hope to hear from you again.

Pedro for Cy Young? Maybe next time.

Soto for MVP?

I have always loved Peter Gammons. I never thought I would ever be able to bring myself to say something negative about him. Even as I write this I feel like I'm breaking some kind of Baseball rule. But after giving it a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that this is inexcusable, no matter how much I may like the guy.

Rookie Soto a viable MVP candidate

That's the title. I know what you're thinking. It's a typo. He meant to say that Soto is a viable Rookie of the Year candidate. Sure, it seems painstakingly obvious that Soto would be a viable ROY candidate, but at least it's true.

Much to my chagrin, however, it is not a typo.

The thought came out of nowhere. "You should," a Cubs player said, "be talking up Geovany Soto as the MVP. Think about it."

No. Don't do it, Pete. Please. I'm begging you.

A rookie catcher as MVP? "Take his position, take what our pitchers have done, take his production," the player continued. "Who in the National League is more valuable?"

Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, Hanley Ramirez, Matt Holliday, Jose Reyes, Chipper Jones, Chase Utley, David Wright...

Don't listen to him! It's a trap! Who the hell is this "player" you're talking to anyway? Is it Lee? I bet it's Lee. He's probably pissed off he didn't win the MVP in '05 and now he's out to to fuck up the whole voting process. Fuck you Lee for putting this idea in Peter's head.

The first point is that on the Ides of August there is no clear choice for MVP. Albert Pujols (.342 BA, 24 HR, 75 RBIs, 28 intentional walks, 1.053 OPS) and Ryan Ludwick (.304, 30, 90) have carried the Cardinals to contention in a year when no St. Louis lead has been safe. Lance Berkman is hitting .333 with 25 homers and a 1.042 OPS, but the Astros' dash is for .500. The two leading home run hitters, Ryan Howard and Adam Dunn, are hitting in the .230s.

It comforts me a little bit when someone like Gammons--who's been around the game for 263 years-- has the open-mindedness to cite statistics such as OPS. It's no VORP or EQA, but it's something that still tends to take a back seat to stats like Batting Average and RBI by almost every ESPN "analyst."
It puzzles me, though, that Gammons chooses to post Pujols' OPS but neglects to do so with guys like Ludwick and Dunn. If he did, then you would see that Ludwick trails Pujols by 76 points and Dunn, despite having the .230 average, has an .896 OPS.
Although, I do think that Gammons is right in one regard. As of now, I don't believe that there is any real clear choice for MVP. I think at this point it's pretty much between Pujols and Berkman, with Hanley Ramirez slowly sneaking into contention.

Chase Utley is certainly in the race, with 30 homers and 80 RBIs. So is Ryan Braun, with similar numbers. One magic September might push David Wright past everyone.

Ryan Braun??? The guy with an OBP exactly at league average? That Ryan Braun?! I really wish someone that I blatantly disliked wrote this article.

So when one looks at Soto and sees that his 18 homers, 69 RBIs and .870 OPS are second among catchers to Atlanta's underappreciated Brian McCann (21 HR, 69 RBIs, .933 OPS), then appreciate what he has done as a rookie handling the Chicago pitchers. In total, the suggestion that he be considered for MVP is at least thought-provoking.

So... there's a player at Soto's same position (catcher) who is producing considerably better than him. Also, I can appreciate what Soto has been able to accomplish, I just don't think it should make him a viable MVP candidate. And I also think the fact that he's a rookie should have absolutely nothing to do with it at all.

The larger issue is catching itself. And how remarkable it is that Soto, who signed as a third baseman, converted into an All-Star rookie catcher and became the frontispiece of what right now is the best team in baseball.

Russell Martin was also signed as a third baseman and converted into a catcher. It's cool, but it's not like it's unheard of. And it certainly should have no bearing on the MVP.

If Geovany Soto doesn't wear down in September and ends up with close to 30 homers and 90-something RBIs and "Go, Cubs, Go" is ringing down Waveland Avenue, perhaps he'll end up in what appears to be a muddled MVP race. Odds are that he won't end up in the MVP finals, but in mid-August it is an intriguing thought, especially when the thought itself comes from one of his pitchers.

Perhaps he will end up in the MVP race. Crazier things have happened. Jimmy Rollins won the MVP last year despite not even being the best player at his position, or his team. Andre Dawson won the MVP during a year in which he got on base like 16 times all season (maybe it was 17, I don't remember). Somehow Juan Gonzalez won twice! So yeah, it's plausible that the voters could give Soto some kind of ridiculous chance to win the MVP. Is he in any way, shape, or form deserving of that consideration? No. Not by a long shot.

This marks the first and last time I will ever post anything negative about Peter Gammons. I already feel like less of a person for doing so.