Baseball Journal 11-16-12 MVP

I feel compelled to offer a short comment on the awards yesterday. First, congrats to Buster for the NL MVP, well deserved. The only guy who likely could have beat him out for the award was, teammate Melky Cabrera. The 2012 Giants had some talent.

Second, let me offer some consolation to the SaberMaticians and baseball pundits who sincerely felt that Mike Trout should have won the AL award. You're wrong, and you're completely disingenuous. (Actually the word I wanted to use was "stupid." Would that have been a little too mean?) I know. After all that money that the Dodgers and Angels spent this year to end up as spectators too the playoffs, seems so terribly unfair. Boo hoo. SoCal just so deserves something, even if it's just the celebration of a rookie player, who wasn't part of any big blockbuster deal.

Look dimwits, Miguel Cabrera lead the league in every category that mattered and lead his team into the playoffs. Trout is a human highlight reel and will probably figure into MVP voting well into the future. Don't rob him of that future success by giving it to him when he didn't deserve it. His WAR (whatever that is), or his other exotic stats, or that the Angels won more games than the Tigers in a tougher division, doesn't matter. Cabrera achieved a rare baseball feat with the Triple Crown, and he did it in games that actually mattered.

This debutante ball stuff is getting annoying. I'm tried of the inevitable catfight and hair-pulling over the MVP. Andre Dawson, great player, won the MVP. . . playing for a last place team. This is what the Hall of Fame is for, to recognize greatness, regardless of where your team finished in the standings. Alright, new rule for the MVP, only consider players on teams that made the playoffs. Gee, that seems unfair to players who might have had better stats. What if Trout had made the playoffs and Cabrera hadn't? Then Trout should have won, because his stats had consequence. What does it matter if you're the most valuable player on a loser team!

Rookie and Cy Young awards can be pure stats. (Don't get me started on Felix Hernandez winning the Cy Young with a barely .500 record.) The manager award is necessarily tied to a team's record. The MVP can't exist in a sterile stat vacuum. It was to be tied to results. Would you hand the World Series MVP to a guy on the losing team? (Actually that happened. Chuck Howley, defensive player on the Dallas Cowboys in Superbowl V. Don't ask me how.) Come up with another award if you're just compelled to recognize greatness within mediocrity.