Posts tagged Albert Pujols at FanHouse

And so the Albert Pujols-Ryan Howard MVP debate rages on. You already know the sides at work here: Smart people who understand baseball on one side (Pujols') and Phillies fans on the other. Plus, of course, Murray Chass; he thinks Ryan Howard should have won too. Of course he does.

So, unfortunately, does legendary Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell. If Boswell's legacy wasn't so well entrenched, it would have just about undone it with circular logic like this:

This week, Albert Pujols won the NL MVP Award. Why? Mostly because he had a better OPS and VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) than Ryan Howard. Say what? Meanwhile, back in the real world, the Phils' first baseman had 48 homers and 146 RBI to Pujols' 37 homers and 116 RBI.

You can imagine where it goes from there: Numbers are bad, except these numbers, which for Boswell happens to be RBI. That's literally his only stat -- RBI. The most team-dependent statistic in the history of ... you know what? Nevermind this. Far smarter writers have already written takedowns of Boswell's post, guys like Jonah Keri and Joe Posnanski, who are clearly baffled and sort of saddened by the whole mess. I suppose that's a fair reaction. In the meantime I'm going to go read more of the comments on Boswell's post. Now that's entertainment.

Albert Pujols rightfully won the National League MVP this past season, but there is still a raging debate and many people think Ryan Howard deserved the award. The overwhelming majority of those people are Phillies fans, who think their team is entitled to every single award due to their World Series victory (Howard is the MVP! Brad Lidge should win Cy Young! Charlie Manuel is manager of the year!!) and older writers who can't evolve past their own stubbornness.

Murray Chass, famed baseball writer from the New York Times, falls into the latter group. His argument centers around the fact that Howard carried the Phils into the playoffs and Pujols didn't accomplish the same feat with his Cardinals. He also accuses Pujols supporters of not being able to grasp the concept of value, and instead being obsessed with stats. Of course, later he uses September stats to explain why Howard was more valuable down the stretch.

Where I unequivocally disagree is the claim that Pujols backers don't understand value. Isn't this just a pompous claim, by the way? If someone disagrees with you, you just assume they are ignorant and don't understand the intricacies of "value" the way you do.

The Baseball Writers' Association of America announced its final 2008 award on Tuesday, as Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia emerged from a wide open field to edge out Minnesota's Justin Morneau.

Pedroia had a breakout season in 2007, taking AL Rookie of the Year honors, and he improved this year, with a .326 batting average, .376 on-base percentage, and 54 doubles while playing an above average second base. He received 16 first place votes, and was in the top four on every ballot except one, which strangely left him off entirely.

The top four finishers all came from the Red Sox and Twins, as Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis finished third, and Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer came in fourth. Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez finished sixth, receiving a single first place vote.

Though it wasn't always pretty, the BBWAA ended up with entirely reasonable selections for each of the eight awards it hands out. Pedroia wasn't head and shoulders above the competition like Albert Pujols, who won the NL MVP on Monday, but he was a deserving candidate. It's very rare to find a second baseman who hits for a high average, draws some walks, steals bases at a high clip (20/21 on the year), and even displays some power.

There's still time for them to screw it up, but it appears that the voters for the National League MVP and Cy Young Awards may actually be starting to get it. Tim Lincecum's Cy Young win rejected the long held notion that wins are more important than how well you pitched and, today, voters ignored Ryan Howard's monster RBI totals and selected Albert Pujols as the National League's Most Valuable Player.

Pujols turned in a magnificent offensive season, finishing as the NL's leader in OPS+, Isolated Power and Runs Created. His counting stats weren't too shabby either. He hit .357 with 37 homers, 116 RBI and scored 100 runs. His production carried an otherwise mediocre Cardinal team for most of the season, and had he not missed 13 games with a calf injury the Cardinals may have made a serious push for the Wild Card.

Howard finished second, snapping the string of Phillie MVPs at two and keeping alive the belief that baseball writers prize things that have more to do with circumstance than actual ability. Howard's 146 RBI and a strong September were the only things to recommend him for the award. Ryan Braun of the Brewers finished third and Manny Ramirez finished fourth in the voting, even though he was only a National Leaguer for 53 games.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

Strangely, the Cardinals improved in just about every facet in 2008, winning eight more games than they did in 2007, and in the end finished further down in the division and more games out of the playoffs then they did in 2007. They pitched better in 2008, they got a better year from Albert Pujols in 2008 and Ryan Ludwick broke out in a way that no one saw coming. And still, the gap between them and the top of the division seemed to grow this year.

That leaves the Cardinals in an interesting place this winter. They were decent in a lot of places last year, but they excelled in very few. So what do they need to improve to contend? How can they do that? These questions are likely not as easily answered as they might appear at first glance. It's clear that St. Louis is going to be active this offseason, as they were involved in the Matt Holliday bidding, but can they do what they need to get back on top?

Later this week, Albert Pujols should finally be winning his second MVP award, despite being arguably baseball's best player for his entire eight-year career. Awards seem to elude Albert, as he's also only taken home one Gold Glove despite being viewed by the stat-heads as easily the best defensive first baseman in the NL. So I guess it wouldn't altogether shock me if the voters incorrectly talked themselves into CC Sabathia, Manny Ramirez, or Ryan Howard. If you hear it from Pujols, though, he shouldn't win the award over those three ... by virtue of team accomplishments.

"I see it this way: Someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP."

Yep, Pujols said that ... in 2006. He wanted to win the MVP over Howard that year, as the Cards made the postseason and the Phils did not. The proverbial shoe is on the other foot, as the Cardinals finished fourth in the NL Central and the three candidates I mentioned above competed in the postseason. I'm wondering how Mr. Pujols feels about it now?

I think he should win, but does he?

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

Things move fast in the Internet Age. That's the nature of a 24-hour news cycle or maybe just the short attention span of Americans. Either way, before you know it we're going to be talking about CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira (And Jake Peavy and Manny Ramirez and maybe even Prince Fielder).

So let's take the chance, while we still can, to pay tribute to the 2008 champions. With a cheesesteak in one hand and a Yuengling in the other, here's to you Philadelphia.

- Here's to the Phillies fans, first and foremost. You're not always the easiest folks to understand. You've booed just about everyone including many of your own players. Even among East Coast baseball fans you can seem like a cynical, sour bunch. But your passion and loyalty is undeniable.

In frigid temperatures and pouring rain on Monday night, Citizens Bank Park was packed to the hilt. In more than 100 years of existence, you've been rewarded for your devotion with a title only twice. It hardly seems like enough.

- Here's to Cole Hamels, who at just 24 has established himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball, and just maybe its greatest changeup artist.

Until his magical October run, Hamels wasn't widely recognized by casual fans for his dominance. He wasn't even an All-Star this year. Hope you enjoyed the relative anonymity while it lasted, Cole.

Believe it or not, Albert Pujols played all season with a bum elbow -- considering he hit .357 with a 190 OPS+ while playing hurt, it's a little scary to think about what he would have done completely healthy.

There were rumors that he'd ultimately require Tommy John surgery (which isn't quite as scary for non-pitchers but is still a major operation) but he dodged that bullet during an operation on Monday. Instead of replacing his injured ligament, he underwent an operation to simply move a nerve that was being irritated. From Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

"I would not describe it as a big-deal procedure," Paletta said during a teleconference Monday.

The procedure transferred the ulnar nerve from a groove running along the inside of Pujols' elbow to in front of the joint's bony prominence. Paletta called the nerve "clearly irritated and inflamed." Before surgery, the nerve popped from its groove whenever Pujols tried to straighten the elbow, according to Paletta. The condition caused tingling and numbness in Pujols' right pinky and ring finger.

From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

For the first time since the Clinton Administration, Yankee Stadium will be dark this October. The only thing more popular in America than the Yankees, is hating the Yankees, so it seems unlikely that your average non-New York baseball fan will be shedding a tear over the absence of the Bronx Bombers.

The network executives at FOX and TBS, on the other hand, can't be too pleased. People either love or hate the Yankees. Either way, they tune in to watch them in October.

The biggest draw in baseball won't be on the game's biggest stage next month, and the television types have every reason to wring their hands about the enormous void left in their wake. But hope is far from lost.

The 2008 postseason should offer plenty of storylines to keep viewers captivated -- and bean-counting executives happy -- even without the Yankees to kick around (or dote upon or whatever it is your average baseball fan likes to do with them).

From The Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

We've been discussing the MVP award frequently here at FanHouse recently ... like what the definition should actually be, and someone tried to push Aramis Ramirez as a candidate before he joined the rest of his teammates in a slump and removed himself from contention.

Some good points were made, and we've even discussed a MOP (Most Outstanding Player) award as an alternative, which would just be given to the best player. My immediate thought was that Albert Pujols would win the NL MOP every single year. I digressed into the thought that MVP voting is never consistent because people like variety. Sure, Barry Bonds won a ton, but it would have been outlandish to give some of his to other people. The BBWAA actually did hand one to Jeff Kent that Bonds deserved, so even then they craved change. It would appear the same thing is happening this year with Pujols. Again. Can you believe he only has one MVP?