Is Joe Mauer the current AL MVP now?

He's slowly creeping back up to .400 as he is 21 for his last 40. Man that'd be awesome if he got there. I just wish the Twins were in the running for the Central. I'm def rooting for them now so Mauer can get the MVP.

If a catcher hits .370-.380 they HAVE to give it to him....right?

Tex is going to give him a run for his money though. Don't forget about Ichiro either!

jbone17 said:

Tex is going to give him a run for his money though. Don't forget about Ichiro either!

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are the Mariners in contention?

Definitely close,

Joe Mauer - .378, 43 XBH (22 HR's), 73 RBI's, 3 errors behind the plate (.994) with 33% CS.
Mark Teixeira - .288, 62 XBH (30 HR's), 86 RBI's, 1 error at first (.999).

Both arguably the top player at their positions defensively..

Morneau should be in the discussion.

.300 28 HR 93 RBI

Teix:

.288, 30 HR 86 RBI

i agree. only thing they have against them is the twins record. scary to think where the twins would be without those two.

LLWesMan said:

Morneau should be in the discussion.

.300 28 HR 93 RBI

Teix:

.288, 30 HR 86 RBI

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markakis8 said:

i agree. only thing they have against them is the twins record. scary to think where the twins would be without those two.

LLWesMan said:

Morneau should be in the discussion.

.300 28 HR 93 RBI

Teix:

.288, 30 HR 86 RBI

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It's not that scary. They'd suck.

I just want Adam Dunn to crack the Top 10 this year in the NL.

.281 - 31 HR - 86 RBI - .412 OBP - .985 OPS - 89 BB - .573 SLG

Y4NK335 said:

Definitely close,

Joe Mauer - .378, 43 XBH (22 HR's), 73 RBI's, 3 errors behind the plate (.994) with 33% CS.
Mark Teixeira - .288, 62 XBH (30 HR's), 86 RBI's, 1 error at first (.999).

Both arguably the top player at their positions defensively..

Click to expand...

Maybe iut's just me, but I do not see how this is close at all. The batting average is .90 apart, and Mauer is a catcher!! Throw in the fact he is not far behind in power numbers, and I think it's a scandal if Tex wins it over Mauer (assuming they maintain performance.)

I was not sold on Mauer for MVP even a week ago, but the numbers are just becoming to staggering to ignore.

Bobby Abreu and Mauer will be battling for MVP down the stretch.

Topnotchsy said:

Y4NK335 said:

Definitely close,

Joe Mauer - .378, 43 XBH (22 HR's), 73 RBI's, 3 errors behind the plate (.994) with 33% CS.
Mark Teixeira - .288, 62 XBH (30 HR's), 86 RBI's, 1 error at first (.999).

Both arguably the top player at their positions defensively..

Click to expand...

Maybe iut's just me, but I do not see how this is close at all. The batting average is .90 apart, and Mauer is a catcher!! Throw in the fact he is not far behind in power numbers, and I think it's a scandal if Tex wins it over Mauer (assuming they maintain performance.)

I was not sold on Mauer for MVP even a week ago, but the numbers are just becoming to staggering to ignore.

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Someone could make the case that Mauer didn't play until May, but if you look at Teixeira's Marh/April numbers, he really didn't play either.

Teixeira in March/April

.200/.367/.371

Topnotchsy said:

Y4NK335 said:

Definitely close,

Joe Mauer - .378, 43 XBH (22 HR's), 73 RBI's, 3 errors behind the plate (.994) with 33% CS.
Mark Teixeira - .288, 62 XBH (30 HR's), 86 RBI's, 1 error at first (.999).

Both arguably the top player at their positions defensively..

Click to expand...

Maybe iut's just me, but I do not see how this is close at all. The batting average is .90 apart, and Mauer is a catcher!! Throw in the fact he is not far behind in power numbers, and I think it's a scandal if Tex wins it over Mauer (assuming they maintain performance.)

I was not sold on Mauer for MVP even a week ago, but the numbers are just becoming to staggering to ignore.

Click to expand...

Don't forget that the voters take into account team performance, and the Yankees are a lot better than the Twins.

if the twins didnt suck, then Joe would have more of a shot

gordon beckham

bigalexx said:

Bobby Abreu and Mauer will be battling for MVP down the stretch.

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Unless your team is winning 116 games and you're Ichiro, 10 HR won't get a guy an MVP award. Morales has more of a shot than Abreu.

It's basically going to be the "Pujols argument" down the stretch.




Any year the Cardinals don't make the playoffs is a year that Pujols could potentially be screwed out of the MVP award. He is clearly the BEST player in the league, but the whole "team success" argument holds him back.


For the record, I completely disagree with this logic. The way I see it, if a player carries your team and you still only finish third in the division, the fact of the matter is...he still carried your team. Where would your team be without that player? Dead last? Worst in the league? So even though you may not have made the playoffs, that player was still the most valuable player to his team, because without him, they would not have even been in the hunt for the playoffs in the second half of the season.



I'd love to see a Best Player award in baseball to eliminate this issue. Mauer has clearly been the best player in the AL this year, but playing for a team that will likely miss the playoffs may rob him of the award he deserves.

Abreu won't even be in the top 5 come October.

bigalexx said:

Bobby Abreu and Mauer will be battling for MVP down the stretch.

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Not that this will be a factor because the voters are stupid, but Mauer is leading the next guy in VORP by over 20 points. Texiera isnt even in the top 10 for the american league. Morneau is 4 or 5, and Bartlett is actually number 2.

Buuuuuuut, because Texiera is a Yankee, and because so much of the voting depends on if your TEAM makes the playoffs, he will probably win.

Swear to god, Mauer is so far ahead in just about every meaningful category, it shouldnt even be a contest. His win share percentage is off the chart. Morneau isnt much worse.

Yes, I think he is by far.


.378/.446/.630/1.077
188 OPS+

[Leads the AL in all of those catagories]

Unfortunately, two of the top MVP candidates (Mauer and Morneau) play for the same, smaller market team. They will split a lot of votes. Coupled with the fact that they are third in their division, and it makes it even more improbable for either.

When the Yankees win their division, and the top AL HR hitter is on their team (while playing Gold Glove defense, no less), that player has a leg up on the MVP competition. Whether that is fair or not is not the question: it's just the way it is.

If Tex keeps bouncing home runs off the facades in that pinball machine called Yankee Stadium, and they win the AL East, it will take an extraordinary effort for someone else to claim the MVP trophy.

And as far as Mauer batting .400, you can forget about that. With 46 games remaining for the Twins, Mauer would have to hit .444 (4 hits in every 9 ABs) the rest of the season to finish at .400 (based on his current rate of plate appearances per game).


David