Keith Law's Top 5 AL MVP candidates

[elmalo]

I agree with Cabrera.

I also feel Cano doesn't have a chance. If he were to suddenly get injured and not play, would the team suffer? Nope. That's been somewhat proved by his non-hit streak.

I think they would suffer without his bat and glove in the lineup.

 

[craftysouthpaw]

Top 6 AL Leaders in WAR:
Mike Trout 7.4
Miguel Cabrera 5.4
Robinson Cano 5.3
Justin Verlander 5.2
Felix Hernandez 5.0
Austin Jackson 4.7

Cabrera should be in the top 5 at least, even though they are all very close.

This just proves Law's point. He doesn't just look at WAR and rank accordingly - nor should anyone with WAR or any single measure for that matter. He uses it as just one data set including his eyes. The guys ranked 2-6 are close enough that reasoned arguments could be made for any of them as #2. Even Verlander and Hernandez - even though I don't agree.

As for Cabrera's defense, several of the advanced metrics rank him near the bottom of all position players which would mean he has in fact cost his team a game or two with his glove if those are accurate. On the flip side, a lot has been written that he has far exceeded expectations with the glove. I believe the jury is still out but I lean towards him being a good bit below average. Law firmly believes he is a liability at third mostly based upon his eyes.

Cano is the best player on the Yankees by a good margin and yes the team would suffer considerably if he was out of the lineup for long stretches. Stick Eduardo Nunez out there all there and they are probably neck-and-neck with the Rays right now.

Comparing Law and Bayless is laughable. Keith probably does more research than any other baseball writer at a mainstream site and can defend anything he believes. Just because you don't agree with him, doesn't mean he is a moron or just stirring the pot.

 

[All The Hype]

This just proves Law's point. He doesn't just look at WAR and rank accordingly - nor should anyone with WAR or any single measure for that matter. He uses it as just one data set including his eyes. The guys ranked 2-6 are close enough that reasoned arguments could be made for any of them as #2. Even Verlander and Hernandez - even though I don't agree.

As for Cabrera's defense, several of the advanced metrics rank him near the bottom of all position players which would mean he has in fact cost his team a game or two with his glove if those are accurate. On the flip side, a lot has been written that he has far exceeded expectations with the glove. I believe the jury is still out but I lean towards him being a good bit below average. Law firmly believes he is a liability at third mostly based upon his eyes.

Cano is the best player on the Yankees by a good margin and yes the team would suffer considerably if he was out of the lineup for long stretches. Stick Eduardo Nunez out there all there and they are probably neck-and-neck with the Rays right now.

Comparing Law and Bayless is laughable. Keith probably does more research than any other baseball writer at a mainstream site and can defend anything he believes. Just because you don't agree with him, doesn't mean he is a moron or just stirring the pot.

I understand what you're saying, but at this point the MVP race is between Trout and Cabrera and no one else (unless something drastically changes over the last part of the season). Sure, things can change, but this list is based on what has happened so far this season. If the season were to end today, Trout and Cabrera would unquestionably come in 1st and 2nd (in some order), so to exclude Cabrera from the top 5 entirely is just silly.

And even if you don't think he's worthy of the AL MVP, Miguel Cabrera is by far and away the MVP of the Tigers, so to have two of his teammates on this list and exclude Miggy makes Law look like an idiot, regardless of how he came to that decision or whether it can be defended.

 

[KOBEARODLT]

This just proves Law's point. He doesn't just look at WAR and rank accordingly - nor should anyone with WAR or any single measure for that matter. He uses it as just one data set including his eyes. The guys ranked 2-6 are close enough that reasoned arguments could be made for any of them as #2. Even Verlander and Hernandez - even though I don't agree.

As for Cabrera's defense, several of the advanced metrics rank him near the bottom of all position players which would mean he has in fact cost his team a game or two with his glove if those are accurate. On the flip side, a lot has been written that he has far exceeded expectations with the glove. I believe the jury is still out but I lean towards him being a good bit below average. Law firmly believes he is a liability at third mostly based upon his eyes.

Cano is the best player on the Yankees by a good margin and yes the team would suffer considerably if he was out of the lineup for long stretches. Stick Eduardo Nunez out there all there and they are probably neck-and-neck with the Rays right now.

Comparing Law and Bayless is laughable. Keith probably does more research than any other baseball writer at a mainstream site and can defend anything he believes. Just because you don't agree with him, doesn't mean he is a moron or just stirring the pot.

and just because he does research with alot of NUMBERS doesnt mean he is anywere close to being right....skip bayless throws out worthless numbers as long as they support his point of view as well...and commenting on the bold point above...advanced metrics say cabrera has cost his team a game or two by his play in the field..wait what? has keith law watched every tigers game this year to know that? no...like i said he hasnt lost a game because of play in the field and that is a fact..but hey i watch the game instead of using advanced numbers and metric this or that.

 

[Lars]

Maybe it was mentioned but even the numbers guys tend to think the fielding metrics tend to be inaccurate, so take the numbers as is and not an indictment of one's defensive misgivings.

 

[Zambrano38]

and just because he does research with alot of NUMBERS doesnt mean he is anywere close to being right....skip bayless throws out worthless numbers as long as they support his point of view as well...and commenting on the bold point above...advanced metrics say cabrera has cost his team a game or two by his play in the field..wait what? has keith law watched every tigers game this year to know that? no...like i said he hasnt lost a game because of play in the field and that is a fact..but hey i watch the game instead of using advanced numbers and metric this or that.

Just because he doesn't error doesn't mean he is good at defense. Among AL 3B, he ranks dead last with a -12.2 range. He is among the better 3B when it comes to errors, but his UZR/150 (Ultimate Zone Rating) is still a terrible -9.8. So while it doesn't look like his defense is costing them games, his lack of range has resulted in far more hits which have turned into runs for the opposition.