Brief Interlude
I know it's now all Favruh, all the time, but since we're collectively giving up on the Twins (the pitching staff just never picked it up, did they?), I thought I'd provide a brief mid-August update to break up the wall to wall Purple Judas talk. Then we can ignore the Twins until Mauer wins the MVP. So, two facts and a question, which is purely rhetorical because we all know the answers:
1. Mauer is leading the batting race by a full 15 points over the best singles hitter since Pete Rose, while at the same time has pulled into the top 10 in the A.L. in homeruns and RBI, despite missing the first 5 weeks of the season. His OPS is somewhere around .150 higher than anyone else in the A.L.
2. Speaking of OPS, if you consider it the best metric out there right now for determining the value of a batter, the Twins have 3 of the top 7 hitters in the American League this season. Yes, 3 of the top 7 (did I not tell you guys Kubel could hit?).
And the rhetorical question: how can a team with a catcher having probably the best batting season ever by a catcher (including Mike Piazza's glory years), as well as two of the other top 10 hitters in the league and the best closer in the Majors, playing in the weakest division in the league, POSSIBLY be 5 games under .500 in mid-August? Don't bother answering.
OK, back to your Vikings existential crisis. To cheer, or not to cheer? That is the question.
4 Comments:
I had no idea how kickass Mauer was preforming in all areas. Don't get me wrong I knew he was kicking ass, just did not realize he was up there in everything. It goes to show how bad the Twins pitching is sucking it up that they aren't even in the race.
August 19, 2009 at 3:05 PM
MCA, nice, been contemplating a Mauer nod after he hit his 25th dinger (how crazy is that, btw, 25 home runs by August?) He is simply amazing. That staff may have imploded but he hasn't slowed. 3 of 7 in OPS? Imagine if the Pohlad's spent money like the Wilf's??!?! The rest of the season looks like a Mauer watch instead of a repeat of 2006.
We'll get back to addressing you're "I hope Favre gets hurt comment" later.
August 19, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Even with all of that productivity, does it feel like Mauer should be the MVP of the AL?
I'm clearly biased, but even with that bias pushing me close, I honestly can't say that I think he should MVP this year, with the Twins so far out of contention.. though he does get my vote for best season.
August 20, 2009 at 11:28 AM
LH - I think the typical MVP voter thought pattern these days goes something like this:
1. Who had the best season in the league?
2. Is that player on a playoff or near playoff team?
3. If yes, there's your MVP. If no, then who's had the next best season?
4. Repeat until you get to a player on a playoff team.
5. Determine whether or not that player's contribution to their team (as compared to their teammates' contributions) is so significant that it overwhelms the lesser statistics of the player above them.
There will be pushes for Texeira and Cabrera based on the teams' success, but I don't know if it's enough to overcome the superiority of Mauer's performance. For one thing, Texeira's numbers are still arguably the third best in the AL at his position this year. Mauer's also in better shape if people add defense to what they consider "value." For god's sake, he's a Gold Glove CATCHER hitting .385 with 25 homers. If voters can't see that, there's no point to having the award.
I think the typical voter defaults to "best season" because they can't exactly define "value."
There are some morons out there in the sportswriter/voter world who still go with the simplistic "I vote for the best player on one of the playoff teams" because that's how they perceive "value." Never mind the fact that you can't measure the value of one player based on their team's W column, and never mind the fact that you can be just as valuable if you're not in a pennant race. (if Mauer wasn't having such an amazing season, we'd be 12 games under .500. How's that not valuable? It's not his fault the rest of the team hasn't put him in the race.) But I don't think most of them act this way anymore.
August 20, 2009 at 12:25 PM
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