Was Rollins really that more valuable to his team than Howard, Utley, or Rowand? Maybe Howard since he is a terrible defensive player, but Utley & Rowand each had great offensive seasons (better in RC/27 than Rollins) AND played difficult positions defensively (2B & CF) well. Maybe it's just me but I find it difficult to believe that a guy who isn't even the most productive (offensively) on his own team (5th in RC/27) is the MVP for an entire league. Because the Mets choked and the Phils won the NL East, Rollins will get the award. Hopefully, someone in the next century, the BBWAA will realize that MVP stands for Most Valuable Player, NOT best player on a team who made the playoffs.
The big question is whether BWAA sent in their ballots before Monday's Wild Card Playoff Game. If they did, then Rollins will probably win, but if they waited (and they should have, as the game was technically a regular season game) then they all saw Matt Holliday send his team into the playoffs with a tying triple and an ill advised head first slide into home plate. He led the NL in batting average, RBI, doubles, extra base hits, Runs Created and was third in OPS. He had a great year, and it's hard to come up with a legitimate reason that Rollins is more deserving other than calling him a "spark plug," whatever that is. If he wins, it won't exactly be anything close to a travesty, but his .342 OBP out of the leadoff spot is not terribly impressive. (30-30 is, but that's beside the point)As far as David Wright goes, he had a great year, make no mistake, but you simply cannot vote for a player, no matter how good he was, if his team has just completed one of the biggest regular season collapses in baseball history. |
