Clay's Blog: Lee for MVP!

[etothep]

Just curious, why do you have an opinion when you don't even know what he has done this season. And what he has done in the past has nothing to do with this season.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/leecl02.shtml

His opinion seemed to be that pitchers in general shouldn't win the MVP, not just Lee

[knicks0929]

THAT's why they should win. The most valuable player should win the most valuable player award, no?

Well, sure, in theory. The Cy Young Award has become an award with great stature, like the MVP. The Cy was created because position players almost always won the MVP, and the best pitchers weren't being given any awards. So if a pitcher wins the Cy and the MVP, where is the award to the best hitter? The Silver Slugger? That's an award with nowhere near the stature and prestige of the Cy Young and MVP awards.

[metsguy234]

If pitchers can win the MVP, then hitters should be eligible for the Cy Young Award.

[HoustonGM]

I've never really understood why a pitcher would win MVP. Sure, pitchers are sometimes the most valuable players in the league. In fact, I think it probably happens far more often than people realize. But we have two separate awards: Cy Young and MVP. The way I see it, the former awards the most valuable pitcher and the latter awards the most valuable position player. I don't see why people treat the MVP as the superior award.

If that's the case, the definitions of the award need to be changed. As they stand now, it's completely wrong to not let a pitcher win the MVP, because the definitions of the award specifically state that a pitcher CAN win the MVP.

Holy crapp!!! 14-2? That's really good, but I think he's gonna dip now, he isn't historically good.

His peripheral statistics match up nearly exactly with his overall stats. He's changed himself as a pitcher. He's walking a lot less, striking out a lot more, and inducing a lot more groundballs.

[filihok]

If pitchers can win the MVP, then hitters should be eligible for the Cy Young Award.

Fine...Tony Pena's 1 IP 1 K isn't gonna get him the award

[rockiesfan4ever]

LOL. There is absolutely no way that Cook, or any NL pitcher, is winning the MVP award. The only reason Lee has a shot is because of the relative lack of outstanding position players in the AL this year. The NL has no shortage of them.

I know it was just really funny. Cook is having a nice quiet 13-6 season.

The funny thing is Cook could be 15-6 if the bullpen hadn't blow 2 games.

[HoustonGM]

If pitchers can win the MVP, then hitters should be eligible for the Cy Young Award.

I understand the opinion that there should be a seperate hitter's award and a seperate pitcher's award, but the fact of the matter is that, as the definitions of the awards currently stand, pitchers ARE eligible for the MVP, and thus, they should NOT be discounted, and in my opinion, any writer that refuses to vote for a pitcher simply because he's a pitcher should be barred from voting for future awards due to a blatant disregard of the rules that specifically state that pitchers are eligible for the MVP.

[etothep]

I prefer seeing position players winning the MVP, but I don't see a pitcher (or position player) winning the MVP on not just a non-playoff team, but a last place team...Still have a hard time believing A-rod won it w/ Texas

[knicks0929]

Well, than the definition of the awards need to be changed. Instead of the Most Valuable Player, it should be changed to the Most Valuable Position Player. As it is right now, its the most valuable PLAYER and it's not an award just for position players. Pitchers are eligible, and thus SHOULD be taken into account.

I suppose I agree with this. They definitely ought to change the definition. Either there ought to be two separate awards, or one encompassing one. It's redundant for a pitcher to be able to win the Cy Young and the MVP.

[Red Sox Fan 734]

You know what I have never understood.....the MVP is almost never given to a player on a last place or even a team that doesn't make the playoffs but the sportswriters dont care if a Cy Young winner is pitching for the 2003 Tigers or the 2001 Mariners

[knicks0929]

His peripheral statistics match up nearly exactly with his overall stats. He's changed himself as a pitcher. He's walking a lot less, striking out a lot more, and inducing a lot more groundballs.

Yes, but he will still probably regress.

[HoustonGM]

You know what I have never understood.....the MVP is almost never given to a player on a last place or even a team that doesn't make the playoffs but the sportswriters dont care if a Cy Young winner is pitching for the 2003 Tigers or the 2001 Mariners

This is because of the opinion, held by numerous sportsrwiters, that, somehow, a player's "value" changes depending on the play of the teammates that surround him.

[HoustonGM]

Yes, but he will still probably regress.

I'm not so sure that he'll regress all that much this year. People have been saying that since his hot start, and he's just been plugging along.

I don't think he'll ever repeat a year like he's had this year in the future, but I could easily see him with 20 wins and an ERA below 2.50 at the end of the year.

[etothep]

This is because of the opinion, held by numerous sportsrwiters, that, somehow, a player's "value" changes depending on the play of the teammates that surround him.

It's b/c, in my mind, a player turned a horribly crappy team into just a crappy team. So no, I don't like seeing teams on bad teams win. Not saying the MVP or Cy Young winners have to be on playoff teams, but they should at least be on competitive teams

[knicks0929]

You know what I have never understood.....the MVP is almost never given to a player on a last place or even a team that doesn't make the playoffs but the sportswriters dont care if a Cy Young winner is pitching for the 2003 Tigers or the 2001 Mariners

It's that word "valuable" that throws writers for a loop. Somehow a few of them have concluded that "value" does not necessarily equate with actual performance.