The Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced tonight that Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich was voted the Most Valuable Player of the National League. Meanwhile, fellow outfielder Mookie Betts took the prize in the American League.
Yelich nearly pulled off a unanimous win after helping lead the Brew Crew to a stirring NL Central title. Only one first-place vote went to another player, as Mets hurler Jacob deGrom was not-unjustly rewarded for an exceptional season that already netted him a Cy Young Award.
Clearly, though, Yelich stood above the rest of the position-player field. It surely helped his case that he led a resurgent Brewers club, but the 26-year-old turned in a stellar first year in Milwaukee quite apart from what his teammates did around him. In 651 plate appearances, he turned in a .326/.402/.598 batting line with 36 home runs and 22 steals.
That eye-popping offensive output, combined with solid glovework and excellent overall baserunning, left Yelich with a hefty tally of 7.6 WAR (by measure of both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference). Cubs infielder Javier Baez placed second, with Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado finishing in bronze-medal position.
As for Betts, his season was even more compelling, allowing him to stand out even against a field of excellent contenders in the American League. He finished the season with a ridiculous .346/.438/.640 slash while qualifying for the 30/30 club. Plus, he’s widely considered one of the best defenders and baserunners in the game.
It’s a credit to Betts that he was able to top yet another MVP-worthy performance from the incomparable Mike Trout, whose perennial excellence is not diminished by the fact that a rotating cast of others has occasionally matched or bettered him. Indians infielder Jose Ramirez turned in a second consecutive third-place finish.
Yelich 29 votes. There is always that one jerk off
For a pitcher no less
DeGrom was so valuable his team finished a zillion games below .500.
That’s not how voting works though. You can be the most valuable player and still be on the worst team in the league
Yeah but he impacted what, like 33 games? not to diminish what he did, he had an incredible season, just not MVP worthy.
Why is it not MVP worthy? Had the Mets scored a couple of runs here and there he would have won them about 25 games… Just because he doesn’t play every day doesn’t mean he wasn’t valuable
Congrats, you totally don’t understand how things work.
How did you even log on here?
This argument doesnt really work given that the pitcher affects the game a much higher % than any batter can. A more accurate comparison would be to look at how many ABs each player affected, which TBH might be a strong unifying stat.
They already the most valuable pitcher award, it’s called the Cy Young.
CYA is for the best pitcher…it’s not based on value to the team. Also from the BBWAA website “Keep in mind that all players are eligible for MVP, including pitchers and designated hitters.” so there is that.
A starting pitcher participates in about 200 innings, while a starting position player playing all 162 games participates in around 1450 innings. Remember, defense is also part of the criteria – not just hitting.
If you want to compare AB’s to pitcher outs – it’s about equal: 600 to 600. Therefore, your argument that a pitcher affects the [team] in a much larger percent compared to a position player doesn’t hold true.
let’s compare designated hitters, those one dimensional players.
Position players only come to bat roughly 4 times per game. Say they are an mvp caliber player and are batting .333 for simplicity. They are still only contributing a small amount of individual production on a per game basis. Pitchers of DeGrom’s caliber can single handedly win an additional 10 games for their team because of how much they impact each game in which they participate (Sadly the performance was wasted on a worthless team like the Mets that somehow still managed to find a way to fumble his Herculean efforts.)
There is also an award for the best hitter in each league, it’s called the Hank Aaron award but it’s not as glorified as the MVP but fact of the matter is that the MVP is for the most valuable player regardless of position. I wanted Yelich to win but the argument for DeGrom is honestly justified if the Mets were a winning team.
Except that the innings played as a defender is a pointless stat. You’d have to look at how many actual plays they participated in and weigh it against their UZR/OAR to even make that a viable argument. Which is valid but not enough to eliminate pitchers from consideration.
@ Joe Kerr: Just to play devil’s advocate, he did face over 800 batters throughout the season. The way he dominated those batters is definitely MVP worthy. He may only directly impact 30+ games, but don’t undervalue the impact he has on those games.
Single handed? So, he plays all 9 positions?
He still needs good fielders behind him. You know, someone like Yelich for example.
deGrom got screwed out of a unanimous CyYoung yesterday by one jerk off in San Diego… Maybe this was the same guy making up for his mistake?
Can’t. You can only vote for one award and the awards are done and sealed just after the regular season.
Orangejedi23…….
Not exactly accurate….from the BBWAA site “Beat writers may be asked to vote for two or even three awards, especially in chapters with fewer voters. Writers in two-team markets may even vote for awards in both leagues. Most writers vote for just one award each year.”
bbwaa.com/voting-faq/
I don’t mind a vote for DeGrom. Not like it was some indefensible homer vote.
Called Yelich. Well deserved 🙂 (Repost why Yelich>Baez)
Yelich went 3-for-4 with an RBI falling two homers and RBI short in his quest for the triple crown. Cubs fans would have probably complained all the way to China, had he got it, since game-163 but Yelich (147) played less games than Baez (160)
Amazing job on the prediction! You know a lot about baseball
“Fewer.” —Stannis Baratheon, ~299 A.C.
This.
Thank u* Wanted to fit it all in 1 line but appreciate
You* 🙂
xabial……
You do realize that probably 9 out of 10 baseball fans made the same call, right? Most just don’t feel the need to publicly pat themselves on the back.
Hang in there bud
I’m a Cubs fan and Yellich 100% deserved it. Javy a well deserved second.
Xabial you think you “called” it for the obvious choice that was almost unanamous? Sorry not impressed. Guess what I called it too! So did everyone else.
I think I can speak for the reasonable Cub fans in saying that Yelich winning is no surprise, and Baez finishing second was the best we could have hoped for. Yelich easily clinched it in September compared to Baez, who faded a bit.
Where are you seeing the hoards of Cub fans complaining? Twitter/Instagram? That doesn’t count, IMO.
Mlb.com comment section, before mlb got rid of it.
Duh
The writers got this one right. Both of these players had outstanding seasons and deserve all the credit they are getting. Congrats to Betts & Yelich!
What great stories for both of them. One late bloomer and one guy who may just have become the best player in baseball. No doubt that Trout is likely to go down in the history books as one of the best ever, but Mookie may be right there beside him when it is all said and done.
yelich was way better this year but he ain’t really a late bloomer
I say late bloomer by the completely unfair standard that he was expected to meet. This was the guy the Marlins were hoping to see and I think were confident would one day emerge.
He’s been getting progressively better every year, but this was some kind of outburst.
Yes he’s still very young but he’s been around awhile for a guy who’s only about to turn 27 and hit his prime.
Kudos to Yelich but the change in parks also helped. That’s what Stanton did in 17 with his bombs even more amazing.
Fenway, I still have issues with JDM not making the top 3. To me, he changed the lineup. Betts had a phenomenal year but he had AB behind him. Until Bogaerts, JBL had mainly Moreland. I just look at 17 v. 18 and the differences include healthy Boegarts and Holt, Pierce once the trade happened instead of Hanley but mainly JDM as the DH. As great difference Mookie is over JDM in the field, JDM more than makes up for it with his batting practice and clubhouse presence. Many players considered him another coach, something that sabermetrics doesn’t consider.
Defense is a large component. While it’s true the defensive metrics are still faulty, more and more voters look at things like WAR to decide these awards.
Betts was head-and-shoulders above Martinez in WAR, and that feels right because again – defense is a large component in baseball, and should be rewarded as such.
Intangibles like clubhouse presence, etc., generally don’t filter down to the writers that vote since most likely aren’t around the people they are voting on very often. Besides – how do you compare players based on that? How can you definitively say that Martinez has more or a better clubhouse presence than Betts?
Because a) many players said it and b) because many started having their BP taped like he did each day.
Should coaches and trainers be in the running for MVP as well? He may well have been solely responsible for 2 of Betts’ WAR for telling him something that changed his approach. Who knows. But it still comes down to voter perception. Is there enough empirical evidence that he caused enough improvement across his team to make up for his poor/unplayed defense?
JD had a monster season but Mookie was the clear MVP. How many times did JD come up with Mookie on base? Hmany times was Mookie in scoring position after an extra base hit or by stealing bases or taking extra bases on hits? Mookies baserunning is elite and creates runs and distractions. Mookies defense is elite as well giving him a huge advantage. JD just cant make up for all Mookie does with all 5 tools.
JD Martinez should have been 2nd, I agree with Dewey.
One problem; voters can’t stop fluffing Mike Trout.
Trout is an outstanding player. Whether he placed 2nd or 3rd wouldn’t change anything nor tarnish his legacy.
The voters did this to make a point. Just like they attempt to prove a point with the Hall of Fame. It’s beyond time to end the BBWAA voting for any award and Cooperstown. Their biases continue to taint the process and the history of this game.
Totally agree with the writers’ recent bias towards sabermetrics players. It will become a joke when they start voting in PED guys. I’m sorry, credibility is important and I wouldn’t vote for anyone I suspected. I said it before David Ortiz is phenomenal for the sport and the City of Boston but I hope he never makes the HOF.
Dewey….another example is Curt Schilling. Writers are punishing him for comments made on twitter in retirement, which has nothing to do with how he performed on the field during his career.
Yet, they voted in Tim Raines. The same Tim Raines that slid head-first to avoid breaking his vials of cocaine in his back pocket. So a guy altering his play for narcotics, cool. Exercising freedom of speech you disagree with, not so cool.
Hypocrisy. BBWAA should be ashamed of themselves. They aren’t, and they’ll never be held accountable.
There are other players admitting to a legal substance like Andro, and they are in the Hall of Fame. Other players the BBWAA probably knew about and still voted them in. Keeping out Clemens and Bonds help create drama and stirs the pot. But the BBWAA are making a mockery of the process.
There are other examples we can use
For sure JDM altered the lineup and like Ortiz he’s going to have to put up astonomically better numbers to get those MVP votes. I agree he probably should have been #2, but I think the DH factor and the fact that most were putting Mookie #1 anyway had them spreading some love around.
The right guy won which is really what’s most important. JD not coming in 2nd is actually a good thing for the Sox and anyone else trying to sign him. It would have boosted his value next off-season even further, at least in Boras’ mind.
How it should have been
Yelich carried the crew down the stretch
I believe if jd did get the triple crown he would have been the mvp instead
It’s a joke that JD wasn’t even top-3 given what he did this year. The voters would rather vote for a terrible glove in the field rather than a DH.
Martinez came third in voting, which is the joke. You have it backwards
4th
Oh that’s right. I only saw a specific ballot I guess.
He got one 1st place, two 2nd’s, 8 3rd’s and others all the way down to 8th. Finished 10 points behind Ramírez
JDM got screwed but I guess it balances out considering he stole a second silver slugger award. Still scratching my head on that one. Played just 1/3rd of the year in the outfield.
martinez barely even set foot in the field, yet got a silver slugger. that’s wrong
A terrible fielder is still 75 percent of a baseball player, while a DH is only 50.
So a starting pitcher is only one fifth (20%) of a baseball player?
all players are just 1/25th of a team
No, because when you consider how many ABs the have a direct effect on, a starting position player because he’s the one throwing the baseball.
A DH is sitting out half of every game.
This is what I imagine community college math to be like
Rediculous comment about a DH. Might have been true in the early 70s when the position was created but JDM was a DH last year only because Boston had a defensive outfield for the ages. He is playable out there and could have won the MVP award in 17 if his combined stats then were solely with the snakes.
Yelich should’ve been unanimous. Super happy for Mookie, totally deserving.
How the hell do you vote Trout 1st this year? His team would have been even MORE out of the race this year without him? I don’t get it.
Same with voting Ohtani instead of Andujar, except Trout is the best player in the world so at least there is that case.
You Yankees fans are dense. You literally defined why Trout was more valuable than Betts in that without Betts the Sox are an elite team, while Trout literally makes the Angels offensively. Also when has the ROY ever ever been playoffs dependent.
The Angels suck with Trout. The Angels suck without Trout. Most years I see the case for him as the “best player”, but he was hardly among the most valuable this time around.
BKBKBK. In most seasons unless s player has by far the best season, the MVP is on a winner. You remember the saying (old Dodger owner I think) “we finished last with him, we can finish last without him”.
Rookie of the Year is a bit different. “Most Valuable” should mean the guy was on a team that made some noise. At least that is how I view it.
WestCoastSoxFan……….
From the BBWAA website..this is what is on the ballot…….
There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier.
The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931:
1. Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.
2. Number of games played.
3. General character, disposition, loyalty and effort.
4. Former winners are eligible.
5. Members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.
I also think winning should be Valued.
You Play to Win the Game – Herm Edwards
Trout put up great numbers for a fourth place team. Where would Angels have finished without him, fifth?
Again….”It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier.”
I get it. Trout is obviously amazing. I just don’t think this was the year to make a big case about his “value”, necessarily.
Right! MVP is the player with the most impact on his Team to achieve. The Best ballplayer isn’t necessarily the MVP; which Trout has proven to be year in and year out. The Best!
Cat, regardless of the rules, common sense should apply. How valuable was Trout to the Angels this year? Perhaps only in the pocketbook with tickets and merchandise sales. Reminds me of going to Fenway in the early 70s. The team sucked but I saw Yaz! This was a bizarre award winning season. Despite his win total, deGrom was totally deserving. Other awards however? A CF who only plays 88 games wins a gold glove? Another player wins two silver sluggers, outfield awards have different rules where gold glove winners are position specific whereas the silver sluggers are not. Aldo, I already mentioned above my belief that Ohtani was already a professional and not a rookie. A GREAT first year especially with his injury but again not a rookie. Maybe they need to develop a better system of who votes. As much as I hate the fans all star voting system, could they have done worse this year?
Cat, that’s like saying anyone over age 35 without a felony conviction can become president…
deweybelongsinthehall….do you realize who votes for SS and GG?
The Managers and coaches do and they can’t vote for anyone on their team.
As for the guy in TX who voted for Trout, I can’t speak for him but considering how good Trout is, I can’t criticize him either and it’s within his rights.
If a journeyman MiLB player who has been called up a few times, but hasn’t exceeded rookie status, and is making $90,000/year eligible? Who about Cuban player who makes pennies compared to US players? They are all professionals just but the definition.
I have no doubt that when the players themselves vote on AL Outstanding Rookie it will be Ohtani. More often than not the Player choices almost always mirror MVP, CYA, RoY, even when Miggy beat Trout and when Verlander won MVP (if my memory serves)
Thanks Cat. I just disagree on well compensated pros. The Cuban league was never considered a top league. Japan however has always been considered a professional league albeit not MLB consistent quality. Regardless of who votes (I thought it was two writers from each city for the SS and GG, thanks for correcting), there should be eligibility criteria say 125 games (other than pitchers).
Japanese league (NPB) is generally compared to being about AAA talent level.
AAAA. Between the two. They’re compensated as a pro league so let’s treat them that way. I love Ohtani today and Ichiro years ago but I just feel them winning takes the award from someone else. I don’t often take the side of a Yankee but I just feel Andujar got robbed. I also believe Thurman Munson is another long overdue HOF player.
for an AAA team or AAAA team or whatever you call it, Japan just beat the pants off the MLB all star tour in Japan.
ML club yes but not an all star team. I saw part of one game and saw the Sox’ Brian Johnson on the mound.
pinstripes17…..I would be willing to wager that when the Players Choice Awards are announced Ohtani will be voted Outstanding Rookie by his peers.
As a Sox fan, I’ve been saying Andujar deserved the ROTY despite his defensive challenges. My reasoning is different. Ohtani earned $2.5m in Japan in 17 and in my world, he was a professional before he came to the U.S.
Minor leaguers get paid as well, albeit not very much, so they are also professional baseball players. Most minor leaguers also receive some sort of signing bonus.
Bonuses are true and yes technically you are correct DC74 but they have TV contracts (just an example). Anyway, should a player from a Russian top hockey league or female basketball league play in the NHL or WNBA, or a soccer player go from here to Europe, I’d feel the same way.
Great years by both guys. Both are a joy to watch.
Of all the awards the only thing that surprised me was that the NL RoY wasn’t closer. Not saying Acuna didn’t deserve it, I just thought it would be closer. The winners in all categories were no brainers.
Every year there is a player that looks like they are playing a game the rest of the league has never seen… this year that player is Mookie Betts
Uh, Trout does that every year but your east coast bias will never let that fact get in the way of your pomping your own players.
Betts was MVP though, cant deny it – but saying “Every year there is a player that looks like they are playing a game the rest of the league has never seen” – every year, Mike Trout does that.
NL should have been unanimous
Did Xabial’s comment just get removed?
29-1. The 1 vote was for DeGrom
This feels like one of the first years in a long time where the voters haven’t screwed up an award.
JD, I agree on some but as mentioned already JDM to me was the difference in the Sox line up. That and in my view Ohtani wasn’t really a rookie, and that the voters realized they gave JDM no MVP love so they gave him an extra silver slugger, and how JBJ lost a gold glove to a guy who is great but this year played in only. 88 games. I guess the voters didn’t screw up this year…
First off- Yelich deserves this award. But I wanna add this. I think the writers are a stodgy group that isn’t very flexible in the way they evaluate what different players bring to today’s game. The dynamics have changed drastically in that some special players are playing more than one position now and in a way, are being penalized for it. Baez with the Cubs played at least 50 games at SS and second base with some damned amazing peripherals, but because he didn’t play ONE position, it seems as if that’s a knock against him. Like I said, Yelich deserves the award… But the game is changing and the writers need to get in step with it. IMHO
Agree that playing multiple positions at a high level should warrant a higher “WAR”
If voters used their eyes more, they would see a player’s value sometimes doesn’t show up in stats.
Very interesting point here. I do kind of agree with what you are saying. I think guys like Jed Lowrie who bounced around positions his whole career and still perform are undervalued in terms of the versatility they allow the manager. That’s a positive, not a negative. And Baez is a different type of talent who took his game to the next level this year just like Yelich did.
Your point is well made. This should be looked at as a positive more than a negative, especially when you can play multiple positions well as Baez can. If we are so caught up in defensive metrics these days, we should consider adding a “versatility” metric. What’s a players ability to play a position outside of their primary position? How do you value that?
I’m sure this is something that Machado’s agent is trying to leverage in his contract discussions that if Machado’s range diminishes, he can move back to 3B and still be effective.
I think the “versatility metric” is an idea with merit. It could still require the same excellence and consistency as one position players. Not taking anything away from the guys who won this year. Just saying it’s becoming a new game and the old guard writers need to move with it.
I think the writers got every award right this year, for the first time in a very long time.
JTO, see my comment to JDGoat above. Not that I’m right because there are no right or wrong answers like in a test. I just would have voted for JDM AL MVP and Andujar for ROTY. Cy Young in the AL was a toss up with JV. NL I agree.
I don’t think that multi-positionality has any bearing on the mvp award. Playing third base one game and right field the next is still the same amount of games and plate appearances.
The gold gloves should definitely include a utility fielder, but those awards mean nothing anyways, too often they don’t go to the best fielder.
It doesn’t but it should. A player that can play multiple positions at a high level is obviously more valuable than one that can only play one position. I want the versatile player in my lineup every day
Why? You have Nolan Arenado installed at third where he’s been the best third baseman in the last decade and you would rather have someone that can play multiple positions? That doesn’t make any sense. If a player plays 75 elite games at second and 75 elite games at third, why is that better than a player that plays 150 elite games at third? They still provide the same value.
so your justification is to put in the best 3Bman in your reasoning… Nice. Let’s go with your example, let’s say Baez played 81 games at 2B at an elite level and 81 games at SS at an average level. Let’s say Machado plays 162 games at average to below average at SS. Who would be more valuable
Debatable. Depends on the rest of the team. I’ll take the better player in my lineup every day, and I don’t care if they can play 1 position or 9.
All you are doing here is saying that Baez is better. What I would rather do is play Baez 162 games at 2b at an elite level. Positional flexibility is not more important than elite defense.
Why?
Plenty of players could play multiple positions if you asked them to. They simply don’t because their teams don’t need them to.
It’s great to have versatility from a roster stand point, but that doesn’t make a guy necessarily anymore valuable. The fact that Baez is ideally a shortstop is his value. Not that he also played second and third.
We have positional adjustments, and this adjusts in the players WAR totals
You talk in extremes. There are teams where the multi positional player (s) are the best players on the team. You could argue that with Baez. A case could be made that a guy who plays more than one position at a high level makes him MORE valuable.than those that don’t. And Gold Gloves mean “nothing”? You can’t be serious.
Gold gloves are the all star selections of awards, it’s based on voting that has plenty of bias and incomplete knowledge every year. Too often the writers get it wrong, which has cheapened the awards value.
stan lee the manly……..Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers are voted on by the managers and coaches not the media
Stan lee… Exactly.
I don’t think Baez should have been second, I felt that’s too high considering his WPA and weak OBP
Little more goes into voting than OBP when considering MVP. Not only was his hitting was great, but he was even better defender and probaly the best baserunner is baseball this year. Javy overall was MVP worthy if it was not for Yelich insane finish to the season. Javy should not be dinged because his is a very aggressive hitter and does it well
He was tied for 11th in wRC+, tied for 9th in total runs created and hit awful in high leverage situations (thus the low WPA).
And he isn’t the best base runner, he’s a good base runner (13th among eligible NL hitters in BSR) who is extremely aggressive.
He is a good player, a top 10 MVP player this year for sure, but I had him 6th. His poor performance in important situations for the Cubs all year is what kills him for me. Where he hit .194/.246/.336. That’s not an MVP season.
And to be clear, my order was
1. Yelich
2. DeGrom
3. Cain
4. Arendao
5. Freeman
6. Baez
And it was entirely statistical.
Also, worth mentioning how badly Baez played down the stretch as the Cubs lost their divisional lead:
From 8/29/18 through the remainder of the year.
The Brewers were 6.0 back of the Cubs, and then passed them in game 163.
The Cubs went 17-15
The Brewers went 23-7
Yelich slashed – .396/.519/.830 – 250 wRC+ – 2.62 WPA
Baez slashed – .265./312/.479 – 110 wRC+ – 0.08 WPA
Who won game 163 didn’t matter, Yelich crushed Baez.
Here are his NL ranks this year (includes pitchers)
9th in fWAR
7th in rWAR
21st in WPA
6th is pretty generous, though, it’s a fairly stacked field with a lot players close to one another. No way does Baez deserve 2nd. The idea that Baez propelled the Cubs is patently false, and when they really needed him to be an MVP, during the month of September, he only had a 110 wRC+ while the Cubs lost a 6.0 lead over the Brewers.
Cain had a better season, Goldie and Arenado about an equal caliber season. And you could argue that Nola and Scherzer produced more value than Baez.
He may have been the Cubs best player, and they produced a 95 win season, second best in the NL. But I don’t see the argument for him to be MVP, at all.
You’re cherry picking the stats for Baez and obviously have an axe to grind.. You left out these… 34 HRs/ .290 BA/ 111 RBIs ((1st)/ 21 SBs
Of course I left them out, they don’t measure player value at all. That’s old news
HaHa. Ok, so HRs, SBs, BA and RBIs don’t measure value?? Hmmm. I’m thinkin’ that any stat that doesn’t support your opinion has “no value.”. You’re a funny guy..
No, it has nothing to do with my opinion.
Do you think it’s 1968 or something?
This is standard stuff.
Mookie Bett’s just won the AL MVP being 9th in home runs and 22nd in RBI’s
You are aware that the times have changed, and how we evaluate players is based on much more than traditional counting stats, right?
Not sure if I misread or what, but are you not aware that Yelich played all 3 OF positions?
I’m not going to argue WAR or defensive metrics (because tbh I don’t understand them, and it’s not worth fighting over), just seems like you’re unaware or ignoring his versatility, while trying to argue for Baez’s..
As a die hard Angels fan I can honestly say this is only the second year Trout did not deserve the MVP award. Mookie had an all time year. Don’t get it twisted though, Trout is still the best player in baseball.
As far as Ohtani, I understand he didn’t play as many games but the fact that he played in less than Andujar and still had a higher WAR speaks to his value. Should be punish Mookie for not playing a full season? No. Yankee fans are bitter he didn’t choose them plain and simple.
Good job on that one Marlins
So the Marlins have traded 3 MVPs(1 a triple crown winner) and have nothing back for them
Baseball in Florida needs to end. What a failure both franchises have been, overall.
Miami has a World Championship and has a very appealing location for players, especially Hispanic players. If they weren’t run by a crook out to pocket as much money as he possibly could, they could have been an extremely competitive baseball team. With the ownership group now, they will likely be very competitive sometime in the next decade. It’s going to take a long time to completely tear down and rebuild everything that Loria royally screwed up.
2 rings
Two championships. 1997 and 2003 I believe.
Correct! I forgot the 1997 winner. And they have only been around 25 years. I’ll take that any day with how hard it is to win a championship in this sport.
1997 was the year the marlins “bought” the ws, 2003 upset the yankees from the minor leaguers received from the 1998 sell off. The marlins do mostly field a AAA team. Time to move the marlins to portland or new orleans.
Define failure please. The Marlins are 2 time series winners but its all or nothing and the Rays have been consistently over .500 for yhe majority
maybe in terms of getting fans to watch the games in the ballpark I guess.
……for most of the past 10 yrs playing in the AL East. Attendance?? Of course dismal.
Andrew Miller wasn’t nothing.
Marlins now have traded the past 2 MVPs… granted Yelich got it after the trade but still quite humorous.
Every other sport players have their own rewards categories…. a hockey defenseman cannot win the goalie of the year in spite of blocking shots during the year. Pitchers have their award….a position player has no chance at the Cy Young. Makes no sense.
But in hockey all players are eligible for the Hart (MVP) trophy, and 7 goalies have won the Hart in addition to the Vezina. If position players are the only eligible players for MVP, shouldn’t it be renamed most valuable position player?
geejohnny……
By your logic rookies should not be eligible for MVP as they already have their own award, right?
If mets were good and Degrom caused them to win WS then he should win MVP even if CYA is out there
WS is not relevant as all votes are cast prior to the playoffs, also the BBWAA ballot clearly states ” The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier.”
bbwaa.com/voting-faq/
the fact is that if the mets were good
Fact is A-Rod won on a lousy Texas team, Stanton won on a 70-some win Marlins team, those are the first two of the top of my head but the fact is….it does happen.
As a Red Sox fan who thinks Mookie Definitely gets it because of the overall WAR, I feel bad for Trout. Trout should be like a living legend like Willie Mays or Ted Williams and yet he’s somehow underappreciated by the game and the public. Him not getting enough of these MVP awards doesn’t help the game.
It’s like when Pujols lost to Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard despite putting up wayyyy better numbers than both. Pujols should have had like 7 MVPs, much like Trout should have an MVP for every year he’s played so far.
It’s just like Michael Jordan. He should definitely have more MVP trophies than he does.
Trout is a living legend, does any fan, even a casual fan not know how great he is. That being said Mookie was better this year, Trout was not the MVP, but once again he was top 3 like he always is. That’s legendary. Giving it to a more deserving player doesnt hurt his reputation.
Getting out of Miami will really increase your power output…..
For the first time in forever the writers got it all right. From someone who watched every team multiple times and wraps of each game, every award was perfect.
Was anyone surprised by the winners? Lol!
Whoever voted for DeGrom should lose their privilege to vote.
Why? It was a weak field for NL players this year (zero 8 win players), and DeGrom had a pretty historic season. I chose Yelich 1, DeGrom 2. But I can see the debate for DeGrom 1
it’s hard to dislike Mookie Betts. Even playing for the Red Sox, he’s a great player and seems to be an awesome dude. Same goes for Mike Trout and Aaron Judge. Even though they play for AL rivals of my team (the Astros) I think all these guys are great for the game. Well deserved Mookie.
Lol….a certain group of people on here complain about the dumbest crap that I find it hard to believe you even like baseball. Whether some guy has a 3 team screen name or if a person points out something he called early on, you whine about it.
I bet you guys are a barrel of laughs at a game. You probably argue with other fans. Probably argue with the hot dog guy if you don’t get enough relish.
What a bunch of losers!
I bet you’re a barrel of laughs at a game.
Complaining about what anonymous people you’ll never meet on the internet say. Nope losers never do that. Never. Not once.
@MetsYankeesRedSox
So anyone who does not agree with you are losers? And no fun at games? And argue with people like you at the game?
Because of course if no one agrees with you they must be a loser?
If you cannot handle people disagreeing with your posts then maybe you should not comment? You have too thin of skin.
betts only qualified for the 30/30 club? actually, he has a membership now.
Hey Cardinals John Mozeliak!! You signed Marcel Ozuna when you could have signed Justin Yelich. As a matter of fact…..you had the opportunity to trade for both and wouldn’t do it while the opportunity was there!!
how would they know Yelich would win MVP
did you expect it?
I dunno, I think Ozuna is probably better than Justin Yelich. Now, Christian Yelich is another story….
And signing these guys is impressive considering they were traded for.
Ozuna was better than Yelich in 2017 by a good amount. Not really a surprise to think Ozuna would also be better in 2018.
He was by far, the better than Yelich in 2017. He played injured in 2018 and still manage to post a solid .280 BA and hit 20+ Homers. I’m expecting a huge bounce back season for him next yr.
They never signed Ozuna and they never had the chance to sign Yelich. There is a thing called trades and a thing called signing free agents. They are completely different.
What does Jo-Ram has to do to get that MVP?
I’m assuming Betts cashed in ahead of him because of a better BA. Jo-Ram was a 30-30 in terms of Homers and SB, versatility, good OBP and OPS. Well, I guess both players were pretty tight on it.
Betts was also 30/30 and beat Ramirez in almost every offensive category. He also won a gold glove on defense. Ramirez is great and deserves to be in the top 5 for MVP but it would have taken more to win this year.
Hey Cub fans Yelich was the right choice, literally saying Baez should have won should too stupid. Yelich lead Baez in HR, AVG, OBP, SB, BB, and 1 behind Baez in RBI, seriously its not even close and the voting showed that.
Betts was also 30/30 and beat Ramirez in almost every offensive category. He also won a gold glove on defense. Ramirez is great and deserves to be in the top 5 for MVP but it would have taken more to win this year.