Merriam-Webster defines the word “valuable” as “having desirable or esteemed characteristics or qualities; of great use or service”. This topic comes up every year when talking about MVP voting. Some people (like SI’s resident windbag, Jon Heyman) argue that the MVP must be from a winning team. Now, does the MVP usually comes from a playoff team? Sure. But not always. In the past decade, Albert Pujols (2008 winner) and his Cardinals didn’t make the playoffs. During Barry Bonds’ unprecedented run of four straight awards from 2001 to 2004, his Giants only made the playoffs twice. Alex Rodriguez won the 2003 award, and his Rangers finished 20 games under .500. Saying that the MVP must come from a winning team not only ignores past results, but also just isn’t true.
The reason that players on winning teams usually win MVP awards is…because the best teams usually has the best players. What a novel concept. The whole voting system is flawed. In 2006, Ryan Howard won the award based in large part to his carrying the Phillies to a…oh, right. The Phillies didn’t make the playoffs in 2006. Pujols had higher numbers in all three slash lines in comparison to Howard, and was worth 8.2 fWAR in comparison to Howard’s 6.2 fWAR. Why did Howard win the award? Because writers are blinded by conventional numbers, like home runs and RBI (both of which Howard hard more of than Pujols).
This is the situation we’re sitting in right now in the American League. Jose Bautista is clearly the best player in the league. He’s been worth a league-best 7.8 fWAR this season, and has pretty much led the league in the category from wire to wire. And yet, he’s getting decried for playing on a bad team. While it’s true that Bautista is playing for a .500 team going nowhere, look at it this way. If Bautista wasn’t on the Blue Jays, and they instead played a random AAA player instead, the team would have a record similar to that of the Cubs, who have a .450 winning percentage and are near the bottom of the National League. Whereas, if the Jays had started Dustin Pedroia (7.2 fWAR) at second base this season instead of the anemic-hitting Aaron Hill (-0.7 fWAR), the team would have a record better than the Rays, and they’d be clinging to contention in the AL East.
So pretty much, the arguments put forth that Bautista isn’t the league MVP because he plays for a bad team are absolutely inane. His worth, and hell, the worth of all players in the league, really aren’t tied in to the standings. Baseball isn’t a single player sport. When Barry Bonds won four straight MVPs, it wasn’t because he was the best player on the best team. It was because he was the best player in the league, and without him, the Giants would have been absolutely pathetic. The same holds true here. Without Bautista, the Blue Jays would be an awful, pathetic team. And that makes him the MVP.
