A-Rod wins!!!

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

NEW YORK -- Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez became the second player from a last-place team to win a Most Valuable Player award, beating Carlos Delgado and Jorge Posada in American League voting announced Monday.

 

 

Rodriguez received 242 points in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Delgado had 210 points and Posada 194.

 

 

Showing the split among the writers, 10 players received first-place votes, one short of the record set in the 1947 NL vote and matched in the 1977 AL vote.

 

 

Rodriguez was picked first on six ballots, the fewest for an MVP winner since the New York Yankees' Mickey Mantle in 1957. Delgado and Posada got five firsts each.

 

 

The only other player on a last-place team to win an MVP was the Chicago Cubs' Andre Dawson in 1987.

 

 

Rodriguez, second in the voting in 1996 and last year, was the only player picked on every ballot. He hit .298, tied for the major league lead with 47 homers, and led the AL in runs (124) and slugging percentage (.600). He had 118 RBI, second in the AL to Delgado's 145.

 

 

AL MVP Award Voting

Player  1st  2nd  3rd  Total 

A. Rodriguez  6  5  6  242 

C. Delgado  5  8  3  210 

J. Posada  5  4  4  194 

S. Stewart  3  2  2  140 

D. Ortiz  4  3  2  130 

 

 

Rodriguez was in his third season with Texas, which finished last in the AL West at 71-91. He joined the Rangers after the 2000 season when Texas gave him a record $252 million, 10-year contract and has led the league in homers in all three years.

 

 

Delgado hit .302 with 42 homers for Toronto, while Posada batted .281 for the Yankees with 30 homers and 101 RBI.

 

 

Shannon Stewart, traded from Toronto to Minnesota during the season, was fourth with three first-place votes and 140 points. Boston's David Ortiz was fifth with four firsts and 130 points.

 

 

Boston's Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra, Toronto's Vernon Wells, Oakland's Miguel Tejada and the Yankees' Jason Giambi got one first-place vote each. Tejada was last year's MVP.

 

 

Rodriguez gets a $500,000 bonus added to his $21 million salary, and Stewart gets $25,000 for finishing third.

 

 

Because he finished 10th, Seattle second baseman Bret Boone gets an automatic $250,000 raise to $8.25 million.

 

Finally after being the best player in the American League for at least the fourth year, Rodriguez gets the award that he deserves.

[MrRant 0]

Stewart gets $25,000 for 3rd in MVP.... but Boone gets $250,000 for 10th?!?!?!

[Bored 0]

Its called having a good agent.

 

Speaking of which what cut does alkeiper get out of A-Rod's MVP bonus?

 

Bleh, he still shouldn't have won.

[Bored 0]

Interesting notes from the voting. Alex Rodriguez had the most 3rd and 4th place votes and had one 9th place vote. Carlos Delgado had the most 2nd place votes. Shannon Stewart and Manny Ramirez both received votes in every place. Somebody actually gave Jason Giambi a first place vote. Derek Jeter was on two ballots and one of them voted him 2nd, the other 10th.

 

AL Voting Points (1st place votes)

 

1. Alex Rodriguez (6) 242

2. Carlos Delgado (5) 210

3. Jorge Posada (5) 194

4. Shannon Stewart (3) 140

5. David Ortiz (4) 130

6. Manny Ramirez (1) 103

7. Nomar Garciaparra (1) 99

8. Vernon Wells (1) 84

9. Carlos Beltran 77

10. Bret Boone 65

11. Miguel Tejada (1) 49

12. Bill Mueller 45

13. Jason Giambi (1) 36

14. Garret Anderson 35

15t. Keith Foulke 20

15t. Frank Thomas 20

17. Eric Chavez 18

18t. Carlos Lee 16

18t. Magglio Ordonez 16

20. Alfonso Soriano 15

21. Derek Jeter 10

22. Pedro Martinez 7

23. Ichiro Suzuki 6

24t. Esteban Loaiza 4

24t. Jason Varitek 4

24t. Aubrey Huff 4

27. Mariano Rivera 3

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

First place votes for Ortiz go to show you the scary influence Peter Gammons has on the baseball establishment.

[Fökai 0]

Alex Rodriguez had the most 3rd and 4th place votes and had one 9th place vote.

Dear god.

[treble 0]

It's funny, Halladay was probably more valuable to the Jays than either Delgado or Wells were, yet he doesn't get any votes at all for the MVP.

 

Oh well, I heard that A-Rod was the only player to be named on every ballott, meaning someone left Delgado off, which is just bullshit. Delgado deserved to win it more than A-Rod, as they had very similar numbers in most important categories and Delgado smoked him (and everyone else) in RBI.

 

Probably better that he didn't win, though, as a team with the best pitcher and most valuable player should probably win more than 86 games.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I'm an A-Rod fan but I don't think he should have won it. But I'll go on living somehow...

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Maybe I just don't understand what the letter V in MVP stands for.

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

so.. would the Rangers have lost 120 games without the magnificent ARod?

[LooseCannon25 0]

Sorry....that's bullshit......this guy should not have won the MVP. He is the best player in the game but thats not what this award is about. Texas could have easily finished in last place the same without him. Terrible decision. What's so valueable about him in Texas. Is it the fact that they're strapped cause of his salary and can't finish out of the basement with him on the team. They could have spent the money much wiser and gotten some pitching. Yeah, really freakin valueable he is.

 

Also, for JAson Giambi to get a first place vote is a travesty. The guy wasn't even in the top 4 of MVP in his own team. Matsui, Jeter, Posada, and Soriano were all better than him. These voters are so biased and ridiculous.

[Fökai 0]

Sorry....that's bullshit......this guy should not have won the MVP.   He is the best player in the game but thats not what this award is about.  Texas could have easily finished in last place the same without him.  Terrible decision.  What's so valueable about him in Texas.   Is it the fact that they're strapped cause of his salary and can't finish out of the basement with him on the team.   They could have spent the money much wiser and gotten some pitching.   Yeah, really freakin valueable he is. 

 

Also, for JAson Giambi to get a first place vote is a travesty.  The guy wasn't even in the top 4 of MVP in his own team.  Matsui, Jeter, Posada, and Soriano were all better than him.  These voters are so biased and ridiculous.

At least give us an example of a player you thought SHOULD'VE won.

 

They could have spent the money much wiser and gotten some pitching.

 

There's a mediocre pitcher in Park that's being paid $65 MILLION over five years, and I'm sure that with Hicks' ineptitude, they probably would've signed other bums to cover Rodriguez's salary. The fact is, the Rangers have the fifth highest payroll in both leagues. Even with a few pitchers to cover Rodriguez's contract, how good could they really be?

 

Anyways, they unloaded Gonzalez and Palmeiro's contracts, so they should be able to sign someone decent in this offseason (Millwood, Foulke, etc.).

Edited November 18, 2003 by bravesfan

[HarleyQuinn 0]

I personally would've gone with Halladay, Delgado or Ortiz(Come on, the guy helped the Sox out a hell of a lot both during the season and the post-season. Also was very solid across the board)

[Mik 0]

As for NL MVP, they have a little article up on the Marlins homepage about Mike Lowell being in the MVP race and to see Tuesday if he can bring home the hardwear.

 

Seriously, how hard must it have been to write that article and actually take it seriously? Mike Lowell, NL MVP?! Over Bonds, Pujols, and even Sheffield, Pudge and Gagne?

 

I wonder who writes these articles sometimes, or even worse, the editors that ask for it to be written.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Sorry....that's bullshit......this guy should not have won the MVP. He is the best player in the game but thats not what this award is about. Texas could have easily finished in last place the same without him. Terrible decision. What's so valueable about him in Texas. Is it the fact that they're strapped cause of his salary and can't finish out of the basement with him on the team. They could have spent the money much wiser and gotten some pitching. Yeah, really freakin valueable he is.

 

Fact: The Rangers have spent more on their other 24 players than the last two world champions spent on their entire team.

 

Maybe I just don't understand what the letter V in MVP stands for.

 

It stands for "valuable." How does one become valuable? By producing runs through his offense, and preventing runs through his defense. No other player in the American League did more to produce those things than Rodriguez.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

the award if for the player who is deemed most valuable to his team.

 

When your team is out of the race by MAY you have NO valuable players.

 

You can have great players, and ARod is the best of the best. But he's no more valuable than any other player on the losing team.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

the award if for the player who is deemed most valuable to his team.

 

When your team is out of the race by MAY you have NO valuable players.

 

You can have great players, and ARod is the best of the best. But he's no more valuable than any other player on the losing team.

 

You CAN be valuable on a losing team. No team is guaranteed a single win. All wins have to be earned. A-Rod did a hell of alot to earn the Rangers the wins that they did.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

No you can't be valuable on a losing team. That's backwards thinking.

 

The team could have had a losing record without him.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Of the 26 players besides A-Rod who got a vote, only two -- Anaheim's Garret Anderson and (hold your chuckles, please) Tampa Bay's Aubrey Huff -- played for teams with losing records. They finished 14th and 26th, respectively

 

-from an ESPN article

[Bored 0]

There's a reason why only five players on losing teams have won and it because losers don't deserve the MVP and A-Rod was on the 2nd worst team ever to have an MVP. No one put a gun to A-Rod's head when he signed with that shitty organization.

 

Fact is there was no strong candidates this year so A-Rod almost won by default. If anyone had come on strong late in the season, like Teajda did last year, A-Rod wouldn't have won. I will say that he was robbed for real in '96 so guess we'll call it even and he can the award this year.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

No you can't be valuable on a losing team. That's backwards thinking.

 

The team could have had a losing record without him.

 

So does that thinking work in reverse? What about a team who would've had a winning record without a certain player?

 

More to the point, how can a player be more valuable despite playing with the same level of ability? His team has a winning record? All that means is that his teammates were better. That's a silly reason to give an award.

 

Of the 26 players besides A-Rod who got a vote, only two -- Anaheim's Garret Anderson and (hold your chuckles, please) Tampa Bay's Aubrey Huff -- played for teams with losing records. They finished 14th and 26th, respectively

 

They also gave Shannon Stewart, David Ortiz, and Jason Giambi first place votes. Of course, no one else with a losing record really deserved consideration either.

[the max 0]

valuable

 

1. Having value or worth; possessing qualities which are useful and esteemed; precious; costly

 

2. Worthy; estimable; deserving esteem

 

Dictionary.com....

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

but the award ISN'T FOR BEST PLAYER. And I can't understand how ANY player regardless of how good their personal stats may be...can be MORE valuable to a team that LOSES than a player with decent stats is to a team that WINS.

 

from the same article:

 

"OK, here's a little game for you. These are the stats of two top-five finishers in the MVP race after July 1. Which is which?

 

 

Player A: 27 HR, 67 RBIs, 12 doubles, 4 triples, .642 slugging pct. Player B: 27 HR, 65 RBIs, 17 doubles, 2 triples, .661 slugging pct.

 

 

Before we reveal the names, which would you vote for if we told you Player A's team was already 21 games out of first place -- and 15 ½ out of the wild card -- when that stretch began, while Player B's team was only 3 ½ out of first and hanging onto the wild-card lead by 1 ½?

 

 

Well, Player A was Alex Rodriguez. Player B was Boston's David Ortiz. We're not suggesting that Ortiz is a better player than A-Rod, or that he's a clear-cut MVP, or that you ought to write in his name in your local presidential primary.

 

 

We're just suggesting there were players other than A-Rod who made a significant impact down the stretch on not just their own numbers, but on the pennant races. And that's what MVP's do."

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Yeah, we can't justify leaving out A-Rod legitimately, so lets use selective stats. Take David Ortiz at his absolute best, and just maybe he compares favorably.

 

Jayson Stark should be ashamed of himself for this column. Why haven't last place teams produced MVPs? Because they haven't produced the MVPs. A-Rod is the exception to the rule.

[Bored 0]

Like I said if there were any standout candidate A-Rod wouldn't have won so it that sense is the exception to the rule. Stick A-Rod in the NL and there is no way he wins it over Pujols or Melon Head because they played on winning teams.

 

I will say this though no DH should EVER win the award so I wouldn't agree with Ortiz winning.

[Fökai 0]

I don't care if Ortiz smashed 65 homeruns and drove in 190 RBI with a .350 average...

 

If he's not playing defense, he's NOT the most valuable player.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

A poor excuse. After A-Rod Carlos Delgado was easily the next best player in the league.

[treble 0]

Delgado's actually a decent fielder. Not a Gold Glover, or anything, but better than most give him credit for.

[treble 0]

Fuck, I'm still pissed that someone left Delgado off their ballot. Not that it would have won him the award, or anything, but I can't believe he thought there were 10 other players who were more valuable than someone who drove in 140+ runs and hit 40+ home runs.

 

I also still can't believe that the best pitcher in the league didn't get any votes, yet the 4 other pitchers who obviously didn't have as good seasons in the mind of the voters got votes.

 

So stupid.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Bored is right this was more by default than anything. It still sets a bad precedent for future years though. Besides, did Rodriguez even have the best season? A case could be made for Delgado, or even Vernon Wells who played a Gold Glove like CF for Toronto.