Reds first baseman Joey Votto won the National League MVP award today, according to the BBWAA. Albert Pujols, Carlos Gonzalez, Adrian Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, Roy Halladay, Aubrey Huff, Jayson Werth, Martin Prado, and Ryan Howard round out the top ten.
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Go Canada!
2 thumbs up!
Congrats. He deserved it.
no surprise there, congrats to Joey, way to rep Canada/Toronto!
Well deserved.
I thought Kenny Powers had it locked up myself.
Huff and Posey got a good number of votes 🙂
I saw that. Was nice to see.
31 of 32 1st place??
not buying it
Ditto, I thought he would win it, but I figured Pujols and Gonzalez would take a few more.
Well deserving, Congrats Red fans!
Not surprised that he won, but surprised at the number of 1st place votes he got.
Nice job Votto! Future of the Reds is well deserving.
Same. He deserved to win, I just didn’t think it was going to be a complete landslide.
Well it’s not like the voters collude to paint a fairer picture of Votto’s and Pujol’s relative value. If we all think he clearly deserved to win over Pujols, it shouldn’t be tooooo shocking that all the voters agreed!
True. The last few years in voting have been pretty good/great. I think I’m just still shocked by them getting more things right now.
Way to go, Joey-V!
Finally some love for one of the other greats in the NL!
I’m in complete agreement.
I can’t wait for next season, in hopes of a full healthy season by Troy Tulowitzki. I can’t imagine what his numbers would have been like this year if he hadn’t missed any time.
Congrats Joey Votto, and all Cincy fans. What a great season.
Good luck! Tulo has never had a full “healthy” season!!
Even though he was at the bottom of the list, it’s nice to see Carlos Ruiz getting some respect from around the league. He’s much more valuable than his offensive stats dictate, and is largely responsible for the success of the Phils’ pitching staff, especially Roy Halladay, who often credits Ruiz with his success.
Congrats to Joey Votto though. He definitely deserved to be MVP!
Congrats to Votto, he deserved it. Also, it’s nice to see Martin Prado in the top-10. Certainly not deserving of the award, but it’s always nice to see one of the true team players in baseball recognized.
yay Martin!!!
Prado was the “WHA?” name on the list this year. Swell guy, and I see what they were going for, just getting him some recognition. But still. WHA?
I am pretty curious as to who gave Ryan Howard their second place vote.
Which morons keep voting for Ryan Howard? He could spend the entire season on the DL and still end up with some second place votes…
Yea man, first basemen who hit 30 homers and knock in 100+ runs while cutting down on strikeouts during a down year totally suck.
“Not sucking” is not the definition of “MVP.” Not even close.
someone gave ryan howard a 2nd place vote……really…?
Especially in a season in which he put up a career low OPS.
Who knows. Maybe it was a Philly writer who was proud of the big guy for striking out less than 180 times.
PS – Just looked at Howard’s Baseball-Reference page and was reminded of that contract extension. Any Philly phans want to throw up a little? Howard is guaranteed $85M over four years from ages 34 through 37. Ouch.
Not really, because Ryan Howard was kept down in the minor leagues longer than he should’ve been (the Thome trade was kind of a slap in the face to him) and then immediately put up RoY and MVP seasons and they still let him go to arbitration for three more years after that. All the while Ryan has been a likeable, soft-spoken guy who kept whatever resentment he may have felt off of the field and worked hard to improve his defense, cut down on strikeouts, and lose weight. In the real world, people get pay raises based on past performance, not on what they’re expected to do in the future. And even though he might not live up to his contract, I’d still rather have Ryan Howard out there batting .270 with 30+ home runs every season than take a gamble on some minor leaguer. And when Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez, and Prince FIelder go around looking for $30/35 million/year because of Howards contract, Amaro’s move may even seem like a bargain.
Sorry dude, but the “nice guy” bit shouldn’t be an excuse for giving a guy a ridiculously stupid extension. And even if it was, do you really think Howard will be hitting .270 with 30 homers as a 35-year-old and beyond?
Moving on, how was the Thome trade a “slap in the face” to Howard? The Phils thought that Howard was ready, so Thome was expendable. If anything, the Thome trade was a nice “we think you’re the guy” gesture from the Phillies to Howard.
And now I just realized that you’re probably talking about when the Phillies signed Thome as a free agent prior to the 2003 season. At the point that the Phillies signed Thome, Howard was coming off an .828 OPS as a 22-year-old in A-ball. How is that a slap in the face? Howard was in A-ball. Enough said.
Oh well. In the end, I know none of this will mean anything to you, so all I can say is: Good luck with Ryan Howard. For your sake, I hope the decline isn’t as sharp and quick as it looks like it’s going to be.
ryan howard works for the Philadelphia Star, he voted for himself.
But still couldn’t give himself a first place vote.
Not to take anything away from Votto, this is his day. But to see Albert Pujols’ name being mentioned with Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams when it comes to MVP’s and the voting just makes you realize how special he has been. Being a Cardinal fan and seeing what he does everyday I probably don’t appreciate it as much as I should.
He can retire right now and he’ll be a first ballot HOFer. His comparables shouldn’t come as a surprise. Players like Albert Pujols don’t come around often.
I mean, 10 consecutive top 10 finish?! And only one of them were more than 5th place(9th in ’07). That’s utterly ridiculous. How can a .327/.429/.568/.997 line be considered sub-par? Only with a special player like Pujols!
Yeah, I’m just saying we have been spoiled and sometimes it’s hard to realize how great something is in the moment. It’s pretty amazing most of the guys that win the MVP have career years, and you compare their numbers to Albert and they are pretty much his career averages.
Every single season top 10 voting in MVP, with 9/10 being in the top 4. It is absolutely amazing.
Carlos Gonzalez also had a very fine season
yeah he almost had as many votes as Pujos… That kinda surprised me how close it was between the two of them.
I think if you looked at the supporting cast supplied to each of the top ten in the NL MVP voting, you’d see that the most deserving candidates were Adrian Gonzalez and Aubrey Huff. No one had less help than those two. Everyone else in the top ten is entrenched in a star-studded lineup with ample support/protection.
The Reds lineup was loaded. The Cardinals lineup is loaded. The Rockies lineup is loaded. Same with the Phillies.
That award shouldn’t be entirely about stats, it should be awarded to the least replaceable player in the league. If you take Gonzalez out of the Padres lineup they are lucky to win 70 games. Same with Huff. Can you say the same about the Cardinals, Phillies, Rockies, and Reds?
Like always, there’s always some idiot who gets voting privileges. Someone put Pujols as 6th on their ballot.
Congrats to Votto… but that big of a difference between him and Pujols? Really??
Old school voters love the playoffs. And Votto was the main reason the Reds won the NL Central over Pujols and the Cardinals. That’s probably why the margin was so wide.
Honestly, who really cares that Votto got that many more first place votes. I don’t think it’s anything against Pujols, I just think 31 writers thought Votto was very, very slightly better.
Voting was done before the postseason.
yeah, but the playoff picture was already known then
Great for Votto and the Reds he deserved it. Now if the Bengals could just fire Marvin Lewis and get a HC that knows what their doing. We can wish cant we M. Brown is a loser.
I’m ready to fire Marvin, trade Carson to some team who still believes he is what he used to be for a high draft pick and start over with a fresh young QB.
I was caught between Votto and Car-Go for most of the season, but Votto being on a winning team plus the 1.024 OPS really gave it away.
Also, David Wright got a vote. WOO.
Can someone give me a link that shows the players votes? Can’t find one…
click on the according to the BBWAA link
Congrats to Votto. He definitely deserved it.
No surprises here, Joey had it locked pretty much the entire year…
The AL MVP should be far more interesting as I have zero clue who’s going to win
Well, it’s most likely Hamilton or Cano. I got…
1. Cano
2. Hamilton
3. Cabrera
There’s no way Cano wins. It’s either Hamilton or Cabrera. I believe Hamilton wins, though I feel Cabrera should.
Cabrera should, but he’s gonna finish 3rd. Not much doubt there……sadly.
Agreed, Cabrera should. I’m hoping for a miracle. I hate the guy, but I think he deserves the award.
Hamilton’s got too much going for him. The numbers, the story, the fact that his team played in the World Series. All of that will make the voters forget that he missed a month.
Voting occurs before the playoffs start, so one of those goes out the window. That said, the dude led the AL in WAR by close to a full win, if anyone else gets the MVP, I’ll be surprised and pretty disgusted.
Voting SHOULD go like this
1. Hamilton
2. Cabrera
3. Cano
4. Jose Bautista’s Beard
I’m curious as to why Beltre is getting absolutely no love. He had a better UZR, OPS and WAR than Cano. I definitely wouldn’t give him the MVP over Hamilton, but I’ve got to think he’s in the discussion for top three. Really the only thing Cano consistently had over Beltre was plate discipline.
Cano was on a playoff team, Beltre wasn’t… that’s pretty much it.
Besides Hamilton, Cano was the best individual player on any team that made the playoffs in the AL..
Then you have players who will receive a lot of 2, 3 and 4th place votes because they were on non play off teams but had really strong years.. Cabrera, Bautista, Beltre
As I see it Beltre should finish 4th, 5th or 6th in voting. Rightfully so.
Meh. I’m quite against a player not being on a playoff team counting against them. Heck, if not for Beltre, the Red Sox probably would’ve been essentially out of the playoff picture sometime in August.
Well if making the playoffs becomes irrelevant for MVP voting, realistically Beltre still doesn’t have a chance. So regardless of whether the Sox made the playoffs or not, Beltre wouldn’t be an MVP, and either will Cano.
Not to mention that Cano was better than Beltre in just about every category and those that he didn’t beat him in he was w/in a -5 point of matching.
I won’t even get into my arguement against UZR which also screws with WAR. Yeah I will….
Cano led ALL 2B in the majors (AL & NL) in Total Chances (+31), Putouts (+9), Assists (+12), Double plays (+4) and along with Brandon Phillips had the fewest errors among 2B who played at least 1,000 innings but yet has a -0.6 UZR. I guess his range is horrible and he was just “lucky” to be in the right place at the right time despite being on a team with a SS w/ horrible range and a staff that ranked 16th in GB% and 9th in FB% in all of baseball. Does anyone realize how freakin’ “LUCKY” you have to be to be in the perfect place at the perfect time when your range is “allegedly” so bad? It amazes me how we put so much credence into stone cold facts but easily accept one that is largely dependent
UZR judgment criteria
Outfield Arm Runs (ARM) – the amount of runs above average an outfielder saves with their arm by preventing runners to advance.
**Doesn’t apply to 2B.
Double-Play Runs (DPR) – the amount of runs above average an infielder is in turning double-plays.
***He led the majors in DP by a 2B.
Range Runs (RngR) – is the player an Ozzie Smith or an Adam Dunn? Do they get to more balls than average or not?
**The only non-numerical criteria of the formula. If I’m correct it relys on someone’s observation who determines what a player should have gotten to in his “specific” zones in a small sample size.
Error Runs (ErrR) – does the player commit less or more errors compared with a league-average player at the position?
**Commited the fewest errors by a 2B along w/ Brandon Phillips (1,000 innings +)
So of all the above it seems that RngR, or range runs, (The number of runs above or below average a fielder is, determined by how the fielder is able to get to balls hit in his vicinity) is what is weighing down Cano from being a top 2B in UZR thus also causing him to have a relatively low defensive WAR (-0.9) compared to Utley (12.9), Ellis (12.7), Hudson (12) and Phillips (9.7).
Forgive if I’m wrong but how do we, people obssessed with numeric evaluations, so accepting of someone’s “eyeball observation” which is then input into a numeric formula that creates such outlandish findings like….
Cano being a below average 2B?
Teixeira being a -2.9 and Adam Dunn only -0.2 worse at -3.1?
David Wright (no I hate the Mets) being the worst 3B in baseball behid Panda, Blake or even Arod?
And why such a huge disparity between other sabermaticians?
Fangraphs- Cano is a -0.9, MLB RF has Cano 5th in RF w/ a 4.99 RF and Bill James has Cano ranked 4th behind Hudson, Ellis and Rodrigues in the AL and I think was 5th or 6th overall. Why the inconsistencies?
Please tell me I’m not the lonly one that doesn’t find some of the UZR ranking incredibly odd when you compare the actual individual component stats that factor in? And why do we accept the one component, Range Runs, that partialy uses non-statistical data?
If I’m wrong please educate me.
Whew….ok. Let’s get back to Joey Votto.
I’m not a fan of the Reds by any stretch but Votto deserved to win the MVP.
I’m glad Votto pulled it off over pujols and cargo. They were all pretty similar in stats but he did lead the reds to the playoff’s and that has to mean something.I will say any one of the three deserved it though.
Cheers to Joey Votto, he more than deserved it. And boos to Charlie Manuel who thought Ryan Howard was more deserving of an all-star nod than Votto (thank goodness the final fan vote made up for his stupidity).
Also, wasn’t Votto the guy that barely made the All-Star team because the voting is a joke?
BBWA have yet to royally screw up an award this year! (I thought Pujols was slightly better than Votto when you considered park factors, but this is hardly a screw up. It’s one of those rare times where there was no wrong answer between the two). They obviously can’t go six for six, therefore, I predict Chone Figgins will win the AL MVP.
I’m probably being bias but Pujols should have won it. Pujols had better stats than Votto in alot of things. Plus Pujols played more games, and had better defense. Which somehow doesn’t come into account of the voting when defense completes a player, ALSOOO Pujols doesn’t have anger issues which causes him to not play in games, That’s not being a MVP, That’s being self centered and not helping your team.Pujols for MVP 11′ 12′ 13′ 14 ’15 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20!!!
Votto and Pujols were about even this year fielding wise.
Albert probably hurt his own case in 06′ when he said he thought it should go to someone whose team made the playoffs. lol But Votto was well deserving this year. I don’t have a problem with the results.
I love posts that start off by saying X had better stats the Y in a lot of things..
then you read the post, and realize that they didn’t even list the stats…
congrats Votto, looking forward to seeing you put up the same monster numbers next year, and looking forward to another tightly fought pennant race bewtween two very good teams in the Reds and the Cardinals. Congrats to Puljos for his good year and finishing second.
I was in Etobicoke on Saturday! That’s where Votto is from….
The End
Cannonballs?
Voters were a year late on the Adrian Gonzalez bandwagon. He had a better year last year yet finished 12th and finished 4th this year. Obviously the team was better this year, but I personally feel the MVP is an individual award.
you cant just give it out to a player who has a good year on a bad team..
San Diego won 75 games last year, how can you justify having an MVP from that team??
If you take Gonzalez off the roster and insert some bum, they would probably have only won what, 65 games? The question is does 10 wins difference on a basement team matter that much.. the answer is no
It should go to the best player who had a great year on a team that at least made the playoffs.
That’s why I said “I personally feel.” The players themselves have no control on how their team performs outside of their individual performance and I don’t feel they should be penalized. The MVP award is an award that the vast majority of players won’t even get a chance to get a chance to come close to winning and I feel that they shouldn’t be penalized from their chance to win it by factors outside of their control.
I basically feel that it should be treated the same way that the Cy Young award is treated and go to the best player (Mr. Felix and his 13 Wins) , not the best player on a good team. Obviously there are different opinions on what the award itself should mean and I think yours is probably the one that most of the voters probably agree with, but I have to respectably disagree.
good for Votto. he deserved it. it must feel even better for him after the depression issues he used to have.
The right guy won, I believe. Congrats to Votto.
For myself, I see two Rockies in the top 5 here and one in the top 3 of the Cy Young voting. And only one of the three has turned 26. Not a bad core to put a couple of pieces around.
Congrats to JV. Great stats and on a playoff team. But most importantly, I’m from Brooklyn and ya gotta love a guy named “Joey Votto”..Bada bind bada boom fagetaboutit OH!
I think Carlos Gonzalez was more deserving. I really became a fan of his this year. He is the ultimate player. Hitting, running, fielding, throwing. A stellar season. Shouldn’t look down on a player because his team doesn’t make the playoffs. At least the AL Cy Young got it right with Felix.