NL MVP - Joey Votto

The right choice

 

Great year for Mimico athletes!

 

I guess the season wasn't a total loss for the Reds. Then again, since they re-upped Dusty's contract, the only improvement they can hope for next season is to win a playoff game.

 

MVP? Colin Cowherd has never even heard of this guy!

 

Great line by Down Goes Brown: "Canadian slugger Joey Votto gets 31 of 32 first place votes for NL MVP. The lone holdout? You guessed it: The HHOF committee"

 

Definitely right decision, Votto was the best and most valuable player in the National League. He was one of the biggest reasons why the Reds made it to the playoffs this season. He was also a contender for the Triple Crown most of the year.

 

Well played. I love that Cowherd doesn't even have the sense to be embarrassed about that.

Definitely the right call. His team made the playoffs. The other two top contenders couldn't say that.

 

No possible complaints about this choice.

 

I'm sure somebody will try.

 

And yet Votto ranks second in VORP to Pujols, by a good margin (81.8-78.2); and he is third in WAR by a huge margin (7.2-6.2).

I have no particular argument with the choice for MVP. I do wonder, though, when the vitriolic scorn for those computers is going to match that directed toward Murray Chass, the Japanese guy with the quirky Rookie of the Year ballot, and anyone else who veers from conventional wisdom.

 

So why did Pujols, who had more homers and RBI than Votto (both leading the NL) and only batted 12 points less get only one first-place vote? My question is how someone can lead a league in two triple-crown categories, bat .312, and not be the MVP, while a guy who leads the league in none of those categories is.