MVP Candidates

I suppose if Ryan Howard hits over .400 for the remainder of the season with an additional ten home runs and 20 rbi's he might be given consideration for MVP, but I wouldn't bet the ranch on any of the above happening. It's been quite a strange year for the big guy.

For huge portions of the season to date Howard has looked awful at the plate, flailing at balls out of the strike zone, taking inordinate numbers of called third strikes, whiffing at a prodigious rate...even for him... and struggling to get his batting average above his weight. Still, he leads the major league in both home runs and rbi's, two categories that always impress the voters. How many of those home runs and rbi's were soft? Plenty. How many times did he fail to deliver in a crunch? More than we care to remember. Come September, however, he's heated up just as he's done in the past, just when his team needed him most. And that, of course, brings up the age-old debate about the MVP: most valuable to whom? The team? The league? Himself? Does a player whose team doesn't reach the post-season have much of a chance? It's happened several times (including Howard in 2006) though the majority of winners played for winning teams. Howard is a very long shot in my opinion, his odds slightly less than those of the Phillies.

Carlos Delgado is in a somewhat similar boat to Howard. Booed mercilessly by the New York faithful for most of the first half of the season during which he struggled with the bat and glove, Delgado has caught fire since the All Star break and carried his team to the division lead. His home run and rbi totals are impressive though substantially shy of Howard's while his batting average has climbed toward but not above respectability. There is no doubt about one thing: his reawakening has been the key to the Mets' surge. Still, his odds seem long.

Delgado's teammate, David Wright, is going to get serious consideration. He, too, has played a key role in the Mets run to the top, hitting for average and power while fielding his position impressively. Unlike Delgado, Wright has been steady offensively throughout most of the season and is a tremendous asset in the field. He is also a throw-back type of player who gives his all. The voters will like that, too.

Albert Pujols is always going to get serious consideration because he remains perhaps the most feared hitter in the game. His Cardinals remain in the Wild Card hunt and King Albert has once again put together impressive power numbers to go with his robust batting average. Always a serious contender (he narrowly lost out to Howard in 2006), Pujols is a perennial favorite.

Lance Berkman of the Astros is considered by many to be one of the purest hitters in all of baseball. Earlier in the year he flirted with .400 though his average has come down since then to "mere" superiority. The Astros, given up for dead, have also come on strong lately and remain in the hunt for the Wild Card. If they get to the post-season, Berkman will be a big reason and will be given serious MVP consideration.

Among the also-rans, Chipper Jones has had a tremendous year offensively for a mediocre Atlanta team. His team's poor showing and his occasional trips to the DL will prevent Jones from winning the title. Chase Utley began the season like an MVP, but he has fallen off in every category since the All-Star break and is no longer a legitimate candidate.