Breaking down the MVP Race

Could he be the 2011 AL MVP?

If you watched last nights game then you heard Michael Kay spending a lot of time talking about Curtis Granderson and the MVP race. I don't think that he's correct in saying that if he gets his BA to .290 then he will definitely win in, but Granderson is definitely a top MVP candidate. The Five candidates for MVP are Jose Bautisa, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez and Curtis Granderson. Honestly every stat screams that Bautisa should win the MVP but for some reason the fact that he is on a non contending team, even though they are above .500 prevents people from voting for him, that is why A-Rod didn't win the 2002 MVP award and it could be why Joey Bats doesn't get an MVP trophy for his mantle.
Joey Bats has a 7.6 WAR and while he likely won't have another 50 HR season he is more than likely to get 40 HR this season and if starts hitting like he did in the first half he may still win the batting title. His numbers would actually be even better if their was anyone else in the Toronto lineup that scared opposing pitchers, which speaks to his 120 walks in 113 games. If Toronto had a better lineup then he would probably have a shot at the triple crown but its doubtful he will even get 100 RBI this year. Its really unfair that Bautisa is not running away with the MVP award  because he deserves it. Its very frustrating for Blue Jays Fans as some over a Blue Bird Banter wrote about. Its funny too because The Blue Jays have the capacity to turn into a true sustainable power house team, because don't forget Toronto is a big city with an ownership group with deep pockets. Mike Axis from River Ave Blues wrote more about the Blue Jays here.
I'm just going to lump Pedroia, Ellsbury and Gonzalez together because they are all the reason why they might not win the MVP. Pedria ranks #2 in WAR this year and according to ESPN talking heads he is the greatest player ever because he plays with his heart on his sleeve and has cured cancer with his smile. Honestly seeing how much the ESPN and FOX people fawn over him is disgusting, if you remember from the Yankees Red Sox series they would not shut up about how great Pedroia even after he got caught stealing. Pedroia is having a great year and despite Cano deserving it more he will probably win the 2nd Base Silver slugger. Pedroia's case is hurt by the fact that Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting the ball well, playing good defense and showing some uncharacteristic pop. Adrian Gonzalez is the guy that everybody thought would win the MVP and while he looks like he is going to win the batting title he has only hit two Home Runs since June 25th and both of those were in July, I mean this guy hit 40 HR in 2009 at Petco park, where is the power?  These three guys could draw MVP votes away from each other and make it that none of them win.
Curtis Granderson is the Yankees MVP Candidate and he is having a career year and is proving all those people who felt that the Yankees should have kept Austin Jackson dead wrong. He leads baseball in Runs Scored and tied with Ryan Howard for RBI's. He also has a good shot of going 40-40 and his average is creeping up and .300 is within reach. What is really weird is that he was intentionally walked 3 times last year and hasn't been intentionally walked once this year. Honestly the only thing that is not fantastic about his year is that he has grounded into 11 Double plays which while not a large amount is as many as he had the previous 3 years. He is really heating up to because after hitting .250 in July and June he has hit .369 in august and .359 over the last 28 days.

Right now Bautisa deserves the MVP but Pedroia would probably win his second undeserved MVP award if the voting happened today. however it should be noted that Pedroia, Gonzalez and Ellsbury have all been hitting .250 or lower the last week or two and while that's a small sample size Granderson and Bautisa have been hitting the cover off the ball the last two weeks with Granderson hitting 6 HR and batting .375 over his last 11 games. The MVP voting might see a very close winner with these five splitting the most MVP votes and possibly Zobrist and Miguel Cabrera stealing some top votes. We also still have a lot of baseball left to play.