Was Alex Rodriguez This Year’s Most Valuable Player?

The numbers say NO!




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
November 19, 2003

Only twice in the past eight years has a player on a last place team been voted in as the Most Valuable Player in his league. The first to do it was Juan Gonzalez, who ironically received the award while playing with the 1996 Texas Rangers. The second to do it was this year’s recipient Alex Rodriguez, who also plays for the Texas Rangers. There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who the Most Valuable Player was. They decide the MVP in each league according to his value to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier.

The guidelines are as follows, as sent by MLB to the voting members:

1. Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.
2. Number of games played.
3. General character, disposition, loyalty and effort.
4. Former winners are eligible.
5. Members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.
You are also urged to give serious consideration to all your selections, from 1 to 10. A 10th-place vote can influence the outcome of an election. You must fill in all 10 places on your ballot.
Keep in mind that all players are eligible for MVP, and that includes pitchers and designated hitters.
Only regular-season performances are to be taken into consideration.

Now, technically speaking, Alex Rodriguez falls under the criteria used by the voters. However, and a some of you may disagree with me, how valuable is a guy’s stats to his team, when said team finished 25 games out of first place? What impact did Rodriguez’ numbers have on the scheme of things in the American League? The answer is little, if none at all. His team finished the season 20 games under 500. Is that Alex’s fault? You’d be an idiot if you said yes. However, when I think that the goal for the 30 teams in the major leagues is to try and make it to the playoffs, and hopefully, the world series I think Rodriguez’ numbers didn’t do much to increase the value of his team.

At least Barry Bonds’, who won the award for the 6th time, had a team finish first in its division and go to the playoffs. Are you telling me that Rodriguez was as equally valuable to his team’s success as Bonds was to his?

Let’s come a little closer to home. Compare Carlos Delgado’s numbers against those of Alex Rodriguez. First, the Toronto Blue Jays finished the season at 86-76 and in third place in the American League East. In the top three categories Rodriguez batted .298 with 47 home runs and 118 RBI. Delgado batted .302 with 42 home runs and 145 RBI. Let’s take it a step further. Rodriguez had a OBP of .396 and a SLG% of .600 for an OPS of .996. Delgado, on the other hand, had an OBP of .426 and a SLG% of .593 for an OPS of 1.019.

Now, let’s go to the defensive side of the ledger. Delgado, who plays first base, had an FP of .993, which was good enough for 7th in the AL at his position. Rodriguez, as we all know, plays shortstop and he had an FP of .989. That was the best in the AL at his position. Delgado handled the ball more than twice as many times as Rodriguez and had the higher fielding percentage. In every statistical category, except for SLG% (a difference of a mere .007), Carlos Delgado beat out Alex Rodriguez. Plus, his team finished with a better record and better standing. So, now who do you think deserved the MVP more? And, I won’t even get into the value of Jorge Posada’s contribution to his team’s success and all the other areas Jorge excels.

This is the unfortunate part of allowing the human factor in the voting for awards. It’s the subjectivity, rather than the objectivity, that causes one pen to mark a vote for one player while another pen votes for another player. Maybe, they should input all the data into a computer and let it spit out the names of those who most deserve to receive awards. I’m no computer, but there is no doubt in my mind that Alex Rodriguez wasn’t and isn’t the most valuable player in the American League. He doesn’t even qualify for Player of the Year, in my humble opinion. I’ve been hearing and reading that some of the votes went Rodriguez’ way, because of his consistent play. Another reason I’ve heard is because Alex has twice before come in second in the balloting. My response to those arguments is SO WHAT?

Go back to item number one in the criteria. “Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.” Right there Delgado wins. He wins on both counts. I’m sure that Delgado reflects well in both items #2 and #3. Nowhere does it say in the criteria about overall consistency or where a player placed in previous voting. The closest thing to that area is former winners are eligible.

Recognition is important. Equally important is recognizing the real most valuable players each year. You will never hear me say Alex Rodriguez isn’t a great player or a valuable player. However, this year he wasn’t the most valuable player in the American League. Carlos Delgado deserved it more.

PLAY BALL!


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