Kritik und Lob » pre-punched his ticket to Cooperstown

We had 27 experts pick who they think will win the MVP in the AL and the NL. The voting breakdown is listed below as well as the votes of our experts.Who will win the AL MVP award?1.?Mike Trout Los Angeles Angels VOTES: 13MLBs WAR leader (10.6) and the lone player in double digits, Trout also led in runs scored, walks and OBP and finished second in the AL in OPS and stolen bases, fourth in slugging and sixth in batting average. That all speaks to the broad blend of value Trout delivered on the diamond, but he also finished eighth in Defensive Runs Saved among AL center fielders.2.?Mookie Betts Boston Red Sox VOTES: 12Much of Betts case doesnt rest on his position on the leaderboard -- not that theres anything wrong with his MLB-best 359 total bases, spiced with 31 home runs, 26 steals in 30 tries, an .897 OPS and 32 Defensive Runs Saved, which was best among right fielders. Its all of that, plus his highlight-reel defense and the context of Betts performance coming while he spent most of the year leading off for a Red Sox team that won an always-tough AL East.3. Jose Altuve Houston Astros VOTES: 2Consistency might be the key to Altuves case. He won his second AL batting title while leading MLB in hits for a second time. He also notched his fifth straight season with 30 steals. But not everything stayed the same -- this was the season that he ratcheted up his power-speed combo by ripping a career-high 24 home runs. However, a .699 OPS in the last month of the season as the Astros tumbled out of the postseason picture didnt help him when ballots were being cast.Who will win the NL MVP award?1.?Kris Bryant Chicago Cubs VOTES: 26Because Bryant only led the league in runs scored among the classic back of the baseball card stats, his case might look like an example of the best player on the best team getting the most votes. But its more than that: Bryant also finished third in the NL in home runs and total bases, fourth in OPS and slugging and was a full win ahead of the competition with an NL-best 7.2 WAR.2.?Daniel Murphy Washington Nationals VOTES: 1Murphy almost won the batting title, losing by a point while hitting .347, and he doubled down on his newfound power by leading the league in slugging (.595), which added up to an NL-best .985 OPS. His 104 RBIs, good for fourth in the NL, and a league-leading 47 doubles all helped put him in the conversation for MVP.(Editors note -- Corey Seager was initially listed with one vote, which was changed to Bryant)Cheap Brewers Jerseys . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. Custom Milwaukee Brewers Jerseys .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/ . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Wholesale Brewers Jerseys .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. Milwaukee Brewers Shirts . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil.?As we move higher up in #MLBRank -- and arrive at Red Sox slugger?David Ortiz in particular -- one question piques my interest: What would the ranking of the top 100 players of all time look like if we didnt have the designated hitter?Right off the bat, you wonder whether Ortiz gets to have the kind of career that puts him into this conversation. Does his having to play the field -- badly -- handicap his chances at having a career, let alone getting that five-year deal (four plus an option, actually) through 2007-11 that gave him job security while he saw his production dip to .238/.332/.462 in 2009? Maybe, and maybe not. Because what little weve seen from Big Papi afield hasnt been pretty.To put Ortiz at his worst in perspective, among all-time first base/DH types with at least 3,000 plate appearances, Papi has been worth less afield (minus-21.2 dWAR) in terms of career defense-only WAR than all but three men: Willie McCovey, Don Baylor and Frank Thomas. Keep in mind: Defense-only WAR is a counting stat -- contributed in just 277 of more than 2,300 games. Thats historically awful when you put him against the totals of the other all-time baddies in this group.Baylor played almost 1,000 games in the field, many of them with the injured elbow that ultimately forced him to DH, while McCovey spread his defensive impact across 2,300 games in 22 seasons. Well get to the Big Hurt in a moment, but he played almost four times as many games at first base as Ortiz.In short, if not for the existence of the DH, youd have to ask the original Dr. Strangeglove, first-base horror Dick Stuart, to hand over his title. From what little weve had to see, Ortiz could have been the all-time worst regular at first base in the history of the game.If the DH was originally invented more than 40 years ago to give aging or injured stars the opportunity to continue to contribute (and draw fans), Ortiz is something truly different: A man whose ability to contribute was guaranteed by the DH rule, and perhaps only by the DH rule. And when his at-bat-only contributions dipped down around one or two WAR per year in that 2008-10 stretch, if hes also wreaking damage in the infield to erase even that value, would we still get to enjoy his raking at the plate these past few seasons?Its unknowable, but lets be grateful we never saw that brand of DH-less baseball. Of course, Papi isnt the only player in this ranking we should thank the DH rule for. Todays tranche of #MLBRank players includes Thomas, Eddie Murray and Dave Winfield, and how different would their careers be without the outlet of the DH as an opporrtunity to keep kicking in offense?Frank ThomasIf you remember the part of Thomas game that most folks in Chicago would rather forget, you accepted the bad hands and lived in fear that hed be asked to make any throw longer than the flip to first base because of what he could do at the plate.dddddddddddd Fortunately for fans of Frank, he spent 1,310 games at DH against just 971 at first base. He was done as a regular first baseman after 1997, but he played 11 more years in the majors, putting up a .904 OPS with 264 home runs, playing just 131 games at first over that time, and none after 2004.Even if you think he could still play first base without exacerbating the injuries that hampered him in the second half of his career, hes probably long gone before we get to talk about tacking on those last four seasons and 85 homers he hit for the White Sox, Athletics and Blue Jays. Without the DH rule, hes not just out of this ranking, he may not even make it to Cooperstown.Eddie MurrayIn Murrays case, being able to DH gave him the opportunity to get to 500 home runs, because after being the Mets regular first baseman in 1992-93, he played just one game in the field in those final four seasons. They werent great years -- Murray hit a combined .272/.328/.436, with an OPS+ of just 95 -- well below what you want from a DH.But they got him to 504 career blasts and probably pre-punched his ticket to Cooperstown for those who might have forgotten the first decade of his career, when he was among the best players in baseball. Ironically, that career started when he won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1977 while mostly playing DH, because the job at first belonged to veteran Lee May.Dave WinfieldFinally, while Winfield didnt spend a huge chunk of his career at DH -- he returned to the outfield for two seasons in his comeback from career-threatening back injury that shelved him for all of 1989 -- the opportunity to DH is what put him on the Toronto Blue Jays team that won the first of back-to-back World Series titles in 1992. Since that was Winfields one ring, I suspect hes pretty happy that DH-ing was an option during the tail end of his career.Taking all of that into consideration, Id say its a great (perhaps only) reason to thank former Oakland As owner Charlie Finley for suggesting that the AL adopt the DH back in 1973. Without it, we would not have gotten to enjoy Papi or the Big Hurt for what they could do, without having to endure what they could not. ' ' '