Monday, November 17, 2008

From Rob Neyer...

Congratulations to Albert Pujols. The League's best player for a 4th place team. 2-time MVP.

This is from Rob Neyer's blog today...

Pujols' statistics are so impressive that he was always going to be the most popular choice from a non-playoff team. But must he be the only popular choice? Lance Berkman's totals weren't as impressive as Pujols', but Berkman's clutch performance was even more impressive. When games were late and close -- in the seventh inning or later, with his team tied, ahead by one, or with the tying run at least on deck -- Berkman batted .354/.447/.823, with 10 homers in only 79 at-bats. Those numbers are what push Berkman slightly ahead of Pujols in Win Probability Added, which is about as good a measure of value as you'll find. At least purely in terms of hitting.

Here's how the voting shook out:

1. Pujols, 369 votes (18 first place votes)
2. Ryan Howard, 308 (12)
3. Ryan Braun, 139
4. Manny Ramirez!, 138
5. Lance Berkman, 126
6. CC Sabathia, 121
7. David Wright, 115
8. Brad Lidge, 104
9. Carlos Delgado, 96
10. Aramis Ramirez, 66
11. Hanley Ramirez, 55
12. Chipper Jones, 44
13. Geovany Soto, 41
14. Johan Santana, 30
15. Chase Utley, 30
16. Ryan Ludwick, 17
17. Brandon Webb, 14
18. Adrian Gonzalez, 13
19. Matt Holliday, 13
20. Prince Fielder, 11
21. Derrek Lee, 10
22. Carlos Beltran 10
23. Tim Lincecum, 9
24. Jose Reyes, 3
25. Jose Valverde, 3
26. Stephen Drew, 2
27. Nate McClouth, 1