MVP

For my inaugural post, I thought I would forgo my planned political rant in favor of an even more divisive subject - the American League MVP race. No matter what sports show you watch or newspaper/website you read, the two players that have broken away from the rest of the pack are David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez.

Ortiz fans point out his big homers in big spots, while ARod fans say that since their stats are very similar, you must look at the fact that ARod plays the field and steals bases while Ortiz is a DH and clogs the basepaths. To me, that reasoning is bunk. The Yankees didn't get ARod for his glove or his speed, they got him for his bat. Besides, when did the MVP even take defense and speed into account?

Frank Thomas won two years in a row (1993 and 1994) and he was just as much of a slug on the bases and detriment on the field as Ortiz. And, like ARod and Ortiz, there was someone else who had similar stats who he beat out both years - Ken Griffey Jr. If you can convincingly explain to me how Frank Thomas is faster and a better fielder than Griffey, I will concede that Alex Rodriguez deserves the MVP. That isn't even the point I set out to make when I began writing this.

I have spoken to a few Yankee fans, and listened to a lot of them on Mike and the Mad Dog, and a lot of other shows, and have to stifle my cries of astonishment when I hear them say in the same breath that ARod should be MVP and that Mariano Rivera is the rock of their bullpen and they would not be in first place without him. How can a player be the most valuable of his team, yet his teammate is the most valuable of the league? Is it a coincidence that the Yankees current dynasty coincides with the emergence of Rivera as this era's greatest closer? If the Yankees had never gotten ARod, and instead had kept Alfonso Soriano at second base and brought in a decent third baseman, they would probably still be in the position they are now because of Rivera.

Let me put it this way, if the Red Sox had Mariano Rivera, and the Yankees had to rely on a closer-by-committee, this weekend's series would have meant nothing because the Sox would've still been in first place and the Yankees would be going home instead of to Anaheim.