Think Albert Pujols Has Changed His Mind Concerning MVP Criteria?

hey g...even though Howard had a bad April he still hit the most HRs and the most RBI's. He carried the team offensively, right into the championship. He is the MVP. Albert Who?

Yes, he hit the most HRs. He was still 6th on own his team in OBP and trailed 5 NLers in SLG, including two other 1Bs. RBI is a useless stat, for the reasons I've explained.

As for carrying the team offensively, let's look at September and the postseason, shall we? The Phillies were 17-8 in September. In only 5 of those games, if you subtracted Howard's RBI, the Phillies would have tied or lost. If you count only those games where subtracting Howard's RBI equals a loss, that's 1 game. One game where Ryan Howard's RBIs were what carried the Phillies out of 17 wins. By the way, counting RBIs like this includes those HRs. As for the postseason, let's see. Howard hit .269/.397/.500 in the whole postseason, with 3 HR and 9 RBI. Decent numbers. But subtract his RBIs, and do you know how many games the Phillies tie or lose? One. If it's subtract his RBIs and lose, the number is zero. That's right. By the numbers you've chosen - HR/RBI - the Phillies probably would have won the division and the World Series without Howard's RBIs.

Which brings me to the larger point that it's virtually impossible for one player to "carry" a team like you've described and in any case, Howard did not do so for the last month of the season or any of the postseason. He's not the MVP. Pujols is. The only reason Pujols was sitting at home in October? Romero, Madson and Lidge v. Springer, Franklin and McClellan.

For you to ask "Albert Who?" is like asking "Mike Schmidt Who?" only much, much worse.

Yes,. Pujols is an amazing hitter. He hits for average and for a power hitter strikes out so few times it rediculous -- he's a throw back to DiMaggio. However, Howard has the power numbers, including 199 whiffs that killed his average. He carried his team into the playoffs when it counted in Sept. His numbers would have been much higher and his strike outs fewer if he wasn't hurt in the spring. He should be the MVP. Sorry Albert. Just think of the numbers he would toss up if he is healthy, and cuts down on his strike outs by about 50. It wouldn't hurt if he had a consistent hitter batting behind him, either. BTW, he has hit more homers in his 3 years in the bigs than any other player in the history of the game.

Howard's hit 50 HRs once, in 2006. He's never gotten to 150 RBIs. And while the HRs are wholly within his control, the RBIs are not. Howard got that many because his team is better at getting on base.

That same year Howard hit .313, Pujols hit .331. In 2006, with RISP, Howard went .256/.418/.518 in 146 at bats. Pujols went .397/.535/.802 in 126 at bats. Howard got 306 ABs with no one on, 275 with runners on. Pujols got 299/236. That's why Howard had 12 more RBIs, or one more every 13.5 games.

I disagreed with Pujols then on that point, and I do now. It's not Pujols's fault the Cards had a bad bullpen and kept blowing saves this year. If the Cards' bullpen had been league average, the Cards (and not the Brewers) make the playoffs in 2008. Then Pujols gets the MVP?

It's also not to Howard's credit that the lineup surrounding him is better at getting on base than Pujols's. The only thing Howard seems to do better than Pujols is hit HRs. But Pujols is better in everything else (including SLG, both in 2006 and 2008, while hitting fewer HRs) even without getting to defense.

Howard's hit 50 HRs once, in 2006. He's never gotten to 150 RBIs.

Ok. 2006, 58 & 149. 2007, 47 & 136. 2008, 48 & 146. If you want to nitpick go ahead, but that's an average of 51 HR and 144 RBI over his first three seasons. On that basis alone, he's going to be an MVP candidate every year.

Again, I'd vote for Pujols this year, too, but to act like Howard is some schlub is ridiculous. He's putting up numbers to start his career that no one ever has.

And to your point about the World Series game, obviously Howard was not hitting well at that point. But when your choice is to pitch to Utley or Howard, not to mention put a double play in order with a slow runner, it's not that ridiculous. You don't discount Pujols' worthiness because his team isn't as good, but you can't discount Howard because he happens to have one of the best hitters in baseball in front of him. Exactly what kind of impact was Pujols having from his couch? That's basically the point Pujols was making two years ago.

Howard's hit 50 HRs once, in 2006. He's never gotten to 150 RBIs.

Ok. 2006, 58 & 149. 2007, 47 & 136. 2008, 48 & 146. If you want to nitpick go ahead, but that's an average of 51 HR and 144 RBI over his first three seasons. On that basis alone, he's going to be an MVP candidate every year.

Again, I'd vote for Pujols this year, too, but to act like Howard is some schlub is ridiculous. He's putting up numbers to start his career that no one ever has.

And to your point about the World Series game, obviously Howard was not hitting well at that point. But when your choice is to pitch to Utley or Howard, not to mention put a double play in order with a slow runner, it's not that ridiculous. You don't discount Pujols' worthiness because his team isn't as good, but you can't discount Howard because he happens to have one of the best hitters in baseball in front of him. Exactly what kind of impact was Pujols having from his couch? That's basically the point Pujols was making two years ago.

Because the award is not given on the basis of where a player's team finishes in the standings. It's not on the list of criteria the BBWWA uses.

And asking that question just strengthens the case against Howard. If the best thing that can be said about Howard is that he played on a better team, then he is not the most valuable player. Howard did not "carry" the Phillies through September, and certainly did not "carry" them through the postseason. He was the third-best 1B, overall, in the NL, a fearsome hitter, but not the MVP. That's Albert Pujols.