Sunday, August 5, 2012

The NL MVP No One is Talking About

By Kalen Patrick

Outside of San Francisco, Buster Posey has got to be one of the most underrated players not only in the National League but in the Majors. It seems like ESPN thinks it's a three-horse race between the Brewers Ryan Braun, Pirates Andrew McCutchen and the Reds Joey Votto. What the point of my post is to make a definite case for Mr. Posey to belong in that discussion. Remember what MVP stands for: Most Valuable Player. This is not necessarily an award for best player but for the most VALUABLE.

I think immediately where Posey has an advantage of the other candidates is the fact that he plays Catcher. It is incredibly difficult to find a Catcher who can put up the overall great numbers of Buster Posey. In the entire league you only have about 5 catchers who could be considered very good hitters, but when it comes to Outfielders and 1B, those positions are absolutely and always stocked with hitting talent. So now I will delve into the individual arguments between MVP candidates.

Posey vs Votto

  1. Posey plays a much more valuable position
  2. Posey has more RBI
  3. Posey has more HR
  4. Posey WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is 4.3 to Votto's 3.8
  5. Reds are still winning consistently without Votto, the Giants would be dead without Posey

Posey vs Braun

  1. Posey plays a more valuable position
  2. Posey WAR is 1.3 above Brauns
  3. Braun plays on a team 10 games below .500, without Braun they are maybe 13-14 games below .500? The Brewers are not in contention with or without Braun. The Giants are leading the division with Posey and would not be in contention without Posey, therefore, in my eyes, Posey is a more valuable player.
  4. Posey has a higher Batting Average

SF GIANTS CATCHER BUSTER POSEY

When it comes to Posey vs McCutchen, the argument is a lot harder to make, to me Andrew McCutchen is the NL MVP so far in the 2012 season. There are still about 55 games left for most teams, so there is still a lot of time for things to change and the point of my argument is that nationwide Buster Posey's name should be coming up a lot more in the NL MVP discussions. There are arguments to be made for Votto over Posey, or Braun over Posey, but hey, call me biased but I think Posey is number 2 right after McCutchen.

Over and Out.


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