| Paul Merchan. 17th September, 2006 - 5:03 pm
 Usually, the Yankees and their players are seen as the Goliaths in a league full of Davids, where losing is an anomaly for them. This year, the Yankees have overcome the early season doubts about whether they’re washed up or not. Now, there’s another subplot that pits the poster boy Yankee as the little guy in the MVP race.
Derek Jeter has never won an MVP award, although he has earned World Series MVP and All-Star Game MVP honors in the same year in 2000. Consideration for him as regular season MVP in the American League has never been strong, since usually power hitters take the award. But this year, there’s something different about his game. This year, it seems like the Yankees have relied heavily on his ever-growing leadership.
Hitting .345, Jeter is lighting up pitching this season with his calling card of opposite field drives combined with timely hitting in key situations. He is second to Joe Mauer in the hitting race, though not by much, and his covered a huge amount of ground since the beginning of summer, when he trailed Mauer by 30 average points. He’ also got 13 homeruns to go with 92 RBI hitting out of the No. 2 spot and 30 stolen bases. His credentials are very impressive.
However, MVP candidacy has historically been based on power numbers. David Ortiz, shunned in last year’s MVP voting to Alex Rodriguez, has 48 homeruns with 127 RBI, typical strong numbers for him, which might be slightly skewed given his bout with abnormal heart palpitations recently that made him lose a couple of weeks of playing time. Despite his lost time, those numbers are still very much MVP worthy. Jermaine Dye of the White Sox also has a strong 2006 resume, hitting .323 with 41 homers and 114 RBI. Yet another candidate is Justin Morneau of the Twins, hitting .325 with 33 homeruns and 120 RBI.
So why give it to a guy who might not even break 20 homeruns this season? Some reports have the votes going to Jeter based on the fact that he’s never won the MVP and that he should be awarded recognition for his career. This would be the worst reason for a baseball writer to vote for Jeter. Career credentials are measured at the end of the career and awarded with the ultimate individual baseball distinction: enshrinement into the Hall of Fame, something that Jeter has probably already solidified with his stellar play and leadership on four World Champion teams.
Each year, a player should be chosen as MVP based on his performance and relative value to the team. Jeter’s value to this year’s Yankees team is without measure, especially when you look at how many players have gone down with long-term injuries. As of September 15, he’s in the midst of a 23-game hitting streak, the longest of his career and the longest by a Yankee since Don Mattingly had a 26-game streak 20 years ago. His leadership is unquestionable, even among players with more talent than he. These arguments are grounds for Jeter to win the MVP in a close race.
Looking at it from the other perspective though, it’s easy to see why someone wouldn’t vote for him. Ichiro Suzuki won the MVP in 2000 while lacking power numbers, but his selection was a rarity. The baseball nation is obsessed with the long ball, and that’s why usually the huge HR and RBI producers will win the award. If you’re not a Yankee fan, you’re probably not even considering Jeter, since his homerun total is so low.
You’ll probably consider David Ortiz, who’s become notorious for late-inning heroics. Although he probably deserved the MVP last season, three things have hurt his chances this season: 1) Boston’s disappearance from the playoff picture, 2) his injury which cost him a lot of time off when the Red Sox were in the midst of a collapse and 3) his rip of Derek Jeter last week when he said that Jeter shouldn’t win the MVP because of those same power numbers mentioned earlier. It’s pretty obvious that these personal achievements are important for Ortiz, which they probably are for everybody, but hearing his desires get the best of him in an interview just doesn’t demonstrate all that much professionalism, and that’s something that baseball writers should take into consideration.
That brings us to the other big boppers, Dye and Morneau, each of whose chances at the award hinge on their team’s destiny come October, since they both have similar power numbers. Currently, the White Sox are two games behind the Twins, so it’ll be a great race there regardless. Either one of them will probably win the MVP and deserve it, and that makes them the “Goliaths” in this particular race now.
Jeter doesn’t have that kind of clout, so he’s actually looking at outside chances here. It’s an uncommon case of the little guy in Yankeeland. Who would’ve thought that it would happen at this time of year? |
