Giancarlo Stanton, OF

[emkayseven]

I'm more referring to the progression of his career. Not necessarily just the end of their careers. Not hating on Stanton at all, I just think it won't be as easy for Stanton to turn into the .330-.340 BA 40+ HR guy that Cabrera is because of the high strikeout #'s. Maybe he can turn into an even more ridiculous HR threat, though. I'm talking 50+ HRs a year. I find that more realistic.

Fun fact: Cabrera has hit over .330 with over 40 home runs one time.
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I do get what you're saying though, but the floor is still high on Stanton. He'll never be a consistent .300 hitter but the power and defense gives him a very high floor where worst case scenario he turns into Adam Dunn plus defense.

[Bobbob1313]

Really, his most-likely scenario (not even best) is peak Ryan Howard with defense and speed, and actually considerably better contact considering how strikeouts have risen league-wide. Whatever we want to say about his contract, Howard was still a very good hitter through his age-31 season.
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And I think it's easy to say "Cabrera will age better" because he already did it. I don't actually think there's any reason to think the bottom's going to fall out for Stanton any more than any other player.

[Mainge]

MVP?
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He probably should be.

[Bobbob1313]

Kershaw.

[emkayseven]

at this point he's the obvious position player choice, but a lot of things can happen in 6 weeks

[HUGG]

I dunno guys, Jason Heyward and his .734 ops almost has him matched in WAR


/starting to turn on WAR

[dim]

It's gonna be either Kershaw or Stanton with both Tulo and McCutchen out of the running.

If the Marlins make a playoff spot and Stanton stays on his current pace I think there's no doubt he wins MVP, but if the Marlins miss the playoffs it will be Kershaw, but Stanton can keep pace because there's still voters who don't believe a pitcher should win MVP.

Probably the best chance a Marlin will ever have at an MVP.

[emkayseven]

I don't even think the Marlins have to make the playoffs for it to be a no doubter. The way offense has been this season, his season stands out even more. If the Marlins finish at .500 that's a 19 win improvement over last year largely on the shoulders of Giancarlo.

There are enough people who don't believe a pitcher should win it. Even when Verlander won it, he only got 13 first place votes. The rest were split between offensive seasons that were too close to call. There were too many good arguments for too many good hitters. That really isn't the case here. With Tulo and Cutch out of the picture presumably, there isn't another offensive player who comes close.

The other thing Verlander had going for him was a record of 24-5. Keep in mind the BBWAA is still full of crotchety old dudes who don't really like newfangled statistics. Kershaw is at 14 wins right now. He almost certainly won't get to 20 (though he could).

To put it into perspective: last year Kershaw went 16-9 with a 1.83 ERA (lower than this year's!). His ERA+ was also better. In most more advanced stats, such as FIP, K/9, WHIP, K/BB (which is insane this year), he's better this year. But even with a 16-9, 1.83 ERA, 232 K line last year, he came in 7th in MVP voting. Seventh. Three players with sub-.900 OPSes beat him out. Two players with 11 and 12 home runs beat him out.

If there had been a clear cut offensive guy all season, like if Tulo didn't get injured, I don't know that the Kershaw for MVP chatter would be so high. But no one separated himself. Until now.

This team is legitimately in contention and it's solely because of Stanton. He might win 2/3rds of a Triple Crown while hitting close to .300 and stealing double digit bases and playing above average defense. If he doesn't tail off, he's the guy.

[Namaste]

Kershaw.

Oh, bobbob.

[Bobbob1313]

Clayton Kershaw currently has the 6th best FIP for a starting pitcher since 1961.

I hate the Marlins by pointing out that he is a viable MVP candidate.

[emkayseven]

I didn't say you hate the Marlins

I also didn't say he isn't worthy of the MVP

I just said I don't think he'll win.

He's the unanimous Cy Young winner.

[marlinsfan24]

Kershaw and Puig will probably split votes and hurt each other. Stanton needs to stay hot and unless the Marlins slip badly, should remain in the race.

Fangraphs actually has the Marlins projected to win 79.7 games now. If you told me in mid-May when Jose went down that we'd somehow pull of 79-80 wins, I'd be thrilled.

[Bobbob1313]

I didn't say you hate the Marlins
I
I also didn't say he isn't worthy of the MVP

I just said I don't think he'll win.

He's the unanimous Cy Young winner.

I was responding to Namaste's thing.

[HUGG]

That idiot Jon Heyman:

Sometimes I think we just debate for the sheer sport of it. Even when the answer is obvious, we still debate.

If Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton isn't the NL MVP to this point, then something's wrong. There isn't any reason not to support Stanton, not any good reason anyway.

The only other NL player that has any sort of case is Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, and while Kershaw is undeniably amazing, he's also a pitcher who has appeared in a scant 16 percent of his team's games.

Stanton, toiling for a team that lacks experience or obvious other punch, and a team that lost its one other major star in ace pitcher Jose Fernandez, has managed to get the Marlins to .500 at 62-62 and keep them within 3 1/2 games of a playoff position in the NL. The Marlins' season has been nothing short of stunning, and Stanton's year nothing short of spectacular.

Stanton, hitting in one of the best pitchers' parks in baseball that has yielded an unusually low number of homers since it opened, leads the league in home runs (32), RBI (88) and WAR (6.2), and by virtue of Troy Tulowitzki falling below the needed plate appearances to qualify, he now also leads in slugging percentage (.566) and OPS (.964).

No surprise, Stanton also leads in intentional walks with 20, with light-hitting Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada the only player with more than half that total (he has 11), and that's only because Mets pitchers, save for rookie Jacob deGrom, are so inept at hitting they make Tejada look like a threat, or did until he was pulled for Wilmer Flores.

Anyway, Stanton, despite being the Marlins' solitary major threat, continues to do major damage. Sure Casey McGehee has been such a nice surprise he's a Comeback Player of the Year candidate, and Marcell Ozuna is coming along nicely. But Stanton is clearly the man in Miami.

For good measure, Stanton has turned himself into a very capable outfielder, and a pretty good base stealer, as well. All that makes his candidacy complete.

Stanton has been the best player in the National League this year. And he has been the most valuable, too. He has led the Marlins into surprise contention at a time they are without Fernandez. While it's true a .500 record might not ordinarily spell contention, with a second wild card and increasing parity, it's fair to say the Marlins are alive into late August.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/...he-nl-mvp-race

[Bobbob1313]

I don't really think there's a case against Stanton, I just think there's a better case for Kershaw.