Giancarlo Stanton, OF

[emkayseven]

In 9 of Kershaw's 14 victories the Dodgers scored 5 or more runs (including in his perfect game). Something tells me they'd have won most of those games with a replacement level pitcher.

He hasn't directly impacted enough games for me to say he's been more valuable to the Dodgers than Stanton has to the Marlins. Take Kershaw off the Dodgers, they're still significantly better than .500. Take Stanton off the Marlins and you have one of the league's worst teams.

[Bobbob1313]

Take Kershaw off the Dodgers, they're still significantly better than .500. Take Stanton off the Marlins and you have one of the league's worst teams.

I don't particularly care much about the quality of the team around them. At that point, you're judging a player's worthiness for an individual award on the circumstances he finds himself in, not how he actually plays.

Last year, the second Wild Card won 90 games. If the 2nd Wild Card was on a 90-win pace right now, the Marlins would be 7 games back and nobody would be talking about them being in the race. Would it be fair to discount Stanton's candidacy in that instance because his team was no longer in the race?

If not for Kershaw, the Dodgers probably go from comfortably winning the NL West to fighting for the second wild card spot. That's a pretty massive jump in marginal value, too.
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If Stanton wins it, I think that's a perfectly reasonable choice, and I'd be personally thrilled.

But I would vote for Kershaw, personally. I think he's been the better player.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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If we're talking about who will likely win, that's an entirely different story, and I agree Stanton has to be considered the frontrunner.

[emkayseven]

There's all kinds of circular logic. One of the reasons the second wild card won 90 games was because the Marlins rolled over for 100 losses, right?

There's really no clear-cut way to make the distinction - not WAR, not anything. The bottom line comes down to, I don't think Kershaw has made as large of an impact on the Dodgers as Stanton has for the Marlins. And that to me is the definition of most valuable. If a player is on a 60 win team I think he can still be the most valuable. The award isn't the "best player award" or "best hitter award." I think most valuable means providing the most value. But this is a debate that's been going on for decades and is sure not to end here.

[HUGG]

I hope Jonathan Lucroy wins.

can't measure the true value of a catcher, boys

[Bobbob1313]

I was going to say they should just have a best hitter award, but they do, we just don't care about it.
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I hope Jonathan Lucroy wins.

can't measure the true value of a catcher, boys

I wouldn't be opposed this either.
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I know you were joking

[emkayseven]

he's sucked since the ASG
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fun fact: I once sold a baseball card of Jonathon Lucroy to his mother.
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I take it back, he hasn't sucked, looks like he rebounded from the last time I looked

[Bobbob1313]

He has a pretty good chance to become the first catcher to lead his league in doubles, while also setting the MLB record for doubles in a season.

So that's cool.

[nny]

There's more to being a position player than hitting is why no one cares. It's about overall production.

[Beef]

I don't think that's why no one cares, considering gold glove awards aren't really based on defense.

[marlinsfan24]

I want Stanton to win as well, but I'm with Bobbob here.

[Namaste]

Stanton hits bombs, boys.

Bombs.

The Cy Young is for the best pitcher (I know, WINS LOL).

MVP is for position players.

[Bobbob1313]

Except it's not

[Beef]

That's true. Position players are for you (Daft).

Come see me in the office

[Nick]

I think if Kershaw had been healthy the entire season he'd have a really good case. Missing 1/6 of the season for a player that only plays 1/5 of the games when he's healthy, should not be considered for MVP IMO.

[HUGG]

Why is McCutchen eliminated? Sounds like he's getting activated tomorrow.

He missed less time than Kershaw.