So IOW Matt Kemp is not a contender for MVP because the Dodgers are bad, but if the Mets continue to be mediocre, Reyes should be.

Why would McCann be punished for missing 2 weeks but Reyes given a pass on missing a month almost?

Though its not going to happen, I wish more people would get on the McCann for MVP bandwagon. 145 OPS+ and handling one of the best pitching staffs has to count for something.

Ryan Howard always has the numbers with the Phillies

I know this is just a throwaway line, and Lupica's not worth the effort anyway. But I'm still going to be annoyed when Howard beats, say, Halladay in the MVP voting.

Why would McCann be punished for missing 2 weeks but Reyes given a pass on missing a month almost?

Reyes has played in 92 of the Mets 107 games, McCann has played in 91 of the Braves 108 games, and he's out for what, another 2-3 weeks? (Though man, that's pretty impressive for a catcher to play in that many games) Not that he's going to win, but he (Reyes) didn't really miss nearly a month's worth of games. Though some of that was good timing, since he was hurt over the all star break; he was out from 7/3 to 7/18, but 4 of those days were over the break.

And despite missing those games, Reyes still leads the NL in WAR. (Fangraphs version, at least).

Reyes is in a bit of a slump now - I suppose that was to be expected, the guy can't hit .350 all year long.

Reyes has played in 92 of the Mets 107 games, McCann has played in 91 of the Braves 108 games, and he's out for what, another 2-3 weeks?

My bad. Felt like he was out for longer. McCann hopefully is off just another week.
But a catcher witha 145 OPS+ and a good rep shouldn't be getting ignored when compared to a SS with 148 OPS+ .
That said, both are having awesome seasons

Jose Reyes is my favorite player, but I think if I had to vote I'd go with McCann. He is a fabulous player and always seems to get that big hit.

If Braun gets hot to finish the season he could definitely snag the MVP.

I remain surprised at Braun's All-Star balloting results. He is a guy folks recognize.

Go figure

Here's how I figure the schematic will end up working out. See if you detect any problems.

1. Did the Brewers win the NL Central?
--If Yes -> did Ryan Braun stay healthy/play well? If Yes -> Ryan Braun.
----If No -> did Prince Fielder stay healthy/play well? If Yes -> Prince Fielder.

2. Did the Cardinals win the NL Central?
--If Yes -> Did Matt Holliday stay healthy/play well? If Yes -> Matt Holliday.
----If No -> Did Albert Pujols finish hot? If Yes -> Albert Pujols.

3. Did the Pirates finish over .500?
--If Yes -> Did Andrew McCutchen finish strong? If Yes -> Andrew McCutchen.

4. Did any particular Phillie finish the season red hot?
--If Yes -> That Phillie.

5. If we got this far, the Reds won the NL Central, so it will go to whichever Red got hottest.

Basically at this point I'm pretty sure Braun/Holliday (whoever's team makes the playoffs) is a big favorite over The Field.

And Reyes will be a serious candidate only if he plays the entire second half and plays ridiculously out of his mind.

Also notice how Matt Kemp is probably the best player in the league, but has no chance.

EDIT: Originally I had the possibility of the Rockies getting back into the playoffs in there, but I decided against it.

Jose Reyes is my favorite player, but I think if I had to vote I'd go with McCann. He is a fabulous player and always seems to get that big hit.

I think Reyes is the obvious choice between the two of them. OPS+ has them as equivalent hitters. Reyes has an extra 70 PAs so far, and the baserunning.

But I think Kemp has been the best player in the NL this year.

If Reyes keeps up what he's been doing, and leads the league in BA, Hits, Runs, Triples, he has a really good chance of winning it.

I watch Mets games on MLB.com, and so I frequently get to hear the opposing team's broadcasters. And I'm amazed at how everyone is fawning over Reyes this year. (Before this year he would get a lot of #### for the way he played.) Right before the All-Star break there were discussions on Baseball Tonight about whether or not he was the best player in baseball. He's having one of those magic years that all observers seem ready and happy to celebrate.

Of course, he needs to stay healthy and keep it up. I think he'll probably slump to career norms, and end up with .330, 200 hits, 110 runs, 20 triples, great but not truly eye-popping numbers, and get overshadowed by a slugger on the Brewers or Cardinals.

Lupica's analysis is a mess, and, as said above, is not worth spending the time on.

My question: Is Lupica's "notes" portion of his Sunday column worse than that notes piece Larry King used to vomit out?

Snipping now from Lupica:

There must be a whole lot of sensible, well-meaning Republicans who want to ask the following question of their crackpot friends in the Tea Party:

Whose side are you on?

...

Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I have this feeling that when A-Rod comes back, he's going to hit like a new man.

...

Ron Darling's work on SNY somehow just keeps getting better, which is saying plenty.

...

- My favorite notion of the whole week, and maybe the whole year, was that the Giants somehow had to pitch themselves to Plaxico Burress.

As if they were somehow the ones who did something wrong.

...

...

I was kind of hoping Tiger might ask me to loop for him at the Bridgestone.

I'm good at yardages, and back in the day, I'm sure I could have booked flights for the girlfriends.

Jason Bay's contract looks like a bargain compared to Jayson Werth's in Washington.

Even with Cliff Lee pitching for the Phillies now, I'm kind of thinking that the Yankees really don't want a piece of the Texas Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.

Oh man, the Jets are going to miss Brad Smith.

I'm just going to assume Big Blue has a Plan B for the offensive line.

John Boehner doesn't act nearly as tough right now as he did a couple of months ago.

Or even a couple of weeks ago.

What kind of action do you suppose I could have gotten if I'd bet you on April 1st that the best two batting averages in New York on Aug. 1 would belong to Mets?

And that one of them would be Daniel Murphy's?

...

The Vikings, they sure do like those veteran quarterbacks, don't they?

...

It tells you everything you need to know about Phil Simms that when I called him a Hall of Famer the other day, he debated against himself.

...

I see where Pete Carroll has signed up Matt Leinart and Tarvaris Jackson, but I'm wondering if he plans to pick up any real quarterbacks.

@12:

Nothing Lupica said about politics is untrue or unreasonable.

Lupica is far better when he has to say something in a few words than when he has a lot of words to say very little; the notes are the best part of his Sunday column always.

Adrian Gonzalez, who is the MVP for the American League so far

Did he forget about Bautista? According to fangraphs WAR, Gonzalez is only the 3rd best guy on his own team....

Gonzalez will win the award if he keeps it up and the Red Sox make the playoffs (likely) but yeah, Bautista's the best player in the league by far.

The writers usually vote for the story. The cruelly boring truth is that each league has a pretty clear best player (Bautista, Kemp) but they both play for irrelevant teams so the writers don't care.

4. Did any particular Phillie finish the season red hot?
--If Yes -> That Phillie.

iirc, David Wright finished the season red hot and Rollins did not the year that Rollins won the MVP...

Lupica is far better when he has to say something in a few words than when he has a lot of words to say very little; the notes are the best part of his Sunday column always.

The undigested corn is the best part of the turd, too, but that doesn't mean I'm getting an appetite.

Leinart signed with Houston. What is Lupica talking about?

Howie: iirc, the Phillies finished in first place that year and the Mets missed the playoffs, did they not?

The writers usually vote for the story. The cruelly boring truth is that each league has a pretty clear best player (Bautista, Kemp) but they both play for irrelevant teams so the writers don't care.

Aren't the Mets an irrelevant team?

My question: Is Lupica's "notes" portion of his Sunday column worse than that notes piece Larry King used to vomit out?

Snipping now from Lupica:

You forgot:

It's October, and we all know what that means

If Princess Di were here, I'd tell her, "Hang in there"

I'd kill for a dreamsicle right now

Maybe it's me, but I think Sharon Glass should be on TV every night

If I had my druthers, there'd be no more world hunger

I sure do miss the Cowsills

Jesus! That's Jerry and Sally ####### in the parking lot

Wow, I'm telling you, nothing beats that missionary position.

Ray: Yes. Yes, they are.

There's always the chance that one of Lupica's one-liners will be funny. There's no chance that his "analysis" will be worth anything.

The writers usually vote for the story. The cruelly boring truth is that each league has a pretty clear best player (Bautista, Kemp) but they both play for irrelevant teams so the writers don't care.



Aren't the Mets an irrelevant team?

Hell, yes, but if Reyes leads in a half-dozen categories including BA, and no one else has the kind of 'compelling story' lazy writers love, he could pull it off.

To the tune of 7/140.

It would really be neat if Reyes could be the first Met batting champion. But he'll never get that first no-hitter.

This year may be Lance Berkman's last shot at winning one, and he has a pretty good "story" (comeback year, dumped by Houston, not re-signed by NYY, playing out of position, on pace to lead league in HR/OPS, etc).

He's nowhere near the "best player" in the league, due to defensive limitations, but at least part of that was due to changing positions for Albert Pujols. And with losing AW, and Albert having an off-year, you could write a narrative around Berkman carrying the team to the playoffs. Assuming they make it.

2. Did the Cardinals win the NL Central?
--If Yes -> Did Matt Holliday stay healthy/play well? If Yes -> Matt Holliday.
----If No -> Did Albert Pujols finish hot? If Yes -> Albert Pujols.

I think Berkman gets the nod over Holliday right now. Regardless of War, Berkman has ops+ lead, the homerun lead, the rbi(for the Cardinals) lead and more games than Holliday(although that probably won't be the case at the end of the season as they will rest Berkman frequently)