He deserves it. Without him, the Twins don't make the playoffs.

Jeter, Teixeira, one of them could go down, and the Yankees would still roll to #27.

Well done, Mr. Mauer.

/applause

while the Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera drew the other first-place vote

Hey, I spotted one of the douchebags that don't vote for first ballot hall of famers like Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn because the traditions for baseball say nobody can be unanimous HoFer since Ruth wasn't.

Idiot.

Gee, I wonder if that baseball writer happens to write for the Detroit Free Press...

bulldg4life: while the Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera drew the other first-place vote

Hey, I spotted one of the douchebags that don't vote for first ballot hall of famers like Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn because the traditions for baseball say nobody can be unanimous HoFer since Ruth wasn't.

Idiot.

Barry Bonds was unanimous MVP in '02. Farking disgusting as all hell, but it was unanimous.

This news makes me beyond happy.

/Go Twins!

See, the Yankees win everything.

Whoever voted for Cabrera needs to have its voting privileges removed.

After missing April with a back injury, Mauer homered in his first at-bat of the season and went on to lead the AL in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587), the first AL player to top all three categories in the same season since George Brett in 1980.

Wow. Any time you can do something that hasn't been done since Brett's '80 season, that's something to hang your hat on. This is just AL though right? Surely Bonds managed to do this a few times.

Yes, because when your player wins an MVP, the proper thing to do is to biatch about it not being unanimous.

Seriously, he easily won it and deservedly so. Be happy. Like our friend 8bit4life up there.

Nabb1: Gee, I wonder if that baseball writer happens to write for the Detroit Free Press...

"Cabrera's first-place vote came from Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News, a member of the Seattle chapter."

Ror?

Jayhawk88: Surely Bonds managed to do this a few times.

I'm pretty sure Bonds never won a batting title.

I can't wait for 2010....i've got season tix for the new outdoor Twins stadium.

jayhawk88: Nabb1: Gee, I wonder if that baseball writer happens to write for the Detroit Free Press...

"Cabrera's first-place vote came from Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News, a member of the Seattle chapter."

Ror?

Well, that just makes no damned sense at all.

/Should have RTFA.

Everyone here on Fark has wildly different opinions about sports and players, and we lament how the media seems to lock onto specific players for all the accolades. However, when the MVP voting comes in the masses scream "CONFORM! THIS SHOULD BE UNANIMOUS!

See, this is why Asian people shouldn't be allowed to vote. Or drive cars.

honk if you demand satisfaction:

I'm pretty sure Bonds never won a batting title.

Bonds won in 2002 and 2004... .370 and .362 respectively

Nothing is ever unanimous in baseball.

jayhawk88: After missing April with a back injury, Mauer homered in his first at-bat of the season and went on to lead the AL in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587), the first AL player to top all three categories in the same season since George Brett in 1980.

Wow. Any time you can do something that hasn't been done since Brett's '80 season, that's something to hang your hat on. This is just AL though right? Surely Bonds managed to do this a few times.

Barry Bonds was #1 in the NL for BA in 2004, #1 in the NL for OBP 2001-2004, 2006-2007, and #1 in the NL for slugging from 2001-2004. This is according toe Baseball-Reference.com, which indicates that Bonds did not have the required number of at bats or plate appearances for the BA/OBP/SLG title, so in order to rank the player the necessary number of hitless at bats were added.

Previously this same feat was accomplished by Todd Helton in 2000 (NL) and Larry Walker in 1999 (NL).

So: Mauer gets 100K for winning - which is great, he deserved it, no question, cos he's been phenomenal for the Twins. Congrats, Joe.

But - and this is what I'm calling bullshiat on - Cabrera gets $200K for finishing FOURTH. Who the fark gives that kind of incentive for fourth place?? What would he have gotten if he'd won?

I'm going to start the ball rolling on the collusion express here and now, cos this is raising too many red flags:

1. Why is a writer for a Tokyo-based paper allowed to vote? Seattle has enough sportswriters in town already.
2. Cabrera happens to get one vote, which is enough for him to finish fourth, which earns him (wait for it) $200K.
3. Profit?

I can appreciate that he had a good enough year to keep them in the race til the last day of the season, but anybody not voting for Mauer needs to have his head examined.

/Yankees fan

Great season, Mauer, you deserve it.

Now the only question is, to what number will you switch when your contract is up and, you know...Posada's getting old...

It was me, was I not supposed to do that?

honk if you demand satisfaction: I'm pretty sure Bonds never won a batting title.

Curiosity got the better of me. Looks like Bonds did it twice:

'02: .370 BA, .582 OBP, .799 Slg
'04: .362 BA, .609 OBP, .812 Slg

He came close to doing it two other times as well. In '01 he lead the league in OBP and SLG and was only .022 points off the batting title, and in '03 same deal, only .018 points off the battle title.

You know, if we lived in a world where no one ever bothered to dig up anything about steroids in baseball, they'd be building a whole wing in the Hall for this guy.

robsul82: Great season, Mauer, you deserve it.

Now the only question is, to what number will you switch when your contract is up and, you know...Posada's getting old...


Thus why people in any city not named New York, Boston, L.A., Chicago, Phily HATE baseball because our teams are AAAA farm clubs for these other teams.

Yeah I'd assume being a catcher helps Mauer get a better read on the balls being pitched to him at bat. I'm not surprised he was voted MVP, he earned it.

CrackedEgg: But - and this is what I'm calling bullshiat on - Cabrera gets $200K for finishing FOURTH. Who the fark gives that kind of incentive for fourth place?? What would he have gotten if he'd won?

Probably a sliding scale. Imagine the money Cabrera would have gotten for finishing first. Probably some bullshiat his agent put in his contract so the dude gets paid. He signed a contract in 2008 for $153m over 8 years, so there must have been some nice bonuses in there. The curious part is he was one point away from 5th place - I wonder if he would have gotten anything at 5th.

icy_one: This is according toe Baseball-Reference.com, which indicates that Bonds did not have the required number of at bats or plate appearances for the BA/OBP/SLG title, so in order to rank the player the necessary number of hitless at bats were added.

Oops, ignore my other post, missed this part.

jayhawk88: honk if you demand satisfaction: I'm pretty sure Bonds never won a batting title.

Curiosity got the better of me. Looks like Bonds did it twice:

'02: .370 BA, .582 OBP, .799 Slg
'04: .362 BA, .609 OBP, .812 Slg

He came close to doing it two other times as well. In '01 he lead the league in OBP and SLG and was only .022 points off the batting title, and in '03 same deal, only .018 points off the battle title.

You know, if we lived in a world where no one ever bothered to dig up anything about steroids in baseball, they'd be building a whole wing in the Hall for this guy.

We live in a world where confessed users of HGH and Steroids still play in the NFL and the MLB and can win Championships and accolades, yet Bonds gets nothing? Bullshiat. The guy never tested positive. Yeah, he was on something, but so where a lot of people. Don't single out Bonds and McGuire, single out the era or no one at all.

honk if you demand satisfaction: Jayhawk88: Surely Bonds managed to do this a few times.

I'm pretty sure Bonds never won a batting title.

I can't wait for 2010....i've got season tix for the new outdoor Twins stadium.

I'm sure that's gonna be a treat in early April, lol

Epiphany: We live in a world where confessed users of HGH and Steroids still play in the NFL and the MLB and can win Championships and accolades, yet Bonds gets nothing? Bullshiat. The guy never tested positive. Yeah, he was on something, but so where a lot of people. Don't single out Bonds and McGuire, single out the era or no one at all.

Wasn't trying to single Bonds out per se, just saying, if not for the steroids taint, we'd probably be legitimately considering him the greatest hitter of all time. Some of those numbers from about '01 to '04 are just ridiculous.

Go Mauer. Go Twins. Go Target Field

/Hoping to goto Opening Day
//If they weather round here is like this next year... Outdoor baseball will be no problem
///End of Nov and NO snow in the Cities (WTF?)

It's not about being conformist or anything, its that Mauer was such an obvious leaps-and-bounds choice, you have to question the reasoning for the dissent. Would love to see what his reasons were.

/submitted this with a better link but worse headline

So, will Pujols win the NL MVP unanimously tomorrow?

Boyd Schidt: So, will Pujols win the NL MVP unanimously tomorrow?

He should, but not if Keith Law gets a vote...

mainstreet62: He deserves it. Without him, the Twins don't make the playoffs.

Jeter, Teixeira, one of them could go down, and the Yankees would still roll to #27.

Well done, Mr. Mauer.

/applause

He DOES deserve it, but I think it is silly to give MVP awards only to great players on medicore teams. It should just go to the best player on any team.

I also disagree with the notion that the Yankees are champions if either Jeter or Tex went down.

jayhawk88: You know, if we lived in a world where no one ever bothered to dig up anything about steroids in baseball, they'd be building a whole wing in the Hall for this guy.

Before he was BARRY BONDS he was a sure-fire Hall of Famer anyway. That's the stupidest thing about this. He wouldn't have gotten 756 but he would've almost certainly gotten 500, maybe still gotten 500 SBs, maybe 2500 hits. He was probably the best player of his era even when he was just Barry Bonds. You chop off the last eight years of his career and you still have a Hall of Famer. But no one will remember that because he's a juicer. That's all he is now.

/Barry Bonds fan in the 90s
//not so much now...what a waste of a career

robsul82:
Now the only question is, to what number will you switch when your contract is up and, you know...Posada's getting old...


Not a chance in hell. But you knew that already.

Pujols: He should, but not if Keith Law gets a vote...

Pujols led the NL in virtually every metric Law would look at. WAR, WARP, VORP, you name it. He loves Utley, but Utley didn't have as good of a year this year. I'm sure he'd go for Pujols.

Oakenshield: Not a chance in hell. But you knew that already.

Lots of guys say that. Few of them follow through. I hope Mauer's different.

eagles95: robsul82: Great season, Mauer, you deserve it.

Now the only question is, to what number will you switch when your contract is up and, you know...Posada's getting old...


Thus why people in any city not named New York, Boston, L.A., Chicago, Phily HATE baseball because our teams are AAAA farm clubs for these other teams.

No one has a worse history of signing defective free agents and letting future All-Stars go than the Dodgers. About the closest the Dodgers came to doing something like that was the deal that netted Manny because it involved Bay going to Boston. The Dodgers could be a team that does that, but they haven't known how to spend money in the post-strike era.

Pedro for Delino DeShields
Piazza for Charles Johnson
Konerko for Jeff Shaw
Shawn Green+$8million for Dioner Navarro (moved for) Toby Hall and Mark Hendrickson
Trading for Todd Hundley TWICE!
Oh, and Jayson Werth was one of ours. But fark him. Let's sign Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. Schmidt and Penny were getting lonely on the bench.

The trades recently have been better. Picking up Ethier for Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez was awesome. Getting Manny in 2008 for LaRoche and Morris (w/Red Sox paying the rest of Manny's contract) and getting Casey Blake for Carlos Santana and Jonathan Meloan were good ones last year. The trade to pick up George Sherill this year was good, too. But they still don't spend bulk money well. They find lots of good 1-2 year bargains but haven't locked up a all-star caliber player (who performs) on a multiple year contract in a while.

And now there are reports going around that Russell Martin may be on the trading block. Ludicrous. The Dodgers just love trading catchers.

Pujols: Boyd Schidt: So, will Pujols win the NL MVP unanimously tomorrow?

He should, but not if Keith Law gets a vote...

Jesus, Cardinals fans are a bunch of pussies.

So how much did Placido Polanco pay to that one guy who had him 9th?

soupercow: So how much did Placido Polanco pay to that one guy who had him 9th?

That's what I was thinking too. What is with these sports writers? Polanco's a fine player but there were at least 9 players in the AL that had a better numbers than his mediocre .285/.331/.396.

Oakenshield: robsul82:
Now the only question is, to what number will you switch when your contract is up and, you know...Posada's getting old...


Not a chance in hell. But you knew that already.

Hey, you never know... :)

mainstreet62: He deserves it. Without him, the Twins don't make the playoffs.

Jeter, Teixeira, one of them could go down, and the Yankees would still roll to #27.



Uh, maybe you didn't notice, but Jeter is a Gold Glove shortstop. They don't just hand those awards out to guys who have limited range.

Glad he won. He absolutely deserves it.

/Yankees fan

4NSpy: Uh, maybe you didn't notice, but Jeter is a Gold Glove shortstop. They don't just hand those awards out to guys who have limited range.

Can't tell if serious.

.
.
.

Nope. Still can't.

Jeter is not a good shortstop. He's simply not. He doesn't have a strong arm so he plays shallow. This makes him miss grounders he might have had time to get to if he could play deeper. He's decent at turning two when he gets to the ball. He is definitely excellent at making diving plays that show up on SportsCenter, but not at preventing grounders to the left side of the infield from turning into hits.

That said, he plays the position passably and is a great hitter which more than makes up for his mediocre defense.

Pretty sure wasn't serious.

Zulu_as_Kono: Pujols: Boyd Schidt: So, will Pujols win the NL MVP unanimously tomorrow?

He should, but not if Keith Law gets a vote...

Jesus, Cardinals fans are a bunch of pussies.

you sound fat like a Red Sox fan.

gilgamesh23: Jeter is not a good shortstop. He's simply not. He doesn't have a strong arm so he plays shallow. This makes him miss grounders he might have had time to get to if he could play deeper. He's decent at turning two when he gets to the ball. He is definitely excellent at making diving plays that show up on SportsCenter, but not at preventing grounders to the left side of the infield from turning into hits.

That said, he plays the position passably and is a great hitter which more than makes up for his mediocre defense.


I'm ok with saying he's not a great shortstop, but to say he's not a -good- shortstop, especially after this year, is disingenuous.
He does have smaller range than many that play the position, and his past Gold Gloves were.. suspect, but he definitely stepped up his overall defense this year, and his 2009 GG was certainly earned. Even if you want to use metrics like UZR, where he's been historically criticized, you'll find he was well above average this year.

It brings a tear to my eye that even Yankee fans are happy that Mauer was voted MVP.



CONGRATS, DREAMYBURNS!

Congrats to Mauer

He made quite an impact on 2 of my fantasy teams this year.
I would like to re-live just one moment....if I remember correctly on draft day, weren't the Twins being ripped apart taking the local boy and not the "phenom who can't go wrong" named Prior with the first pick?? Looks like someone knows what their doing in Minnesota and not the Mel Kiper's of baseball.