AL MVP
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees
"There's really not much of an argument here. Magglio Ordonez is in the discussion, as is Jorge Posada. Right now, however, A-Rod is the best player in baseball, and, as such, he deserves to win the AL MVP award for the third time in his career."
NL MVP
Chase Utley, Phillies
"The only objective standard is to give the award to the best player in the league. After all, if you pass over the best player because his team didn't win the division or Wild Card, then you're in essence penalizing him for the quality of his teammates. Inevitably, that leads to all kinds of semantic navel-gazing about the meaning of the word "valuable" and so on and so on. The best way to handle this award is to give it to the best player."
"In the NL, Utley has been the best player thus far. Yes, he's on the DL at least until late in the month, and that means his standing will need to be reevaluated. It's entirely possible that the lost playing time will mean that, in the end, he doesn't deserve the award. Right now, however, he does. Utley provides good defense at an up-the-middle position, and, more importantly, he's hitting .336 AVG/.414 OBP/.581 SLG. As well, he ranks sixth in the NL in OBP and seventh in SLG."
"Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera of the Marlins have both been (slightly) better offensively, but their shortcomings with the glove take them down a peg or two. Chipper Jones and Prince Fielder have their cases, as well, but right now it's Utley. Again, because of Utley's injury and the resultant loss of playing time, this one will definitely be worth revisiting at season's end."
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees
"There's really not much of an argument here. Magglio Ordonez is in the discussion, as is Jorge Posada. Right now, however, A-Rod is the best player in baseball, and, as such, he deserves to win the AL MVP award for the third time in his career."
NL MVP
Chase Utley, Phillies
"The only objective standard is to give the award to the best player in the league. After all, if you pass over the best player because his team didn't win the division or Wild Card, then you're in essence penalizing him for the quality of his teammates. Inevitably, that leads to all kinds of semantic navel-gazing about the meaning of the word "valuable" and so on and so on. The best way to handle this award is to give it to the best player."
"In the NL, Utley has been the best player thus far. Yes, he's on the DL at least until late in the month, and that means his standing will need to be reevaluated. It's entirely possible that the lost playing time will mean that, in the end, he doesn't deserve the award. Right now, however, he does. Utley provides good defense at an up-the-middle position, and, more importantly, he's hitting .336 AVG/.414 OBP/.581 SLG. As well, he ranks sixth in the NL in OBP and seventh in SLG."
"Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera of the Marlins have both been (slightly) better offensively, but their shortcomings with the glove take them down a peg or two. Chipper Jones and Prince Fielder have their cases, as well, but right now it's Utley. Again, because of Utley's injury and the resultant loss of playing time, this one will definitely be worth revisiting at season's end."
