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The MVP Candidate That Wasn't Posted by lucas at 8/16/2006 8:44:00 AM View more posts by this author

Travis Hafner, CLE BA .303 (19th) - Ortiz ranks 63rd HR 35 (2nd) - Ortiz ranks 1st RBI 110 (1st) - tied w/ Ortiz Slugging% .640 (1st) - Ortiz ranks 4th On-base% .428 (3rd) - Ortiz ranks 7th OPS 1.068 (1st) - Ortiz ranks 5th Walks 84 (1st) - Ortiz ranks 4th ... And unlike the (fair or unfair) positioning of Papi over A-Rod due to his clutch hitting, that argument doesn't stand up against Haf, who has tied the record for grand slams in a season - pretty clutch. MVPs come from winning teams and have big names, as a rule, but Hafner is getting mighty short shrift. With season-long production that should easily put him in MVP running, not only has he been left out of the discussion entirely, he didn't even land a spot on the All-Star team.

Comments....

I agree with the All-Star spot, but just like in most sports, the MVP rarely goes to a team that misses the playoffs. Virtually impossible to a team that cannot even reach .500. If Hafner was on a winning team, oh, he'd be up there with Liriano, Papi, A-Rod, and the rest of them. But he's not. Posted by eatahouse at 8/17/2006 6:18:00 AM

eatahouse, I think that's just an indication that Ortiz might not be the most valuable player in the league. It seems that if you interchange him with Hafner (and they're quite interchangeable), *he* would be on the losing team and wouldn't be in the running for the MVP. Also, A-Rod won on a losing team, so why can't Hafner? Posted by bscwik at 8/17/2006 7:32:00 AM

The difference with A-Rod is that he got snubbed in 2002 while on a losing team so I think there was more sentiment towards him getting the award in 2003. If Hafner has another big year next season and the Indians have another losing season, then I'm sure he'll get more support. Posted by herbilk at 8/17/2006 11:22:00 AM

Setting a record for grand slams doesn't necessarily make him "clutch"... what was the situation when he hit them? Were they down by 3 or up by 8? "Clutch" is coming through at the precise moment in the game when your team needs it, that may not even mean hitting a homer could be a single. And my friend... there is no better CLUTCH hitter at this time than Ortiz. Posted by dmscotsman at 8/21/2006 3:43:00 PM

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