Baseball's MVP: Two Amazing Takes

First I want to pump Joe Posnanski because he is one of the smartest and well spoken sports writers out there. He doesnt stupidly dismiss anything that might actually make sense in an argument, unlike other writers who automatically do when it comes to STAT-geeks. People, I cant stress this enough, if you havent read him, read him. He is great.

Then when you are done, head over to FJM. The guys who write it are hilarious, and they have some of the most witty and wonderful remarks I have ever read about the stupidity of sports journalists and their overzealous affinity for being hyperbolic close minded idiots. I love it.

Both articles I just linked to express the PROPER way to look at an MVP vote. All this crap about what "valuable" means is summed up wonderfully in both pieces. Personally, I have no idea why people hate stats like VORP, WPA and EqA when its obvious they can give us a better understanding of the game. Baseball is one of the most stat driven sports out there, and for people to determine a Pitcher's worth by Wins and a hitters worth by AVG and RBI is just stupid. Mauer is just as valuable to the twins as Morneau and he hits an eighth of the HRs that Justin does. Baseball is less about dingers and more about being a good player. Luckily VORP and other stats are a great way of showing that.