Jeter: The Fallout
Predictably, there was major fallout in today's news following Derek Jeter's second-place finish in the A.L. MVP balloting. The N.Y. Post blamed it on anti-New-York bias, with the headline Jeeted. Mike Lupica agrees that Jeter was probably the right choice, but didn't blame it on any bias against New York. In the meantime, Chicago Sun Times writer Joe Cowley is taking serious heat for placing Jeter sixth on the ballot. I think Lupica has it right and that Cowley has no right voting for the MVP.
Jeter wasn't robbed and didn't lose because of a bias against New York. Hideki Matsui lost the A.L. Rookie of the Year balloting because of a bias against the Yankees big spending ways. All of a sudden, writers made up this rule that the best rookie had to be a true rookie, even though Ichiro won both the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in his first season. But A-Rod won the MVP last year even though he was a Yankee. You can't blame this one on pure Yankee hating.
Jeter lost because of the misperception that he was surrounded by more good players than Hugh Hefner is surrounded by hot babes, making him less valuable than a one-man wrecking crew like Frank Thomas, and because a number two hitter is less sexy than a slugger like Morneau. The first argument is trotted out by Cowley, who left Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells off his 2003 ballot and was suspended as a result, and is specious. Three Twins finished in the top seven of the balloting. No other Yankee finished that high. A-Rod was the next best Yankee in 13th place.
Based on the results, Morneau was indisputably surrounded by better talent than Jeter. Writers who favor Morneau point out that the Twins took off when he took off. Not quite true. The Twins made a number of roster changes right before they got hot, including adding Francisco Liriano to the starting rotation. By comparison, the Yankees lost three key players to injury for much of the season and had two other key players - A-Rod and Giambi - have off seasons. The starting pitching was spotty, too.
Jeter had arguably his finest season and was clearly the MVP on his team, something that you can't necessarily say about Morneau. For all the numbers he put up, finding a good first baseman is easier than finding someone like Joe Mauer, a catcher who led the league in hitting.
Yes, I am biased as a Yankees fan, and no, it's not the end of the world that Morneau won. He had an outstanding season. Still, I feel Jeter should have won.
Cross posted on Plum Crazy.