The MVP of Baseball

Joe Mauer won the American League MVP yesterday. For the sake of comparison, I think its safe to say Albert Pujols will take the National League MVP. Of the twenty-two writers and Baseball Tonight anchors at ESPN, all of them picked Pujols to win the NL MVP. It's a safe call to make.

This begs the question: who is the MVP of the Major Leagues?

(Drum Roll)...

The 2009 Major League Baseball MVP is Joe Mauer.

Wait a second?!

What about Pujols aka the machine?

He led the National League in on-base percentage, slugging OPS, extra base hits, total bases, runs, and, of course, home runs. Not to mention, the machine posted a .327 batting average and drilled in 135 RBIs. He's also a gold glove caliber first basemen. The Cardinals wouldn't have endured the embarrassing division series sweep to the Dodgers had Pujols not been the cornerstone of the offense all year. Okay, that's a harsh way of putting it, but the guy has arguably the coolest "this is beyond baseball" commercial. Watch it once, and you'll buy tickets to the next Phillies-Cardinals game, just to see #5 play.

So what about this fellow Mauer?

He did hit .365, which was the best in the majors. But, he didn't even have a hundred RBIs and he only slugged 28 home runs. Pujols beat him out in the majority of major offensive statistics. The Twins had the exact same playoff outcome too, crumbling to the Yankees in three games.

So why Mauer?

Because the best win even when they are all the teams got. I'm not saying Pujols isn't deserving of the best, but Mauer willed his team to the playoffs, something Pujols did not endure. Without Pujols, the Cardinals probably don't make the playoffs, but make a push for the wildcard spot. Without Mauer, the Twins may break the single-season loss record.

Mauer not only put up outstanding numbers for a catcher who was coming off a lower back injury, but he led a flimsy pitching staff to the playoffs, even when Baseball Tonight counted them out. Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Michael Duensing, and Nick Blackburn (Who? Did these guys com from the California State Penal League?) were all starters for the Twins throughout the 2009 season, and all are under the age of twenty-eight. Not one of them had more than fifteen wins.

On the offensive side, it was the M&M --Mauer and Morneau--boys right? Well, not exactly. When the Twins needed Justin Morneau down the stretch, he was out for the season with a back injury. Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer did have good offensive seasons, but when the Twins needed a win, it was Mauer who propelled them to victory.

He missed the first month of the season due to injury, played the most physically demanding and brutalizing position in baseball, and still had eye-popping offensive numbers. Joe Mauer is the MVP because nothing was easily given to him and everything was hard earned. In fact, it took 163 games to prove how hard Mauer and the Twins worked to reach the playoffs.

Pujols had Cy Young candidates Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. He also had one of this offseason's biggest free agents, Matt Holiday, to protect him in the lineup. Pujols is the face of the Cardinals, but he certainly had a lot of body parts to help him out.

Its not a statistical comparison; Pujols gets the gold on that. Its a comparison of who did the most with the least. Mauer took a group of Joes as far as they could possibly go given their age, experience and playoff scenario. Put simply, he took a lump of clay and made a sculpture.

Joe Mauer was the arms, legs, mind, heart, and face of the Twins. Congratulations Mauer, the 2009 MLB MVP is yours. You're no Joe.