Who wins the NL MVP?

[DesotoCountyDawg]

McCutchen
Molina
Kershaw
Goldschmidt
Freeman

Darkhorse: Matt Carpenter

i think it comes down to McCutchen or Molina. Even though both have less immpressive numbers than last year.

 

[msstate7]

Freeman. I could be a little biased though

 

[DawgatAuburn]

I was thinking about this earlier in the week. There's not one, at least by the numbers. Carpenter and Molina have had good years, but it could be argued that Craig was the MVP. Him being hurt and Adams filling in shows how invulnerable that lineup is to injury. Same thing when Molina was out.

 

[shoeless joe]

I'd say mccutcheon wins it based on he and the pirates being the media darling the last few years. Don't get me wrong he has good numbers also. But if I was building a team I would start with either yadier Molina or Freddie Freeman. I'm a huge braves fan so I lean towards Freeman, plus he's the best player in what is rite now the best team in the league. The fact that he and Molina are also above elite on defense makes me more inclined to give it to one of those two.

On a side note, I think the braves are the forgotten team in the national media these days. Whether its the lack of clubhouse drama or a hold over from the media being tired of their regular season dominance only to fade in October; but if Freeman had identical numbers in Washington or Philly or new York or L.A. then he would be the shoe in for MVP.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

I think he comes in third. Best defensive first baseman in the NL and is a clutch hitter. Who's more vital to their team? McCutchen is clearly more valuable plus he plays a premium position. That's why I think he wins with Molina and freeman a distant second and third.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

If Craig doesn't get hurt he's right up there. He was batting over .450 with RISP and had 97 RBIs when he got hurt a couple of weeks ago.

 

[CEO2044]

I'd say mccutcheon wins it based on he and the pirates being the media darling the last few years. Don't get me wrong he has good numbers also. But if I was building a team I would start with either yadier Molina or Freddie Freeman. I'm a huge braves fan so I lean towards Freeman, plus he's the best player in what is rite now the best team in the league. The fact that he and Molina are also above elite on defense makes me more inclined to give it to one of those two.

On a side note, I think the braves are the forgotten team in the national media these days. Whether its the lack of clubhouse drama or a hold over from the media being tired of their regular season dominance only to fade in October; but if Freeman had identical numbers in Washington or Philly or new York or L.A. then he would be the shoe in for MVP.

The Braves' league has never done them any favors, IMO. The Nationals of last year were a nice addition, but it's usually just not a strong division.

The Braves may have the best record, but look at everyone else in the conference. Geez.

With that said, Freeman is good and should be talked up more. I wish I could judge him more on postseason performance than regular.

I'm also a Cards fan, and I think Yadi's my pick. But I don't think a Cardinal gets it because the players make it seem interchangeable.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

On a side note, I think the braves are the forgotten team in the national media these days. Whether its the lack of clubhouse drama or a hold over from the media being tired of their regular season dominance only to fade in October; but if Freeman had identical numbers in Washington or Philly or new York or L.A. then he would be the shoe in for MVP.

So that's why a player from Pittsburgh is the leading candidate for MVP. I'm not following your logic. Also McCutchen won a gold glove last year in center field.

 

[ReadyReady]

I think he comes in third. Best defensive first baseman in the NL and is a clutch hitter. Who's more vital to their team? McCutchen is clearly more valuable plus he plays a premium position. That's why I think he wins with Molina and freeman a distant second and third.

I agree with you about McCutchen and the pecking order, but you're selling Freeman short here with the "defense and clutch hitting." By the numbers, he's pretty clearly the 3rd best offensive 1B in the NL, and it's debatable between he and Votto for second behind Goldschmidt (Freeman has 30 more RBIs this year with lower slugging%, despite playing half his games at the Ted instead of Cincy). There are a lot more quality 1B in the AL that would put both Freeman and Votto pretty far down the list, but in the NL, Freeman is a guy pitchers have to plan for.

Just yanking your chain here, but what is it with Cards fans thinking that Braves All Stars are only good at half of the game (McCann = "an offensive catcher", Freeman = "a defensive 1B")? You probably think Kimbrel's a fastball-only guy too, right?

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Just yanking your chain here, but what is it with Cards fans thinking that Braves All Stars are only good at half of the game (McCann = "an offensive catcher", Freeman = "a defensive 1B")? You probably think Kimbrel's a fastball-only guy too, right?

Man you guys have a serious chip on your shoulder about well...everything.

Freeman is excellent with a bat and in the field. I was trying to point out what would set him apart from the other first basemen.

 

[shoeless joe]

So that's why a player from Pittsburgh is the leading candidate for MVP. I'm not following your logic. Also McCutchen won a gold glove last year in center field.

Normally a pirate player wouldn't be on the "media darling" list. But mccutcheon is. If you don't agree then you must not watch national baseball shows. Everybody wants this team to win and mccutcheon is the front man so he gets tons of love. I like him as a player and am personally pulling for them to make the post season but I don't think his numbers compare to some other candidates (I am partial to the rbi and he is behind some of the others there).

And the gold glove is nothing but a big popularity contest and is often influenced by offensive numbers, so that in and of itself doesn't lend me to say he is a gamechanger defensively, which yadier and Freeman are. It was several years back when Wright won the gold glove in new York with 15+ errors and chipper had about 4 that year and got snubbed. Needless to say Wright had good offensive numbers so he was popular enough to win gold glove.

 

[ReadyReady]

"Just yanking your chain here" = "serious chip on shoulder". Got it.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Guess I should have put ** in there somewhere.

.

 

[shoeless joe]

The Braves' league has never done them any favors, IMO. The Nationals of last year were a nice addition, but it's usually just not a strong division.

The Braves may have the best record, but look at everyone else in the conference. Geez.

With that said, Freeman is good and should be talked up more. I wish I could judge him more on postseason performance than regular.

I'm also a Cards fan, and I think Yadi's my pick. But I don't think a Cardinal gets it because the players make it seem interchangeable.

So "as a card fan" do you think your guys face better pitching on a consistent basis? The NL central is an offense first division. Take a look at the starters the braves faced in their division: strausburg,Zimmerman, Gio gonzalez, Harvey, gee, Fernandez, hamels, Lee, and I'm sure I'm missing a few. The cards hitters, while still being excellent offensive players, have had to face nowhere near the # of top end starters on a consistent basis as Atlanta has.

So if your point is that Freeman would have better numbers if he played in the central, then you may have a point. If your saying he doesn't face top competition and gets overlooked because of it then I'll have to disagree and assume you don't watch many games other than when your cards put up big numbers against the aces of the brewers staunch rotation ...

 

[DawgatAuburn]

So basically if anyone other than Freeman wins it, the Braves fans will scream conspiracy/screwjob/something like that. Got it.

 

[dorndawg]

Everyone has a different definition of MVP, but if I were building a team I'd go 1) Goldschmidt 2) Kershaw.