Which will happen sooner: a starting pitcher or a DH winning the MVP?

Question

There have been runners up of both during the last 10 years (Pedro in '99 and Ortiz in '05), but in general voters tend to shy away from the non-position players. Which position, SP or DH, will get the award sooner, and who do you think will do it? (my pick would be Travis Hafner)

Answer 1

I would say DH will win it before a pitcher. If a pitcher won 30+ games they would probably get the nod but I do not see that happening soon. If a pitcher is going to win it it would be Santana since he is the most dominating pitcher around right now. If a DH is gonna win it then I would say Ortiz.

Answer 2

Many pitchers have already won the MVP award. The list includes Lefty Grove, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, Roger Clemens and Dennis Eckersley among many others. The thing is, the recent trend is to not give the MVP to a pitcher. Dennis Eckersley was the last pitcher to win it in 1992 and in the National league, you have to go all the way back to 1968 when Bob Gibson won it. The national league is interesting because in the first 12 years of the MVP award (1931-1942) 5 of the winners were pitchers. Now, they haven't had a single one in almost 40 years.

The Cy Young award began in 1956 and probably made the voters less likely to give the MVP to a pitcher. In fact, every pitcher that won an MVP award since then also won the Cy Young. I think that MLB and the media have realized that this is a waste of marketing value for the sport to highlight one player when the opportunity exists to highlight two. Even this past season the media talked about how Santana shouldn't get both the MVP and the Cy Young, when he was clearly the best pitcher and most valuable overall player by far. That says to me that the days of pitchers winning the MVP are over. I do think Mariano Rivera may get an MVP in the next couple of years if a starting pitcher is a clear choice to win the Cy. I don't think the voters will want Rivera to end his career without some hardware (just like when Eckersley won it in 92).

The DH question is interesting. It is only an option in one league and it has only been around since 73. I do think Ortiz will break the mold here. Some MVP winners were DH type players who were still playing in the field when they won (Frank Thomas, Juan Gonzalez, Jason Giambi). Even though they played the majority of their games at a position, in every one of those seasons, those three guys did some DHing.

Answer 3

Definatley the DH, for the only reason that pretty soon it looks like that they are going to be making the MVP award for Non-Pitcher players. Because of Santana last year have been hearing that a lot on all the sport talk radio shows. And ususally MLB takes a lot from those guys so, saying that I believe someone like a Ortiz or definately a Travis Hafner will win the MVP its just a matter of time.

Answer 4

Well that depends. If the Indians do as well as everyone seems to think they will, and Travis Hafner puts up the kind of numbers he did last season, I think we will see a DH win the MVP. Last season, Hafner carried the team, and his injury late killed them. And even as a DH the whole 6 grand slams in one season when you missed the last month is fairly impressive. I am not so sure we will ever see a starting pitcher win the MVP because hitting has become too important.

Answer 5

The MVP should be the participant that's maximum helpful to the crew. If that participant is going down, how badly is his crew affected in wins vs. losses. only how A-Rod replaced into in a position to win one with the Texas Rangers a pair years decrease back. The Rangers might want to've been looking for 40 wins with no-Rod that season. DH's take more desirable of a dip in balloting because they're no longer taking area in the entire pastime, so their offensive stats in a fashion are not lifelike. they're no longer dealing with the rigors of being in the container for the different 1/2 of the game taking area in protection. If we had 2 similar David Ortiz's on Boston's crew, and one performed 1st base, and one performed DH, you would see the DH version with more desirable sensible stats, because he wasn't as drained bodily from taking area in protection. So a DH is going to ought to damage some important information to win the MVP over a on a daily basis participant. similar is going for a tumbler. you do not see pitchers gobbling up MVP awards. If that were the case, then Johan Santana ought to've taken it very last 365 days in the previous Ortiz.

Answer 6

Well, the pitchers already have them (Clemens, Gibson, and Eckersley). However, I think the DH's are closer. Still, both seem far away. Ortiz probably only has a couple seasons left, and Hafner is injured at least once a season. Still, I think the next might be Royals prospect Billy Butler, whose poor defense might relegate him to a DH role, but whose bat is MVP caliber.

Answer 7

Ortiz is over-rated. If any DH has a chance, it will be from a team with a decent, but not great lineup. Ortiz has too much firepower around him.
I would say it would be a DH before a pitcher. But in my opinion, neither would be picked.

Answer 8

I'd say a pitcher, but both could definitely be deserving. Pedro would have won in '99 if 2 voters hadn't refused to put him in the top ten. It would take a dominating year for either to win, though. I'd say Johan Santana could win if he keeps pitching like he has

Answer 9

a starting pitcher. They would have to have a spectacular season. 20 + wins and around a 2.25 or lower ERA and lead (lead being the key word) their team to the playoffs. A DH doesn't deserve it because they are completely one dimensonal players. I think the person with the best chance to win it is Johann Santana.

Answer 10

I think if David Ortiz has another seaosn like he did last year, which is possible since the Red Sox have backed him up in the lineup with J.D. Drew, he will win the AL MVP. A starting pitcher probably has to win 25 to get in contention and good luck then.