Do you think a player who's team doesnt make the playoffs should still win an MVP award?

Question

I dont think they should. My feeling is, if the team didnt make the playoffs with you, then they didnt really need you. I think the MVP award should have to go to a player on a team that makes the post season. Just my opinion, whats yours?

RICKNY, first of all, the sucky Yank-these arent making it. Second, my question has NOTHING to do with whether A-Rod wins the MVP on that crappy team that plays in the Bronx. Third, I'm not "afraid" of someone winning an MVP award. I posted this question to read other peoples valid opinions, not a dumbass opinion like yours.

I would have NO problem if A-Rod won the MVP award this year. He's very deserving of it. He's having one of the best seasons I've ever seen anyone have in my lifetime. Again, this question was just to get peoples opinions. This is why I hate most of you dumbass, loser Yankee fans. No offense to the handful of cool Yankee fans I speak to on here. Even my mother, the die hard Yankee fan she is, said most Yankee fans are idiots the other day.

Answer 1

So what you are saying is, that if a position player hits .400 for the season, has 130 rbi's, 40 home runs, 100 runs, and wins a gold glove, he should not be the league MVP just because his team didn't make the playoffs?

Sure, this is an elevated example and surely wouldn't happen, but just what if? You can't deny that player the MVP award just because his team didn't make the playoffs.

Remember, it's the "league" MVP. The most valuable player in the entire league.

Answer 2

Okay first things first. MVP stands for Most Valuable Pleyer. It doesnt change a players value if hes on a bad team. Its not like basketball were a medicore player can put up all-star type numbers on a horrible team. A player is on his own at the plate. Lets try another situation. Just hypothetically say A-Rod had these numbers at the end of the year (NO, I'm not saying he will.). Okay, lets say he hit .402 with 75 HRs and 201 RBIs. MVP no doubt right? Well lets say the Yankees won only 70 games. Would we still be asking this question? The answer is no because With the forementioned season A-Rod would become the first player to hit .400 since Ted Williams, break Barry Bonds' single-season home run record, and surpass Hack Wilson's 1930 mark of 191 RBIs, while playing on a last place team. Now, we know A-Rod wont have these numbers, but he has a chance at 60 HRs and will have close to 165 RBIS, He'll hit around .315 also. Put him on Deroit, the RBI numbers skyrocket, and the average possibly goes up also, and A-Rod is unamimous MVP. My point is: dont hold one player, in this case A-Rod, accountable for a poor team.

Answer 3

I think if that player is far and away better than everybody else in the league, then yes.

ARod is having himself a monster year. It's not solely his fault that the Yanks are under .500. They've had some abysmal pitching this year, which is something that's completely out of his control. So, to say that the award should go to the person that most contributes to his team's success only if that team is in playoff contention is a bit unfair, because imagine where the Yanks would be without his contribution. If he goes on to hit 60 HRs, 150 RBIs, hits .320 and scores 150 runs, I'd like to hear the arguement that he's NOT the MVP, regardless of where the Yanks are.

Answer 4

No and Yes. IF the team didnt make the playoffs by 3+ games then no. But if this player took a bad team and made them contenders and tooks them 2 or less games back from the playoffs then no.

This season A-Rod should not win MVP if the Yanks stay the way they are. The Yanks are to way back and with out A-Rod they will be in the same situation

Last season Howard won the MVP because he made the Phillies a threat and people were scared to face them if they made the playoffs which they almost did.

Answer 5

I always interpreted MVP as the most valuable player in the league. I'm a numbers freak too. Remember when A-Rod won the MVP with the dismal Rangers? People were outraged, but I saw it as due justice because he deserved it. And think about it this way. If a player on an awful team puts up great numbers, how out-of-this-world would those numbers be if he played on a good team? Had A-Rod come up with the Yankees instead of the Mariners, he'd probably have shattered the single season RBI record long ago. Basically, I think MVP should go to the best player in each league, simple as that.

Answer 6

Aiming for a career in sportswriting?

The notion that the MVP MUST come from a playoff team is, and I'll not be kind, stupid. Take that position and the ballot, which has ten slots, can ONLY have players from the four playoff teams per league. Since this never happens, the writers who propound the "postseason team" method are liars, but this never bothers them.

Remember that, on the field, "drama" is NOT "value". It may be for the writers, as drama makes their job easier by spoonfeeding them storylines. But the players are paid to help win games, and drama does nothing toward that end. Only on-field value delivered, does.

I can see making a small concession, that if there were two leading and essentially identical candidates, then hairsplitting by going with the one who plays for the stronger contending team; but I find no basis for mandating the candidate's team must reach the postseason. That really works out to penalizing great-performing players for having inadequate teammates, and that is NOT in keeping with the intent of the awards.

The MVPs are league-wide awards; using one's team's performance is not very relevant. Maybe for hairsplitting, but not as majority guidance for casting votes.

Don't even get me started on how pathetic the BBWAA in general treats pitchers on MVP ballots.

Answer 7

The playoffs should have NO impact on who the MVP is. TEAMS make the playoffs, not individuals. The MVP is simply the most valuable person to their team in the league. That has little to do with the playoffs, especially in a league that only allows 8 teams to make it. If eight teams make it to the playoffs through good team work and none of them have a clear cut best player and none of their best players are better than the 20 best players in the league that DIDN'T make the playoffs, who do you give the award to then? If you make the playoffs a requirement, then you are completely redefining that award. But we don't need a playoff award. There already is a World Series MVP.

Answer 8

This is the dilemma we are faced with. Is it the best player of the year, or the player who the team could not live without. Because the best player this year (some say) is A-Rod. But without him, they would still be a bad team this year. But I believe if you look at last year, the Cubs fell apart because they lost Derrek Lee for a long period of time. He was most valuable to the team winning. When he was gone, they stunk. So could you say he should have won.

Best player this year - Maggs in Detroit. Hands down. He has done everything this year!

Answer 9

i love how a mets fan is asking this question. So tell me, are you not gonna give the mvp to a player who breaks the single season hr record, breaks hendersons single season sb record, a 400 plus avg and doesn't make the playoffs because his team can't pitch. Are you not gonna give the cy young, maybe even the mvp award to a pitcher who goes 20-0 with a Era less that 1 because he didn't make the playoffs because his team couldn't hit? I mean cmon. I kno ur directing this question at arod. Maybe u need to check a dictionary on the word valuable. Without arod, the yankees would've been one of the worst teams in baseball. If a player has the numbers and feats and is clearly better than everyone else, he should get it.

Answer 10

That's an age-old question. Some say MVP means most valuable to a good team that makes the playoffs. I say MVP means most valuable player and that's the player with the best stats, regardless of whether or not his team made the playoffs. Let's face it: there are some very good, great even, players whose teams are not good enough to make the playoffs.