August 24, 2002
Torre and Gleeman agree on MVP
Apparently Joe Torre is a fan of Aaron's Baseball Blog and, after reading my numerous posts about how Alex Rodriguez should be the MVP, he has decided to agree with me.
Yep, Joe Torre said yesterday that Alex Rodriguez is the MVP of the AL.
Did I mention that Mr. Torre is a very intelligent and thoughtful man? Well, he is!
It is sort of a meaningless story, mostly because the Yankees were playing the Rangers when he said it.
I am sure the Texas media was in his office and they asked him about ARod and he said...well, you can read the article.
Nevertheless, it is nice to see anyone, especially the manager of the Yankees, jumping on the ARod for MVP bandwagon.
I am really starting to get the feeling that this is ARod's year to finally win it.
I say finally because he deserved to win it last season, in 1999 and in 1996.
As of right now, ARod is on pace to hit .317/.402/.642 with 57 homers, 143 RBI and 129 Runs.
So he is 1st in HRs, 1st in RBI and 2nd to Jim Thome (who has missed quite a few games because of injuries) in On-base+Slugging (OPS).
Normally a first baseman who is doing that will win the MVP Award.
When a shortstop does it, it shouldn't even be a question.
Plus, his defense at shortstop is likely the best in the American League.
He leads the AL in Zone Rating with a .922. There is no one else who has one over .900.
He is 2nd in Range Factor.
And he is 1st in (the semi-meaningless stat of) errors with only 5 all season.
Did I mention he said yesterday that he is willing to "take a cut in pay -- 30 to 40 percent -- if it would make the game better."
I think the chance of that ever happening is about as good as me getting a full-time gig over at ESPN.com, but if it does happen...
Alex Rodriguez should be nominated for sainthood and tested to see if he is human.
And I'll make sure to say hello to Rob Neyer and Joe Morgan for you all...
