BBWAA Has a Pulse: Morneau MVP

The Baseball Writers' Association of America showed rare signs of life today when they voted the Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau the 2007 American League MVP. They got it wrong, of course, as Morneau wasn't really even the most valuable player on his own team (it was Joltin' Joe Mauer), but the important thing is that Derek Jeter didn't win.

Before you start to harp on me for being a Yankee hater, let me say that Jeter had a killer year in 2006. He just wasn't, unfortunately, the MVP. If you take Jeter out of the Yankee lineup, they still make the postseason. Do the same with Mauer or even Morneau, and there's no way the Twins show up in October. I did some overly simple math today at work to show my students the basics arguments against voting for Jeter based solely on the fact he's Derek Jeter:

MIN: AVG OBP SLG OPS

Luis Castillo 0.296 0.358 0.370 0.728
Nick Punto 0.290 0.352 0.373 0.725
MAUER 0.347 0.429 0.507 0.936
Michael Cuddyer 0.284 0.362 0.504 0.866
MORNEAU xxx/xxx/xxx
Torii Hunter 0.278 0.336 0.490 0.826
Rondell White 0.246 0.276 0.365 0.641
Jason Tyner 0.312 0.345 0.353 0.698
Jason Bartlett 0.309 0.367 0.393 0.760

W/o Morneau 0.295 0.353 0.419 0.773


Luis Castillo 0.296 0.358 0.370 0.728
Nick Punto 0.290 0.352 0.373 0.725
MAUER xxx/xxx/xxx
Michael Cuddyer 0.284 0.362 0.504 0.866
MORNEAU 0.321 0.375 0.559 0.934
Torii Hunter 0.278 0.336 0.490 0.826
Rondell White 0.246 0.276 0.365 0.641
Jason Tyner 0.312 0.345 0.353 0.698
Jason Bartlett 0.309 0.367 0.393 0.760

Without Mauer 0.292 0.346 0.426 0.772

NYY:

Johnny Damon 0.285 0.359 0.482 0.841
JETER xxx/xxx/xxx
Jason Giambi 0.253 0.413 0.448 0.861
Alex Rodriguez 0.290 0.392 0.523 0.915
Jorge Posada 0.277 0.374 0.492 0.866
Robinson Cano 0.342 0.365 0.525 0.890
Bobby Abreu 0.297 0.424 0.462 0.886
Melky Cabrera 0.280 0.360 0.391 0.751
Bernie Williams 0.281 0.332 0.436 0.768

W/o Jeter: 0.288 0.377 0.470 0.847

Here's the basic point: if you take Jeter out of the Yankee lineup, even without Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffied, the "average" Yankee hitter is still much better than the average Minnesota hitter. As I said before, Jeter isn't as valuable to the Yankees as Mauer and Morneau to the Twins.

There's more to this argument than that, as in, more numbers to toss about, but I have to roll for this holiday weekend, and outside of maybe a quick post, I'll see everyone on the other side. Happy Thanksgiving.