Trout for MVP talk is starting

[yk9001]

http://deadspin.com/mike-trouts-shortest-season-is-his-most-impressive-yet-1797636135

[JustATroutFan]

Trout's slash line in August is so much better than Altuve's. At the rate they are going, Trout's winning the AL MVP this season...................again!

[totdprods]

I'd even be satisfied with him placing second again, just to keep that streak alive.

[floplag]

I think the voters are tired of this to be honest.  Yes im angry right now at the team but i cant see them giving him another MVP and another also ran team if anyone else is even close.

Frankly i think Simmons will take votes from him in that regard as you could easily argue that as good as Trout has been its been Simmons that carried this team as much as he has this season. 

[jsnpritchett]

The only way he comes close to winning is if the Angels miraculously make the playoffs, and he does something dramatic to help seal the deal.  Otherwise, there's really no reason to give it to him over Altuve, even if he ends up ahead of Altuve in WAR.  I know some people think that whoever has the highest WAR should pretty much automatically get the MVP, but I've never really bought into that way of looking at it.  Generally speaking, voters prefer a good narrative to go along with the stats.  "A guy who played 2/3 of a season but had a good WAR on a team that didn't make the playoffs" isn't a great narrative from a voting standpoint.

[Angelsjunky]

Pretty much what Jason said. If Trout keeps playing well for the rest of the year, he's going to finish with some ungodly numbers and put up 8+ WAR in 115ish games played (Trout's 68 games played + 49 games left - 2 games off = 115 games). He'll also probably end with a slash line of something like .330+/.450+/.650+, and 35 HR. But he's also probably going to finish with fewer than 90 RBI and 90 Runs, which I'm guessing no MVP hitter has ever done.

And it isn't like there aren't other good options: Altuve is having a great year. Judge has really cooled off since the Home Run Derby, but he could also get hot and finish with 50 HR. Or even Chris Sale could sneak out the CYA and MVP, if Judge doesn't heat up and Altuve loses votes to teammates.

Actually, Trout DOES have a chance, if only because there is no longer a clear favorite. Theoretically the AL MVP could win with getting less than half of the 1st place votes.

[Cdaniel]

8 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

The only way he comes close to winning is if the Angels miraculously make the playoffs, and he does something dramatic to help seal the deal.  Otherwise, there's really no reason to give it to him over Altuve, even if he ends up ahead of Altuve in WAR.  I know some people think that whoever has the highest WAR should pretty much automatically get the MVP, but I've never really bought into that way of looking at it.  Generally speaking, voters prefer a good narrative to go along with the stats.  "A guy who played 2/3 of a season but had a good WAR on a team that didn't make the playoffs" isn't a great narrative from a voting standpoint.

Maybe that's his case though.  If they miss the WC by 2-3 games but trout leads in WAR playing only 2/3rds of a season wouldn't that make a case for him?  they Could argue if Trout played a full season the Angels make the playoffs.

[fan_since79]

Since May 26th (60 games), Altuve is hitting .412.

That's absurd.

 

[Angel Oracle]

Altuve truly deserves it.    Trout truly deserves the 2nd spot, since Judge has looked like slop since the ASB.   Who else is there?

[JustATroutFan]

I think if Altuve slumps in August and September while Trout continues to put up godly numbers, even by his standards, the AL MVP race is going to be quite interesting. I know a lot of people will say that Trout missed like 2 months with injury but that doesn't mean that Trout is disqualified from winning the MVP.  Put it this way: if Altuve has 200 more plate appearances than Trout but has something like a .240/.300/.390 slash line with those 200+ extra plate appearances, does he deserves that much credit in the MVP vote?

[aznhockeyguy]

Though I do enjoy the WAR statistic, I still take it with a grain of salt as it takes into consideration the position the player plays.  Yes, Trout's play has been amazing for the number of games he's played, but for this season at least, Altuve, especially if he keeps up his production should win the MVP.

[Chuck]

I just wish the MVP award would be defined. 

Is it MOST VALUABLE PLAYER to the team or to the league, or both?

If it's both, or even to the league, I think Trout should be the unanimous choice IMHO. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

Altuve. Trouts injury cost him too much (though if the stars align ill be ecstatic).

I hope altuve wins the WS mvp...or anyone else whos not a dodger.

[Angel Oracle]

4 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

I just wish the MVP award would be defined. 

Is it MOST VALUABLE PLAYER to the team or to the league, or both?

If it's both, or even to the league, I think Trout should be the unanimous choice IMHO. 

If Trout had missed just 25 games instead of 45 games, I can see it.   Then again, Willie McCovey was 1959 NL ROTY despite playing only slightly over 2 months in the majors that year. 

My hope is to see Trout finish no worse than 2nd, and Simmons somehow crack the top 5.   The Halos, to my recollection, have never, eeever had two top 5's.  

[jsnpritchett]

22 minutes ago, Cdaniel said:

Maybe that's his case though.  If they miss the WC by 2-3 games but trout leads in WAR playing only 2/3rds of a season wouldn't that make a case for him?  they Could argue if Trout played a full season the Angels make the playoffs.

The Angels record without Trout was essentially identical to when they did have him.  It was a weird quirk, but hard to make a case based on that, too.

[jsnpritchett]

8 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

I just wish the MVP award would be defined. 

Is it MOST VALUABLE PLAYER to the team or to the league, or both?

If it's both, or even to the league, I think Trout should be the unanimous choice IMHO. 

http://bbwaa.com/voting-faq/

"There seems to always be a debate about the definition of the MVP. What does the ballot say?

Dear Voter:

There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier.

The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931:

1.  Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.

2.  Number of games played.

3.  General character, disposition, loyalty and effort.

4.  Former winners are eligible.

5.  Members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.

You are also urged to give serious consideration to all your selections, from 1 to 10. A 10th-place vote can influence the outcome of an election. You must fill in all 10 places on your ballot. Only regular-season performances are to be taken into consideration.

Keep in mind that all players are eligible for MVP, including pitchers and designated hitters."

[fan_since79]

If Altuve keeps up this 60-game pace since May 26th for the rest of the season, he will finish with 238 hits, more or less, and a batting average of around .380.

If he can actually keep to his more recent, even better pace (.469 since July 4th), he would be at about .397.

He is leading the AL right now in several statistical categories, like hits, OPS+, total bases, runs created, and a couple others, along with his .364 BA.

Edited August 8, 2017 by fan_since79

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 hour ago, jsnpritchett said:

The only way he comes close to winning is if the Angels miraculously make the playoffs, and he does something dramatic to help seal the deal.  Otherwise, there's really no reason to give it to him over Altuve, even if he ends up ahead of Altuve in WAR.  I know some people think that whoever has the highest WAR should pretty much automatically get the MVP, but I've never really bought into that way of looking at it.  Generally speaking, voters prefer a good narrative to go along with the stats.  "A guy who played 2/3 of a season but had a good WAR on a team that didn't make the playoffs" isn't a great narrative from a voting standpoint.

I do think it's going to be tough for Trout to win, even though I think he is likely going to lead the league in WAR again. His WAR will be similar to Altuve, even if higher, and Altuve is going to have that sick batting average and that great Houston record. The only way Trout wins, IMO is if the Angels grab the wild card spot AND Trout finishes with a higher average than Altuve.

[Chuck]

54 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

http://bbwaa.com/voting-faq/

"There seems to always be a debate about the definition of the MVP. What does the ballot say?

Dear Voter:

There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier.

The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931:

1.  Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.

2.  Number of games played.

3.  General character, disposition, loyalty and effort.

4.  Former winners are eligible.

5.  Members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.

You are also urged to give serious consideration to all your selections, from 1 to 10. A 10th-place vote can influence the outcome of an election. You must fill in all 10 places on your ballot. Only regular-season performances are to be taken into consideration.

Keep in mind that all players are eligible for MVP, including pitchers and designated hitters."

Thank you for posting this. 

[Dtwncbad]

Here is my personal abbreviated way to determine MVP.

At the end of the season look at all the stats and data.

Now imagine you had a time machine to go back to the beginning of this season, and you get to hand pick players to build the best team possible.

Knowing what you know now, from stats and data, what player would you pick first if you wanted to build the best team possible?

That's the MVP.

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

If Trout had missed just 25 games instead of 45 games, I can see it.   Then again, Willie McCovey was 1959 NL ROTY despite playing only slightly over 2 months in the majors that year. 

My hope is to see Trout finish no worse than 2nd, and Simmons somehow crack the top 5.   The Halos, to my recollection, have never, eeever had two top 5's.  

Which is ironic, being the team is so bad this year. In years past, when we had some really good teams, im suprised its never happened.

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, fan_since79 said:

If Altuve keeps up this 60-game pace since May 26th for the rest of the season, he will finish with 238 hits, more or less, and a batting average of around .380.

If he can actually keep to his more recent, even better pace (.469 since July 4th), he would be at about .397.

He is leading the AL right now in several statistical categories, like hits, OPS+, total bases, runs created, and a couple others, along with his .364 BA.

Trout has a MUCH higher OPS+.  216-175.  

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, fan_since79 said:

If Altuve keeps up this 60-game pace since May 26th for the rest of the season, he will finish with 238 hits, more or less, and a batting average of around .380.

If he can actually keep to his more recent, even better pace (.469 since July 4th), he would be at about .397.

He is leading the AL right now in several statistical categories, like hits, OPS+, total bases, runs created, and a couple others, along with his .364 BA.

Good for him. I dont normally like guys from "rival" teams, but altuve is cool as hell. Its crazy that hes this good, and has been for a few years now, and he still isnt really a big name guy (except to serious baseball fans).

[jsnpritchett]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Trout has a MUCH higher OPS+.  216-175.  

He doesn't currently have enough plate appearances to qualify for rate stat categories, though.  So Altuve is technically leading the league, as fan_since79 said.

[VariousCrap]

If Trout continues what he is doing and carries the team to the WC, he has a very good chance.  If they don't get the WC, Altuve will get it.  Trout will come in second.