Does Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter really deserve the AL Most Valuable Player Award over Twins catcher Joe Mauer? Allen Barra writes about “The Case for Derek Jeter, MVP” in the Wall Street Journal. But that case seems to be based on - surprise! - intangibles more than statistics. Barra writes:
“The Yankees currently have the best record in the major leagues, and many observers think the primary reason is Mr. Jeter, who, at age 35, has rebounded from a subpar 2008 season to one of his best years ever.”
Well, this Yankee fan observer does not believe that Jeter is the “primary reason” the team is on top. To be sure, he is having a heck of a season, but here are some other noteworthy achievements in Yankeeland this year:
* CC Sabathia has won 16 games, leading the AL, and has so far earned every penny of his $161 million, 8-year contract
* Mark Teixeira has garnered some MVPesque numbers of his own, with his sixth straight 30+ homer, 100+RBI season; he’s currently leading the league in RBIs
* Mariano Rivera is having another phenomenal year, with an AL-leading 38 saves in 39 save opportunities
* Phil Hughes has been the lights-out eighth inning reliever the Yanks have coveted for years
* Johnny Damon is in the midst of a career renaissance, thanks in no small part to the new Yankee Stadium being perfect for his swing (17 of his 24 homers are at home)
* Catcher Jorge Posada, at age 38, has 20 homers and 70 RBI in just 93 games
* Nick Swisher, who was supposed to be a part-time player, has hit 23 homers, and has a .370 OBP
And that’s not even including the at-times-brilliant pitching from A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, and Joba Chamberlain, Melky Cabrera’s three walkoff hits, and the solid relieving job Alfredo Aceves has done. I’m sure I’m forgetting other contributions, but from top to bottom, this has been the best team the Yanks have put on the field in years.
There’s even reason to wonder if Jeter is even the MVP of his own team. The only two offensive categories he leads the Yankees in are batting average and stolen bases. Alex Rodriguez has a higher on-base percentage, Robinson Cano has more hits, and Johnny Damon has more runs scored. Jeter is eighth on the Yankees in homers, sixth on the Yankees in doubles, fifth in triples, fifth in walks, seventh in OPS, eighth in RBI, and tenth in slugging percentage. The Yanks have a record-tying seven players who have hit 20 homers this year, but Jeter isn’t one of them.
Meanwhile, Joe Mauer, despite missing the first month of the season due to injury, isn’t just leading his team in most of their offensive categories. The catcher is, as Barra notes, “leading the American League in batting (around .370), on-base percentage and slugging average.” Jeter doesn’t lead the league in a single category.
The reason Mauer’s team is still contending in the playoff race at all is thanks to him; he is more valuable to the Twins than Jeter is to the Yankees. All that, plus having perhaps the best season for a catcher ever, should make him the AL MVP. Look at the disparity in numbers:
Jeter
G AB R H HR RBI AVG OBP SLG OPS
128 540 95 178 17 61 .330 .396 .474 .870
Mauer
G AB R H HR RBI AVG OBP SLG OPS
108 417 80 153 26 80 .367 .435 .612 1.046
But while Barra acknowledges Mauer’s statistical superiority, he also quotes writers who point out more, as he puts it, “subjective arguments” for Jeter. Marty Appel compares him to fellow Yankee captain Thurman Munson. They both lead by example and performance, Appel says. “They helped make their teams better just by being there. No one ever slacked off with either of those guys on the field.”
Yeah, it’s not like the Yanks ever lost to their most hated rivals in the playoffs after being up 3-0 in the series with Jeter as captain or anything. Or that Jeter’s teammate Carl (American Idle) Pavano was a malingerer who let bruised buttocks, among other dubious ailments, keep him from pitching. Oh, wait.
Besides, the Yankees’ more fun atmosphere this year has arguably contributed to the team’s never-say-die attitude (and their own intangibles) this year. This chemistry, exemplified by kangaroo court, whipped cream pies, and wrestling belt awards, has absolutely nothing to do with Jeter, but with new players like Sabathia, Burnett, and Swisher.
In another argument for Jeter’s candidacy, Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com tells Barra: “Jeter has been the anchor on a team that could have been derailed by injuries to key players like Alex Rodriguez. Winning has to count for something.”
Let’s look at the numbers. The Yankees went 13-15 without an injured A-Rod. During those 28 games, Jeter hit just .275, with 4 homers and 12 RBI. Some anchor.
And since A-Rod has returned to the lineup, the team has gone 73-33. By Ozanian’s standard, A-Rod, not Jeter, should be MVP.
Barra also cites the Yankees’ history of winning since Jeter became the shortstop in 1996, calling him “the linchpin for six pennant and four World Series winners.”
Wouldn’t Jeter also be the “linchpin” for that worst collapse in baseball history as well, and for the team not winning a World Series since 2000, despite having the biggest payroll? Or does Jeter only get credit for the good stuff on his watch? Besides, I thought Barra, a writer I usually like, would have a better argument than what I call the “shut up, he’s got four rings” pro-Jeter defense.
Dave Fleming of Bill James Online seems to suggest to Barra that Jeter has never won MVP because “there’s always been a bit of resentment toward Derek outside of New York, where he is worshipped.” He also suggests that “to play in New York might cost you votes.”
C’mon now. If there is anybody resented outside of Yankeeland, it’s A-Rod, not Jeter (and if anything, Jeter is invariably the player Yankee-haters cite as the one Bomber they admire.)
But playing in New York didn’t seem to hurt Alex Rodriguez’s chances at MVP - he won two of them in his first four seasons as a Yankee. And Jeter won three Gold Gloves in a row from 2004-2006 despite being ranked defensively as “mediocre or worse,” as Barra writes.
In addition to citing intangibles, leadership, and winning, Barra compares Jeter’s candidacy to Paul Newman finally getting an Oscar for “The Color of Money,” where it becomes a “lifetime achievement award.” But just because Jeter didn’t win the MVP in 1999 or 2006 when he was certainly worthy of it doesn’t mean he should win it now.
Besides, MLB already has a lifetime achievement award - it’s called the Hall of Fame. Let’s hope baseball voters keep it that way.
Photos by Keith Allison
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More on these topics:
AL MVP, Derek Jeter, Intangibles, Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Thurman Munson
Alvaro Fernandez Ravelo says:
If you want intangibles, then I would say that the Yankees are doing great because they have chemistry. Goofballs Burnett and Swisher are funny and the holy brotherhood, corporate type, can't have fun, of 96-2000 are losing power.
Russ Wellen says:
Love Derek Jeter, but, in a just world, Mauer beats him out again. The Hall of Fame is a pretty good consolation prize.
Emmanuel says:
How dare you insult Jeter the way you are. MVP stands for Most Valuable Player; key word Valuable. Mauer is a great player but let's be honest his team is not going any where, they are not competing for a playoff spot and it's not his fault. Where Jeter has been the catalyst for this team since April finish. No one is perfect but if there is a better contact hitter than Jeter (besides Suski) please let me know. He always comes through in the clutch and never beats himself. The name Captain Intangibles was given to him by his rival fans the Redsoxs. Jeter is a hall of famer and the only thing that awaits him is an MVP which he WILL receive this year.
chip walker says:
Lisa: You're otherwise a fine chronicler of all things Yankee, but your sad antipathy toward Jeter (jealousy? love of A-Rod? what is it, exactly?) is threatening to ruin your objectivity. To trash Jeter -- yeah, HE was responsible for the ALCS loss in 2004 (recall his 3-run triple against Pedro in Game 5...or his throwing out Damon at the plate to begin Game 7?)--just embarrases you. You allow your likes and dislikes to color your writing...and it weakens your overall credibility. You and we have been privileged to have been able to watch Jeter for 15 years ... and to denigrarte him to make a point is unwarranted. (And I love how you and the other Mauer boosters seems to give him CREDIT for missing a month, when his team fell out of contention in the first place ... and now champion his worth for "keeping them in contention"...WITH A .500 RECORD in a pathetic division with two of the worst teams in the sport this year, KC and Cleveland!). And you conveniently leave out that he's protected in the lineup by Justin Morneau (an MVP candidate himself), adds 25 points to his average at home by playing on a carpet--how many of Jeter's ground balls would go through if he played in the Metrodome?--and faces some of the worst pitching in the game 72 times a year? It makes for a particularly poor argument when you leave out ANYTHING that might refute it.
Otherwise, I particularly enjoy "Subway Squawkers."
yankees suck says:
great article
Lisa Swan says:
Derek is a great player, but his name is Jeter, not Jesus. And if he's going to get all the credit for the four rings, he should also get some blame for the Yankees' playoff futility in this decade. And Mauer is having a better year.
Thanks for reading, though!
Rob S. says:
You're right Jeter probably doesn't deserve MVP, Mark Teixiera does. Mauer has great numbers (although about 100 fewer ABs than most candidates) but if your team is going nowhere then you're not that valuable.
Larry says:
The Yankees having a better record DOES NOT mean that jeter is more valuable as a player than the yankees. The yankees have several players having amazing years. The twins really do not (morneau is falling, nathen hasn't been as spectacular.
Jeter is 5th on his team in ops with 2 others not far behind.
Say what you want about Jeter's season, but you know at heart that the only reason Jeter is being considered for mvp is because he is playing for the yankees. If he had the same stats and was on a small market team with a mediocre record, he wouldn't even fisish in the top 10 for voting this year.
Jim says:
Jeter is great player have a really good year, but lets be honest, he was better in 99 and 2006 and probably in 2000 as well. Mauer is having a monster year and has made the Twins so much better. I love the arguement about Jeter giving himself up and possibly sacrificing his personal shot at MVP (as written in other articles). Interestingly, Mauer has as many sacrafices this year as Jeter in fewer games....
Now comparison. The real question is how much $$$ are the Yankees going to be paying Mauer in 2 years.
Can't get back those two minutes says:
This is an awful piece -- straight up. I'm sorry to be so harsh, Ms. Swan, but you refer to yourself as a "Yankee fan observer," which I am translating into "I have a Yankee t-shirt with A-Rod's name on the back, which I always wear to my favorite Upper East Side sports bar since I've moved here three years ago. I'm such a New Yorker!" If you were an actual fan you would be appalled by your own story. To blame Jeter for the ALCS loss to the Red Sox is just wrong. But I'm sure you didn't watch the series so how would you know? Additionally, placing blame on Jeter for Pavano being an injury prone pitcher is just absurd. And then to praise Joba for his "at times brilliant" pitching is yet another notch on your incompetent scoreboard. Burnett is the only one of those three pitchers who has been at times very good and at times pitiful. Pettite has been solid as a rock this year, but neither brilliant nor awful. Plus, to say Sabathia has "earned every penny" of his exorbitant contract tells me you have very little knowledge of the worth of money. I would be hard pressed to find any single athlete who has rightfully earned the millions of dollars he makes for playing a sport. Lastly, Jeter's post season numbers more or less reflect his regular season averages, which is to say he has been what everyone expects him to be in the playoffs. He is not a middle of the lineup guy who is asked to drive in runs, thus he cannot be blamed directly for the lack of scoring (A-rod takes full blame for that the last few post seasons) or for the lackluster pitching performances.
I'm not here to argue that Jeter is the outright frontrunner for the MVP. But you can make a solid case for Mauer without having to dump on Jeter. Although Mauer's Twins are hovering around .500 and most likely will be excluded from this year's playoffs does not necessarily mean that he should not be considered for MVP. A-Rod won the award while with the Texas Rangers who did not make the playoffs. I don't agree with that philosophy but I don't have a vote. Let's put it this way -- how amazing are Mauer's numbers if his team goes home without tasting the postseason? Doesn't seem to be very valuable to me. Maybe he should try hitting .400 for the season and then his lowly Twins could have a chance.
This tripe reeks of that of a casual fan at best, and yet somehow you are getting paid for it. Well, this is certainly the last time I visit this joke of publication. Too bad for your fellow writers who may actually have had something insightful to say in their stories.
Lisa Swan says:
Thanks for reading and responding. Rob, Teixeira does have a stronger case than Jeter, but I still think Mauer deserves the award. And Larry, I agree with you
As for "Can't get back those two minutes," you may not be able to get those minutes back, but you cost me a lot more than two minutes just wading through your comments! ;)
I don't have the time to address all your points, especially even when you concede that you are "not here to argue that Jeter is the outright frontrunner for the MVP," and you fail to make a case that he should get the award. But I did smile and chuckle over your assertion that I'm some Upper East Side dilettante newcomer to Yankeeland. That's a new one.
jay ferguson says:
Derek Jeter is more valuable because he has better teammates. With this sign of the apocalypse, I'm going to blow myself up on Thunder Island. It's been great, see ya!
Gus says:
I love the Jeter-defending replies. Jeter is a great player, a mortal lock, first ballot hall of famer in my opinion. However, the replies by chip walker and can't get back are perfect illustrations of the argument I often have with one of my Yankee fan friends: many Yankee fans are Yankee fans first and baseball fans second. They have little knowledge of the game as it's played outside the Bronx. I blame the media. If you want to watch a nationally televised ballgame (on ESPN or Fox), your options are the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Mets, or the Cardinals.
Mike says:
This whole issue is ridiculous. To the people who think Derek Jeter is going to win the MVP this year; not gonna happen. To the people who can't see his worth as a baseball player or to the Yankees; you should just stop talking about baseball.