Hard to believe it's Justin Morneau winning the AL MVP. He was not even an All-Star. Had the game been played at an AL ballpark, he would have been an All-Star. This is an upset. I really really thought it was going to be DJ. Congrats to Justified.
I was suprised that Morneau won it over Jeter and Ortiz (who was a distant 3rd). Good for him and the Twins...one of my favorite teams not named the Astros. He had a monster year that no one knew about. This could be one of the most quiet MVP years ever. He might already be a trivia question that no one outside of Minnesota knows the answer to.
Good point, I was talking about position players & wasn't even thinking of Johan. If Mauer hadn't missed 20 games...
Actually, I'd say he's the 4th best on the team if you are talking about best players at their position. Mauer, Johan are the best at their positions and Morneau and Nathan are arguably the best at theirs. I'm very glad to see Justin win the award though, the guy went from a huge disappointment last season to completely turning it around after the Twins horrible start and living up to his potential. If only Liriano hadn't gotten injured, the Twins may have actually had the ROY to go along with the Cy Young, MVP and Batting Champ. That would have been amazing.
It would not surprise me if there was a league wide draft of Twins players that Morneau would be taken 4th (5th if Liriano was completely healthy). That being said, I was happy to see him win. If Mauer continues his development, he'll win a couple before he's through.
"position player" = non-pitcher But you may be right about Nathan...though I'd place lesser value on a guy who pitches ~80 innings vs. a guy who plays everyday (or a guy who pitches 200+ innings...which brings us back to the travesty of Hoffman finishing ahead of RoyO in the NLCYA). Mauer is a complete stud - GG caliber defense behind the plate & a wicked stick...and I remember all the crap Minny took for drafting him ahead of Mark Prior.
They better switch Mauer to a different position (ala Craig Biggio). His legs will get shredded if he keeps playing catcher. He's too good a hitter to get stuck playing catcher forever because his career will be over quicker than necessary.
The list of catchers who have had healthy, productive careers into their mid-late 30's is a long one. Unless some congenital/chronic leg/shoulder problem comes up, the Twins would be absolutely insane to move Mauer to another position. Gold Glove quality catchers are hard to find, GG quality catchers who can hit like Mauer come along once every 20 years or so. Biggio was moved from behind the plate because a) his offensive game, unlike Mauer's, was built around his speed; and b) he was not a great catcher.
