Viva El Birdos doesn’t have much to say on the Albert Pujols phenomenon. Pujols’ selection was a foregone conclusion, and barring some sort of criminal act by the BBWAA against the slugger, he was always going to win.
Ryan Howard Over Chase Utley? What?
No, DanUpBaby is rightfully more concerned with the rest of the list. More specifically: Just how on Earth is Ryan Howard supposed to be more valuable than Chase Utley?
Obviously the BBWAA checked SBN’s crib notes; Albert Pujols wins unanimously, Hanley places second, and—well, Ryan Howard somehow continues to be grossly overrated by people who watch him and Chase Utley every day.
I don’t know how to explain this phenomenon; Chase Utley is among the smoothest-looking, most complete players in baseball, able to do just about anything, from home run hitting to Inside Baseball-y grit work, better than everybody else at his position. Ryan Howard is great in “the second halves of seasons”, but as simple as it seems to me maybe this is worth repeating: this means he is not great in the first halves of seasons. His team’s games count the same either way. Ryan Howard was probably one of the ten best hitters in the NL this year; he’s a slow first baseman. This is a difficult combination to turn into the third best player in baseball.
See More:
