National League MVP Candidates on Possible Last Place Teams
By Tim Boyle
Can the National League MVP Award end up in the hands of a guy on a last place team? If it does, there are a few candidates to consider.
When it comes to the MVP vote, should a team’s place in the standings matter? Some say yes. Others argue that since it is an individual award, the team’s winning percentage is meaningless.
Last year the National League MVP winner, Kris Bryant, was a member of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs. The Cubs’ success certainly aided in his victory, but his numbers also support the win. He had by far the best WAR. It certainly helped that he was on the league’s best team. Yet, if the Cubs had come up short, he would have been the easy victor.
Over in the American League, Mike Trout took home the MVP award. His Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim didn’t even crack the .500 mark. Like Bryant, Trout seemed a pretty easy choice even with some strong contenders.
Wins hardly matter when it comes to selecting the league’s best player. Last year proved this with Trout’s victory. Baseball is one of those sports where one player cannot turn a franchise around. Many times, the worst teams in baseball employ terrific talent which goes wasted in a losing campaign.
When the 2017 season begins, the story will remain the same. Potential last place teams will continue to give at-bats to guys whose talents go unseen in the win column because of how poorly the rest of the roster was built. Specifically in the National League, there are a few players who look capable of winning the MVP award despite suiting up for a team that has a chance to finish at the bottom of the league.