MLB expansion-era first basemen: MVP shares
Peer and contemporary recognition is one important tool for measuring a player’s skill. This category is designed to factor that into the overall evaluation. For this offensive-oriented position, the best choice is MVP shares.
Each player’s MVP share is based on the percentage of available MVP votes he received during the course of his career.
Here’s the ranking of the 10 highest shares among the 30 players who were considered.
| Player | MVP shares |
|---|---|
| Albert Pujols | 6.91 |
| Frank Thomas | 4.79 |
| Miguel Cabrera | 4.68 |
| Eddie Murray | 3.33 |
| Willie Stargell | 3.30 |
| Joey Votto | 3.06 |
| Jeff Bagwell | 2.89 |
| Ryan Howard | 2.49 |
| Steve Garvey | 2.46 |
| Pedro Guerrero | 2.30 |
At this stage in the exercise, a positional hierarchy is clearing asserting itself. Four players – Thomas, Pujols, Cabrera and Stargell – have ranked in the top 10 in all three categories.
All four were among the top five in this category. Pujols is a three-time MVP selection – 2005, 2008 and 2009 – who was selected unanimously in 2009. Thomas won the award unanimously in 1993 and repeated in 1994, losing only three first-place votes.
Cabrera won in 2012 – his Triple Crown season – and repeated in 2013, although both years Mike Trout denied him unanimous status. He was runner-up in 2010.
Stargell famously split the Most Valuable Player award with Keith Hernandez in 1979. Between 1971-73, he finished second to Joe Torre, third behind Johnny Bench and second to Pete Rose.