Ben Zobrist Finishes 8th in AL MVP Voting

by R.J. Anderson on Nov 23, 2009 2:14 PM EST Comment 17 comments

Congrats to the much-deserving Joe Mauer.

Miguel Cabrera received a first place vote, Ben Zobrist did not finish above sixth on any ballot.

Zobrist: played meaningful defensive position, hit .297/.405/.543 with 27 home runs.

Cabrera: plays first base, hit .324/.396/.547 with 34 home runs.

Full results here. That's really all I care to write about this.

Update: Apparently Larry Stone was the one to vote Zobrist the highest. Dave Cameron and Derek Zumsteg constantly preach about how good Stone is so this is an unsurprising outcome.

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Congrats to the 19th most valuable player in the AL for 2009

Evan Longoria. Guess people rather have Michael Young, Robinson Cano or Adam Lind.

www.draysbay.com

by Tommy Rancel on Nov 23, 2009 2:20 PM EST via mobile reply actions

What, you think Longoria should have finished ahead of Greinke? NO WAY! ; )

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by Sky Kalkman on Nov 23, 2009 2:22 PM EST up reply actions

Honestly we know Bobby Abreu is more valuable than both.

www.draysbay.com

by Tommy Rancel on Nov 23, 2009 3:08 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

I'm glad Miggy got the 1st place vote and not Teix

I thought him and Verlander carried that Tigers team.

I'm not really a NUMBERS guy!!

by Andy Hellicksonstine on Nov 23, 2009 2:30 PM EST reply actions

I think leadership is often overrated

But showing up hung-over/still-drunk to an important game down the stretch, going 0 for 4, and having his team lose the division lead in the process….that has to come into play. I’m surprised he got any first place votes.

by GomesSweetGomes on Nov 23, 2009 2:53 PM EST up reply actions

I didn't say anything about leadership

He had, arguably, the best season at the plate for a first basemen and has made large strides with the glove. Both seem to come from him shedding some pounds, fwiw. No way in hell did he have a better season than Mauer, but I thought he was a more valuable player than Teix or any other first sacker.

I'm not really a NUMBERS guy!!

by Andy Hellicksonstine on Nov 23, 2009 3:12 PM EST up reply actions

Hooray to the BBWAA!

For getting rid of that horrible neon green background that made the site unreadable.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Nov 23, 2009 3:52 PM EST reply actions

I like their logo, it's very modern and professional

I'm a writer.

by Andy Hellicksonstine on Nov 23, 2009 3:54 PM EST up reply actions

For such stat happy people these meaningless awards seem to piss you off

Remember this Lamar Hoyt was once a Cy Young winner

by sternfan1 on Nov 23, 2009 4:00 PM EST reply actions

On the plus side, it's no longer blatently obvious to find Mark Topkin's 1st place vote.

I can't wait until we trade him for a reliever.

by kericr on Nov 23, 2009 4:09 PM EST reply actions

I'm content with Zobrist position

obviously more advanced stats would put him higher but at least Zorilla got some love. Kind of surprised that Bartlett was left off.

the ghost of stokes, camp, lugo strikes TB-sept 2009

by CubFanRaysaddict on Nov 23, 2009 5:06 PM EST reply actions

Kinsler got a vote?

Must have been solely for his 6 for 6 game.

by Blue or CONKZILLA on Nov 23, 2009 5:18 PM EST reply actions

He's a better player than Michael Young has or ever will be.

by R.J. Anderson on Nov 23, 2009 5:21 PM EST up reply actions

So Topkin thinks Bartlett was more valuable last year...

than Zobrist was this year?

http://blogs.tampabay.com/rays/2009/11/heres-how-one-mvp-ballot-looked.html#comments

http://blogs.tampabay.com/rays/2008/11/al-mvp-ballot.html

Boom. Outta Here.

by Ryan Gilliss on Nov 23, 2009 9:31 PM EST reply actions

No, that is not a proper deduction.

First, I think Zobrist was named Rays MVP this year.

Second, the vote for league MVP is a ranking. It is possible that a voter may think Zobrist had a better 2009 than Bartlett did a 2008 but that the competition for league MVP was tougher and deeper this year. Particularly if a voter considers the team’s position (which you may consider wrong-headed but which remains a consideration of many voters), one might argue that Bartlett’s contributions to getting the Rays to the post-season were more significant than Zobrist’s in a year the Rays finished third.

That said, I was disappointed he did not put Zobrist higher. I think he would have been justified putting him in the top 5, even as high as #2.

by bobr on Nov 23, 2009 10:00 PM EST up reply actions

I had dinner and drinks tonight...

With a very smart baseball friend of mine who lives and breaths Yankee baseball (oxymoron, I know). He’s been out of pocket with his family at Disney this week so when I told him of the Mauer/Cabrera vote, the 1st question he asked was where Zobrist finished. When I told him 8th, he replied, “You have to be f’n kidding me. I had it Mauer, Zobrist, Jeter, Teix as my top 4” – and that’s coming from a guy who thinks Jeter is the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.

Dockoftherays.com

by Jason Collette on Nov 24, 2009 1:26 AM EST up reply actions