Should David Ortiz win AL MVP this year?
First off, I just want to address the fan above me who claims that Derek Jeter is the standard for a great-fielding shortstop – in short, that’s simply not true. He’s never had better than a below-average range factor, and his play only looks good because he makes easy plays difficult. To this point, his fielding win shares put him below Michael Young, Johnny Peralta, Orlando Cabrera, Bobby Crosby, Gonzalez, Tejada, Betancourt and Juan Uribe. As for MVP, I think my three candidates are Ortiz, Manny, and Joe Mauer, with Derek Jeter being my fourth choice. Ortiz gets the attention because of his “clutch” play, but Manny has been almost as spectacular while playing under the radar of casual fans. I’m not at all concerned about the DH thing, because each player should be utilized to contribute as much as possible, and why hurt your team by putting a below-average fielder out there every day? As the poster of this question says, Ortiz shouldn’t be punished for being utilized properly. Outsi
