1.) Andrew McCutchen: As I said previously, the MVP isn't and shouldn't just be the players with the highest WAR. However, leading the league certainly means you're doing something right and right now McCutchen is basically doing everything right and leading the league in WAR. The case for McCutchen is pretty easy though, regardless of your stance on WAR (in this conversation I mean Wins Above Replacement, as I'm not a fan of the other kind). McCutchen is third in the NL in wRC+ (153), 4th in OPS (.911) and does that while playing a terrific CF and giving the Pirates value on the bases (7th most baserunning runs in the NL). Oh, and he plays for the first place Pirates, if you care about that sort of thing. This is easy (for now).
2.) Yadier Molina: Yadier spent some time on the DL this year but his combination of hitting at a position as demanding as catcher, while also playing that position so brilliantly makes him #2 for me. Yadier's 133 wRC+ won't blow your socks off, but only Buster Posey can best him at the catcher position, and that number also ranks 15th in the NL. There is still a lot to learn about how to evaluate catchers but Yadier is considered the best in the business, the Cardinals have the 5th best ERA in the NL and he has thrown out 42% of baserunners trying to steal. Plus, Yadier is one of only a few people who I prefer to refer to using their first name, and that has to mean something.
3.) Clayton Kershaw: It's true that pitchers have their own award, but until someone changes the MVP to Most Valuable Hitter, pitchers are eligible. Kershaw has continued his masterly run over the last few years with his best performance to date. In 209 IP, Kershaw has a 1.89 ERA and the peripherals to back up (2.37/2.93 FIP/xFIP). If we judge by WAR, Kershaw is actually 2nd in baseball (5.9) to Matt Harvey (6.1). But, if we go by RA9-WAR, Kershaw is blowing out the competition with 7.6 wins, ahead of Matt Harvey (6.0). Both FIP based war and RA9 WAR have their drawbacks, but Kershaw is dominating each. When Justin Verlander won the MVP he had 6.9 FIP WAR and 9.2 RA9-WAR. Kershaw's 2013 is on par with that and I have no qualms ranking him third here. Which is unsurprising considering I did the rankings. The reverse would be a little odd.
4.) Carlos Gomez: Gomez has struggled of late but production in April counts just as much as September in my mind. However, if he continues to slide in September, he'll leave plenty of room for others below to leap frog him. Anyway, let's talk about what he's done, the posts actual purpose. Gomez is essentially a worse hitting/better fielding version of McCutchen. Gomez' 128 wRC+ won't blow your socks off but he's arguably the best fielding CF in the league and one of its best baserunners. One could also say he's like Yadier Molina, hitting well at a tough position, fielding it wonderfully and netting tons of value on the basepaths just with Gomez producing on the field while Yadier helps to prevent that. The Brewers are bad this year but I'm not blaming Gomez for Ryan Braun's suspension and lack of a pitching staff.
5.) Joey Votto/Paul Goldschmidt: It's tough to choose between the two:
Votto:.292/.397/.534, 151 wRC+, 5.3 WAR
Goldy: .300/.424/.486, 151 wRC+, 5.3 WAR
Votto and Goldshmidt both field their positions pretty well and provide + value with their legs and have been essentially the same player at the plate. Votto walks a little more and Goldy hits for a little more power but in the end their production is the same. It's true that Goldy has 42 more RBI than Votto but it's also true that the statistic is misguided. It's also true that giving Brandon Phillips credit for Votto's .424 OBP is silly. I wonder what kind of RBI Votto would have with Votto batting ahead of him, and the same goes for Phillips with Cozart/Frazier ahead of him.
6.) Others: David Wright's been terrific again but has only played 105 games and likely won't see many more this season. The Giants have been disappointing this season, but don't blame Posey - .309/.377/.475 is still prettay, prettay good at catcher. Matt Carpenter has been a revelation at second for the Cardinals, and Allen Craig has been other-worldly batting with runners on base. Playing time is an issue but Yasiel Puig is as responsible for the Dodgers turnaround as Kershaw. His teammates Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez have certainly chirped in as well. Freddie Freeman will get some votes for his health and consistency on the first place braves but as good as he's been, Votto and Goldy are better. There's always one Rockie who hits well enough to garner a few votes and this year it's been Cuddyer. But considering he plays in Coors and doesn't do anything else well on the field, his batting line isn't good enough to justify anything more than a few down ballot votes.
Anywho, what do you guys think?
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