Dodgers mailbag: Who should be National League MVP?

Oct. 2, 2017 10:15 AM PT

The regular season is over. The Dodgers went 104-58. That’s pretty good!

It also falls short of the outsized expectations the team created during the summer, when they were on pace for 116 victories. These are the breaks when you assemble the most talented 40-man roster in the sport with the highest payroll in the sport. People expect things.

But, really, nothing that happened in the first six months of the season matters. The Dodgers won their division, as they expected to do. They finished with the best record in baseball, as many projection systems expected them to do. The road to the World Series goes through Dodger Stadium — if, of course, the Dodgers advance to the World Series for the first time since 1988.

So there is much to discuss, and there will be plenty to write about during this week, as the Dodgers wait to see who wins the Wild Card Game between Arizona and Colorado on Wednesday. Until then, let’s take some questions. You can send them to me on Twitter @McCulloughTimes. Let’s do this.

Simple answer: Cody Bellinger is not the National League MVP because several other players have had far more impressive statistical seasons. This is not a criticism of Bellinger, who will run away with the Rookie of the Year award after one of the most memorable debut seasons in Dodgers history. Bellinger saved the Dodgers early in the season, and his slugging powered them through much of the summer.

But other players have just been better.

The Times does not permit its writers to vote on awards, which is fine, because the debate over these awards grows shriller and less interesting by the year. For the sake of creating content, though, I’ll provide an imaginary ballot.

One important caveat: I do not buy the pedantic argument that “valuable” is different from “best.” The best players provide the most value. The performance of a player’s team should not derail his candidacy. You will see that in my ballot.

Joey Votto, Reds
Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins
Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks
Nolan Arenado, Rockies
Kris Bryant, Cubs
Charlie Blackmon, Rockies
Justin Turner, Dodgers
Anthony Rendon, Nationals
Max Scherzer, Nationals
Tommy Pham, Cardinals

Votto has had, in my opinion, the best season. So he wins the award, on my fake ballot.

It certainly could be. Yasmani Grandal can become a free agent after the 2018 season, and the Dodgers are loaded with catching depth.

It will be very interesting to see how Grandal fares in free agency. He presents such a confounding case. The Dodgers’ internal metrics on framing rate Grandal as one of the game’s best — perhaps the game’s best. His offensive production is solid, but his cold streaks can be pronounced. He also struggled to actually catch the baseball in 2017, leading the National League in passed balls.

Grandal will get paid. I’m sure other clubs value him, though the Dodgers may rate him higher than most.

To quote Royals general manager Dayton Moore: My crystal ball is broken.

There’s an immense amount of pressure on Clayton Kershaw and Andrew Friedman in October. As Bill Shaikin detailed in this column, Friedman can do only so much once the playoffs begin. Kershaw, on the other hand, is an active participant in the proceedings.

Yes. I expect Josh Fields to make the postseason roster.

Yes, I expect both Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani to make the postseason roster.

I was fairly confident that Pedro Baez would not make the postseason roster, but who the heck knows.

I could see the Dodgers having some dialogue about outfielder Lorenzo Cain. But they are set at first base (Eric Hosmer), third base (Mike Moustakas) and shortstop (Alcides Escobar). I expect Escobar to re-sign with the Royals, and there’s a decent chance Hosmer returns to Kansas City, too.

Very, very carefully.

This is a fantastic question. Kudos to you.

A five-on-five match has a much different dynamic than a one-on-one contest, in that it rewards high spots and chaos over psychology and story telling. So I’d be looking for guys who can bump, guys who can fly and guys with dynamic offense. I would not include my favorite wrestler, Bret Hart, because this type of match doesn’t suit what he does best. The same principle applies to greats like Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin.

My choices are not that exotic. They’re dominated by wrestlers from New Japan Pro Wrestling, because they run the best promotion in the world, and the quality of work is very high. For a multi-man match, you need athleticism, and the current crop of athletes outshines the wrestlers of the past. I put one big man on each team for balance.

Here are the two teams:

Team One