The Cardinals may have missed the playoffs, but Pujols still deserves to be NL's MVP

During a recent phone conversation with fellow lifelong St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan “Jay Saw,” Punditty posed a question that won’t officially be answered until Monday, by votes cast by baseball writers some six weeks ago.

“So,” Punditty queried, “do you think Albert Pujols will win the NL MVP?”

Without missing a beat, Jay Saw replied confidently. “No, because he wasn’t playing for a team that made the playoffs.”

To which Punditty replies: So effing what?

This nonsensical notion that the league’s Most Valuable Player has to come from a team that makes the post-season makes about as much sense as insisting that a place of business can’t have valuable workers unless it’s a Fortune 500 company. History is on The Punditty Project’s side, so before enumerating the reasons Pujols should be a lock for this year’s National League MVP award, a brief review is in order.

Here are just some of the stars who played for non-playoff teams over the years and still won the MVP award.

Ernie Banks, 1958 & 1959 Chicago Cubs. The Cubs failed to play .500 baseball in both ’58 and ’59 and finished more than 10 games back of the pennant-winner each season.

Joe Torre, 1971 St. Louis Cardinals. The Redbirds collapsed in late summer that year and finished 7 games behind the eventual World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates. They played .556 baseball for the season.

Jeff Burroughs, 1974 Texas Rangers. The Rangers played .525 baseball and finished in second, 5 games behind the Oakland A’s.

Rod Carew, 1977 Minnesota Twins. The Twins played .522 baseball and finished in fourth, 17.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals.

Mike Schmidt, 1986 Phillies. The Phillies played .534 baseball and finished second, but they were still 21.5 games behind the Mets when the season ended.

Andre Dawson, 1987 Chicago Cubs. The Cubs finished dead last in what was then the N.L. East, playing .472 baseball and ending up 18.5 games behind the Cardinals.

Barry Bonds, 2001 San Francisco Giants. The Giants finished 2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and failed to win the wild card.

These examples clearly show a player can be the most valuable in his league even if his team fails to reach the playoffs.

Here’s another way to think about it. Would any of the 2008 National League playoff teams have been better with Pujols at first base rather than the man they had playing there?

Let’s start with the eventual World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies: Howard’s power numbers (48 HRs, 146 RBIs) are outstanding, but his .251 batting average is weak and his 199 strikeouts are embarrassing. His .339 on-base percentage is not good, and given his home run total, his .543 slugging percentage is fairly low. Verdict: Howard is a bad-ass, but the Phillies would be a better team with Pujols at first.

James Loney, Los Angeles Dodgers: Loney is no slouch, but his numbers (13 HRs, 90 RBIS, .289) are not even in the same ballpark as any MVP contender from any season of the modern era. Verdict: No question about it, the Dodgers would have been better if Pujols had been manning first.

Derrek Lee, Chicago Cubs: Lee is a fine fielder, a clutch hitter and a great all-around player, but he still pales in comparison with Pujols. Verdict: Would the Cubs trade Lee for Pujols if they could? Of course they would.

Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers: Fielder is fun to watch and swings a powerful bat, but his numbers don’t approach those of the Cardinals’ superstar. Verdict: A smart General Manager would take Prince Albert over Prince Fielder any day of the week.

The Punditty Project’s Consensus Pick for the 2008 National League Most Valuable Player:

Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals. Superlatives fall short of capturing the greatness embodied by Pujols, and that is not mere hyperbole. His 2008 statistics (37 HRs, 116 RBIs, .357 BA, .462 OBP, .653 SLG) are not just excellent, they are astounding.

Pujols is the heart and soul of the Cardinals, and in some ways, of Major League Baseball itself. He not only kept the Redbirds in contention when he was in the lineup, but he played hurt all year and bounced back in slightly more than two weeks from a mid-season injury that was originally expected to sideline him for a month or longer. Pujols is that rarest of rarities, the superstar who is also the consummate team player. The 2008 Cardinals finished 4th in the Central Division at 86-76 with a .531 winning percentage, but thanks to Pujols, they had a legitimate shot until the last few weeks of the season.

Pujols has finished second in MVP voting on three occasions, finishing behind Bonds in 2002 and 2003 and Howard in 2006. He has one MVP award to his name (2005). TPP expects the Pujolian Juggernaut of Greatness (PJG) to continue with another MVP award for 2008 and a return to the playoffs for the Cards in 2009.