The New York Mets have never seen a player take home an MVP award in their 53-year history — but the last 36 games have given the fan base a glimpse of what one in a Mets uniform might look like. Although he cannot run for President like Thor hoped because he was born in Cuba, Noah’s certainly onto something — Yoenis Cespedes has blossomed into a rock star here in New York City.
On Sept. 3rd, MMO hosted a Fan Shot from Sgt. Kevin Belickis, who said this: “It’s still a bit early to discuss this and it’s probably not going to happen, but if Cespedes keeps on producing and the Mets keep on winning, could it be possible that we have our first MVP in team history?” Thanks for your service — and for being ahead of the curve. A week has passed and suddenly, Cespedes’ name in the NL MVP race is the hot topic.
In 36 games since joining the New York Mets, the new face of the Mets (#Metspedes?) has posted a .312/.357/.675 line with 14 home runs and 36 RBI.
It would be nearly impossible to keep those numbers across a full season in this day and age — because they project out to 63 home runs and 162 RBI over 162 games. Overall, Cespedes owns a .297/.332/.549 line with 31 home runs, 95 RBI, and 94 runs scored. It took him over 400 at-bats to mash 18 home runs for Detroit, while he has crushed 14 of them for the Mets in under 175. For what it is worth, Cespedes is no defensive slouch, either.
The Mets as a team, of course, have skyrocketed to the first place position and have led the NL in multiple offensive categories since the trade deadline. Some of that can be attributed merely to Cespedes’ presence in the lineup and not just his own production — protection is a concept that I believe in and the general confidence of this Mets team has been through the roof since the trade deadline acquisitions. With 23 games to go and the division still unclinched, the potential is there for Cespedes to continue to rack up superhuman numbers throughout September.
Jared Diamond reminded everyone last night that there are five stated rules for MVP voting in a league — and games played is one of them. Look, I get it. Bryce Harper has had a monster year and if it was based on just the numbers, it should probably go to him. Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Paul Goldschmidt, and Joey Votto are all other names in the conversation if it does not go to Harper.
The odds, quite obviously, are stacked against Cespedes. It all comes down to how the BBWAA views the MVP award, however. The idea of the Most Valuable player has been left up to interpretation for many years. David Schoenfield of ESPN expands on why this Cespedes-for-MVP talk is gaining momentum:
“But, there’s also this: The MVP Award doesn’t always go to the best player, even if that should be the case. As we know, the MVP is a labyrinthine combination of statistics, narrative, memorable moments and whether your team makes the playoffs.” Cespedes is certainly not falling short in any of those categories to date.
Although Diamond pointed out that games played is a metric used to find MVPs, does that not throw into question the fact that Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw have won MVP awards in the last 5 years? Does Bryce Harper‘s short temper and penchant for putting his foot in his mouth discount his MVP credentials because of the third rule? Are we supposed to discount the fact that some of Cespedes’ value was amassed in the AL, although interleague play is at an all-time high?
Jon Morosi of Fox Sports reminds us that only five players have finished among the top 10 in MVP balloting after beginning their season in the opposite league. Manny Ramirez and CC Sabathia finished fourth and sixth respectively in 2008 after being traded away at the deadline. The Ramirez situation certainly exhibits a clear parallel to the Cespedes situation, where Ramirez posted a .396/.489/.743 with 17 home runs and 53 RBI in 53 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers — yet only finished fourth.
As Mets fans, however, it is in our blood to be hopeful and look for miracles. And yes — it might actually take a miracle to have Yoenis Cespedes bring the first NL MVP award to Queens. He will have to continue his outstanding play throughout the rest of the year to stay in the conversation, and that alone is quite the task. But I would argue that, as of now, he has earned his place at the table, and at the very least, we all get to rejoice in the amazing performance of Cespedes…for the rest of us.
