Jimmy Rollins is your 2007 NL MVP. Who should have won the award?
| Rollins |  38 (26.39%) |
| Matt Holliday | 56 (38.89%) |
| Prince Fielder | 10 (6.94%) |
| David Wright | 21 (14.58%) |
| Ryan Howard | 0 (0.00%) |
| Chipper Jones | 4 (2.78%) |
| Jake Peavy | 5 (3.47%) |
| Albert Pujols | 7 (4.86%) |
| Other (who?) | 3 (2.08%) |
It should have been Wright, then Holliday, then Pujols.
Rollins isn't even close.
I think when you factor in Rollin's gold glove calibre defence at short, things get a lot tighter. Whether or not he is the most deserving is certainly a good debate, but saying it's not even close is a stretch. According to the fielding bible over the period of 2005 - 2007, Rollin's is 4th among shortstops.
Furthermore, Holliday had some ridiculous home/road splits (not overly surprising eh!). He's still a very good hitter on the road, but surely no MVP candidate (.860 OPS on the road versus 1.157 at home).
And Pujols ahead of Rollins? You would have a hard time selling me on that. Pujols had the worst year he's had in the previous 5 years. Pujols only had a great year relative to the rest of the NL in the areas of OBP and BA. His slugging was well below his career norm, and he barely cracked the top 10 in HR and TB, and didn't crack the top 10 in RBI and runs scored. Great season yes, MVP worthy? No.
Wright is close. But Wright is 24. He's going to get his MVP someday. Rollins was an unbelievable offensive player this year, hitting 30 HR and 20 triples out of the lead off spot, while leading the NL in runs scored and playing stellar defence at one of, if not the most, crucial position on the ball field.
I voted for Fielder because I think he's the most fearsome presence at the plate in the NL and because I thought it'd be cool to have father/son MVPs (even if they're not on speaking terms) -- never been done, right? Bobby Bonds came close, but never won the award, I don't think. Am I missing anyone?
That said, I don't think Rollins was the most valuable (no caps there) player on his own team -- and if not for th mid-season injury, I think this award would have gone to Chase Utley who was, I think, ninth on the ballot this year but only third among Phillies, No love for Ryan Howard at Da Box, huh?
Bobby Bonds came close, but never won the award
Just for the record, I looked it up and this appears accurate -- he finished third in the balloting one year, fourth another year, and received a few votes a couple of other times, but The Original Bonds never won the hardware.
And incidentally, a Google search for "father/son MVP" shows only Bobby and Brett Hull, so wrong sport there. Anyone else?
So the first father/son MVPs are still a ways off.