re: Invaluable

let me start first and foremost by declaring that tim lincecum is as deserving as any for the NL cy young award (there you go, d.r.w.). and if he and the indians' cliff lee get their dues, it will certainly produce some interesting precedent for the yearly discussions when people whine about mvp candidates on losing teams.

that is just it, though. why all this convention/tradition around what player should be declared the most valuable player? is there a reason why the person must play for one of the eight teams that make the playoffs? or, in the case of k.c.r.'s post, does the person have to have been with the team the entire season - or just long enough to make an impact?

sabathia and ramirez actually provide great material for a comparison.

without a doubt, cc has been one of the best pitchers in the national league in the second half of the season. if you want value, sabathia is your man, helping milwaukee do its best tampa bay impression. but, this is where we can bring the idea of value into focus. given that the brewers now sit 10 games out in the NL central and 2.5 back in the wild card race, does sabathia's performance have the same allure? indeed, the necessity to be a player on a winning team features less prominently in cy young conversations than mvp ones (although the reason for that is not altogether clear). but if you were to put cc's value in a sentence, would you say that he was valuable because he helped the brewers almost make the playoffs? or because he helped the brewers avoid another season in the NL cellar? perhaps that adds value from a fan and/or revenue perspective, but it seems tough to say - especially given the brevity of his tenure in sausagetown - that he has been the savior that could bring a ring to wisconsin.

ramirez, on the other hand, has revitalized himself and his new team. after crying game after game in the yankees' dugout, joe torre is enjoying watching manny play on his side, with or without a real haircut. like sabathia, ramirez has put up gaudy numbers after coming to the national league (albeit over a shorter time period). with arizona sputtering, the dodgers look poised to return to the postseason and to perhaps even win a playoff series. value? how about hitting nearly .400 with a home run almost every 3 games, putting up bonds-ian OPS numbers? if LA holds on to take the NL west, ramirez will be hailed as the man who boosted his team into october.

does it matter that he joined the team after playing 100 games in boston? if you take a look around chavez ravine, there doesn't seem to be a single fan that remembers the pre-manny era. and as for opposing managers in the NL west, they're feeling the same sinking feeling that they grew all too accustomed to whenever barry lamar stepped into the batters' box.

that fear, that presence - that is what value is all about, as bonds' seven mvp awards attest. choosing manny may not jive with tradition, and it may not fit the baseball honor code. but as captain barbosa famously remarked, the code is more like guidelines, anyway.

sabathia hasn't been able to put his team over the top, and for that reason, he will not win the cy young. but manny's performance may be enough to make people forget that he ever relieved himself inside the green monster. alfonso soriano surely his has fingers crossed, but manny's got as good as chance as any to take home the trophy this season.

p.s. vote lincecum for NL cy young! can you hit that changeup?