Who's Your MVP?

[diehardtwinsfan]

Echo what Chief said, the fact that there is no clear cut answer is a very VERY good thing, especially given that all of the characters in question will be around for a while. It's hard, but I think Dozier is the answer for now. I do think Buxton and Sano will be taking in plenty of these awards over the next decade, but neither played consistently well all season. In Sano's case, it has been injury. In Buxton, we forget that his bat cost us a game or four early on this year.

[Bark's Lounge]

I wish I was able to watch more games this year. It seems like a bunch of guys really turned it on the last 1/3 of the season. A lot of young guys coming of age, an old hero finding his past glory, and sure and steady Brian Dozier.

 

I want to give the MVP to Buck, his talent changes a game with the blink of an eye. It really is exciting and boggles the mind. He is baseball porn.

 

Saying that, Dozier is the anchor. He is the leader who plays middle infield, hits 30+ HRs, and leads the team in most offensive categories. He is the MVP IMO.

[h2oface]

1. Dozier

2. Rosario
3. Buxton
4. Santana
5. Mauer

 

honorable mention:

Sano and Polanco
 

[h2oface]

 

Seems like a lot of recency bias happening here, with people forgetting how good Sano was early and how terrible Rosario was defensively. 

 

My votes are considering a full season. If you are hurt, you are still out, and not at all valuable for that period. Plus, regardless of how baseball selects an all-star, I think it takes more that a hot first couple months of the season to actually be an all-star, and the only thing that saved a dubious MLB record for K's was injury. Dozier played a whole year. Rosario, regardless of some of his bonehead plays, did too, and came up clutch. Buxton was valuable even when he hit nothing because of his defense, but he was tragically bad at the plate, a virtual black hole, for half a season. Santana got us started, and was inconsistently consistent throughout the year. Mauer just kept getting better. 

 

Recency? I think that the posters here are pretty aware. I don't go to stats for my vote. I just go from my memory and feelings, and I paid pretty good attention, and cast my votes.

[h2oface]

 

Yep ... there's no "I" in team.

 Just an M and an E...... ME!

[D. Hocking]

This really is a year where I would not be upset to see it go to about 4 of 5 players.  This is not very objective, but in some ways I would like to see Dozier or Mauer get it because I think this will be their last chance.  I think by next season one of the youngsters will kick it up another notch and clearly be the MVP.

[Han Joelo]

I don't disagree with anything said so far. I'd nominate Kintzler for some consideration. He steadied an otherwise horrible bullpen for so long, and the he pulled an Obi-wan Kenobi: "if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than possibly can imagine." Losing one of the MVP's to that point certainly seemed to help inspire others to fill the void.

 

I say this in part based on comments I read about him after he was traded.

 

Fun convo to have!

[Bark's Lounge]

I do want to throw a shout out to Rosario.

 

Man, he has had a helluva damn good offensive season. I'm not so sure why his defensive metrics are so low... maybe he has had an off year, I know he can be a very excellent LFer.

 

I have always been really high on his potential and he is my favorite player. He really took a big step forward this year. It's very pleasing.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Intangibles aside, Dozier leads the team in fWAR and it's not particularly close (0.8 ahead of Buxton, which is nearing the escape point of margin of error).

 

Add in the intangibles of Dozier's deadline attitude and it's a pretty easy decision in my eyes.

 

Not disparaging the rest of the team but only three players have put together five or more months of decent play: Rosario, Mauer, and Dozier.

 

And Dozier is significantly more valuable by fWAR.

[Don Walcott]

When I think about a team MVP, I ask myself "Who's absence would have hurt the team the most?".

 

I think the answer to that has to be Byron Buxton.

By this criteria, I'd go with Santana. No way we are above .500 without him. The already vulnerable bullpen would have been destroyed early in the season. CGs and SOS carried the team in the first half, and his reliable quality starts carried us through the season. Quiet confidence and professionalism led an otherwise weak pitching staff.

 

Think about it: the only reason we feel we have a chance in the WC game is because we have him pitching.

[Doomtints]

 

Intangibles aside, Dozier leads the team in fWAR and it's not particularly close (0.8 ahead of Buxton, which is nearing the escape point of margin of error).

 

Add in the intangibles of Dozier's deadline attitude and it's a pretty easy decision in my eyes.

 

Not disparaging the rest of the team but only three players have put together five or more months of decent play: Rosario, Mauer, and Dozier.

 

And Dozier is significantly more valuable by fWAR.

 

This is an easy problem to solve. Use bWAR.

 

Or heck, as this is most valuable player, dollars per WAR, using any WAR variant of your choosing.

[Rosterman]

So many. Ervin Santana. He should've had more wins and fewer loses. So many heartbreakers for this guy in 2017, considering how many he had for half of 2016. Wonder why he likes being a Twin.

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

I think I will abstain - this is the most "team-like" team (if that makes any sense) I can remember in my 50+ years of watching the Twins.  Everyone seemed to step up and deliver in key ways throughout the season, moreso than I ever recall.  Whenever key members slumped, it felt like others upped their game to fill in the lost production.

 

So either give it to the entire team, or name Minnie and Paul co-MVPs.

[ashbury]

Buxton. He showed in April he can beat you even when he's not hitting. And when he was out for the second half of July, the team went 5-9.

 

He's the most indispensable player on the team, and the one I cringe most when he dives for a ball or slams into a wall.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I was just thinking Buxton myself for those reasons.

 

The walk off HR was nice, too.

 

But there is no wrong answer here, which is what makes this team what it is!

[Monkeypaws]

The Cleveland paper rephrased a quote from Tito to the effect that the Twins had a bottomless roster.

 

Kind of true, lots of tough outs 1-9 and on the bench. 

 

Hard to call an MVP out of it, but for me this team would be on the outside looking in without Ervin Santana.

 

HM to Dozier, Sano, Rosario, Buxton, etc.

[Brandon]

I actually have Colon in this discussion as he went 4-0 after the trade deasli e in august and showed Gibson how to pitch and succeed with crap so Gibson turned a corner and Colon definately kept things light. A good vet to have around....

 

But my vote is a tie Buxton / Dozier....southern power...

[jimmer]

Dozier and Buxton Co-MVPs.

[curt1965]

My vote is for Brian Dozier, and I really wasn't much a fan until the last 2 years. This year especially!

My opinion of him has changed completely.

 

1.) I believe, when everything is said and done, he is the real leader of this team, especially the vocal one.

 

2.) It's hard to replace his stats, across the board: 100+ runs, 90+ RBI's, 30+ HR's, 160+ hits (all team leading) .265+ average (remember, these are for a lead-off hitter!)

 

3.) He has made himself a terrific defensive 2B, weak arm not withstanding (only 5 errors)

 

4.) He has made himself a much better all-around, team hitter. He now can get important hits to RF when the game is on the line. His B.A. and walks are excellent)

[Darius]

Buxton.

 

This team absolutely does not make the playoffs without his defense. It's what turned this around, relative to prior years.

 

Dozier is great, no question. But, he's put up similar/better offensive numbers in 100 loss seasons the past couple of years.

 

It seems like Buxton makes a game saving catch once or twice per week. He makes extremely difficult catches look easy. His offense is a huge part of the second half resurgence, maybe more so than Dozier.

 

Buxton is absolutely irreplaceable

 

A guy that hasn't been mentioned much is Polanco, also. He's been a godsend at a position this team hasn't been able to adequately fill for decades.

[ahart10]

A lot of good choices on this team. Usually I'm against pitchers getting MVP, but I give it to Santana simply because he's been a true ACE this year.

[spinowner]

I think for this year only, whoever is chosen by whatever voting system is used should have the title of Slightly-More-Valuable-Than-Several-Other-Players Player.

[bighat]

Some tough choices. Boils down to these 3 for me:

 

Santana. 16-8 with a 3.28 ERA.

Dozier. 34 HR and 90+ RBI.

Rosario: .290, 27 HR and 80 RBI.

 

I go with Santana. The ace, the stopper, the even-keel attitude. He gets my vote.

[jimmer]

 

I think for this year only, whoever is chosen by whatever voting system is used should have the title of Slightly-More-Valuable-Than-Several-Other-Players Player.

yeah, there are so many legitimate choices.

[ffwfed31]

Erv Dog

[Jham]

I think the difficulty is, as usual, the framing of the question. When we say "we wouldn't be here without..." That's true of pretty much everyone. When Jason Bartlett went to the Rays, he put up modest numbers but was team MVP because he knew what it took to win and convinced a young team that they were at least as good as the perennial playoff team he'd just left. Chris Giminez convinced the team to believe in themselves.

 

As others have mentioned, James Rowsan's work with Mauer, Buxton, rosario, adrianza, and Dozier has been borderline unbelievable. And those players suggest that they didn't even trust him at first.

 

Overall, if I have to pick one, it has to be Dozier. I suggested we trade him to shake things up. He shook things up himself. Well done Brian.

[bird]

Ervin Santana for me. Tom Kelly influenced me.

[jimmer]

'Fantastic fact: Need proof of Buxton's elite defense aside from the highlight-reel plays? He leads all Major League outfielders with 24 Outs Above Average, Statcast™'s newest metric for outfield defense. The Twins, as a team, lead all MLB outfields with 30 Outs Above Average.'

[dbminn]

I'm limiting my MVP rankings to position players, partially because there are a lot of hitters to mention. One could argue that the Twins would've been below .500 without any of the five listed players. They all contributed to a fun summer of baseball:

1. Brian Dozier - Leader of the position players, he set the tone for confidence and aggressiveness. Highest fWAR on the team (my preferred WAR stat for hitters). 
2. Byron Buxton - IMO, the best defensive CF ever to play for the Twins. More range than either Hunter or Puckett. Didn't let a terrible first half with the bat affect his fielding. Hit well after the break. MVP of the second half and will probably win this award the next three years.
3. Joe Mauer - Welcome Back! Mauer was the most clutch hitter on the team as measured by performance with runners on base (RE24), where it wasn't even close, and by WRC+ in high leverage situations (173, tied with Grossman). His high leverage slash = .405/.540/.459, 50 PA. Consistent from May to October. GG defense.
4. Miguel Sano - The Twins had no chance for the wild card without Miguel's April and May. 
5. Jorge Polanco - I was surprised by his terrible hitting slump. I was even more surprised by his power burst in the 2nd half (.297/.360/.518). He was incredible in high leverage situations after the break (.538/.586/.769, 32 PA). Played SS better than most expected.

[dbminn]

I have to add a shout-out to my #6 MVP not listed earlier: Eddie Rosario. Turned the corner at the plate. Someone could've made a lot of money betting he would strike out less than 20% this season. With power and speed, he's one of the most exciting hitters on the team. Not clutch and very inconsistent on the bases and in the field. All solvable problems. One of my favorite Twins.