AL MVP Vote

We already know that Ben Zobrist was awarded the Rays’ 2009 MVP Award, but where will he finish in the AL MVP vote? If you can tune into the live show on mlb.com at 1:30pm ET today, here is the link. Obviously, I have a beef with the analysis because they do not even mention Zobrist as a candidate for the award but do have Kendry Morales covered despite the fact that Zobrist’s Wins Above Replacement value at fangraphs.com is more than twice what Morales’s was in 2009.

I have very little faith in Zobrist cracking the top five because of all the traditionalist approaches taken by a majority of the BBWWA voters If Keith Law and Will Carroll represented the majority of voters, I would like Zobrist’s chances of a top 3 finish – such as the one the panel at Baseball Digest Daily gave him. I also like how Aaron Gleeman thinks. I am guessing the lack of a regular position will be his undoing but statistically, he certainly belongs in the top five discussion if not the top 3. How his vote turns out will tell me if baseball voting is turning the corner that some said it was last week with after viewing the results of the Cy Young voting. At least I have been assured that Ben will get a nice mention on the live show from the hosts – an honorable mention if you will.

UPDATE: The votes are in – results

Zobrist finishes 8th and his highest vote was a single 6th place vote. Evan Longoria finished 19th. Just as I feared, the voting process has not turned the corner, it simply made a u-turn. When you have the best WAR score in the league – even better than King Albert Pujols – and can’t get any higher than a single 6th place vote, something is wrong.

Tags: Ben Zobrist, MVP