Come To Think Of It: Who Should Be American and National League MVPs?

As the 2009 MLB season winds down, it's time to assess the current leaders of the American and National League Most Valuable Player awards.

In the AL, Minnesota's Joe Mauer has had the best season.

We all know, though, that these awards tend to value players on winning teams a lot more than losing teams.

The Minnesota Twins are out of the race for the AL Central division crown.

With a six-game lead, the Detroit Tigers are in a strong position to take that division. 

At only one game over .500, Minnesota has no chance of taking the Wild Card, leaving Mauer to battle voters who typically only vote for candidates on playoff teams.

It seems that the general consensus among those that vote for these awards is, if the player is so valuable, then why didn't the team do better?

In other words, how can a player be valuable when his team could have lost just as easily with or without him?

That is a shallow viewpoint. One man cannot single-handedly make a team a winner, but that is the bias that Joe Mauer has to face.

Despite playing what is perhaps the most important position on the diamond, Mauer will likely concede the MVP award to either Derek Jeter or Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees, who are walking away with the AL East division.

Mauer's statistics are extremely impressive.

He is hitting .367, with 26 homers and 80 RBI. His OBP is a gaudy .435 and his OPS is 1.042. He would certainly get my vote—if I had one.

Meanwhile, for those that insist the MVP is an award for the "most valuable," and not for the best player, Teixeira's slash line of .279/.379/.529 is impressive, as is his gold glove defense at first base.

Yankees captain Jeter has a .330/.397/.473 slash, and seems to be playing his finest defense of an otherwise overrated defensive shortstop career.

Perhaps Tex and Jeter will split the vote and allow someone else to slip in?

If that happens, you must also consider the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera among the serious candidates in the AL.

Over in the senior circuit, it seems a foregone conclusion that the St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols will run away with the award, and for good reason: as perhaps the best right-handed hitter in major league history, Pujols is having another fine season for the division-leading Cards.

Pujols leads the league in home runs, and is second is runs batted in. He has a .444 OBP and an OPS of 1.122. He also plays a fine defensive first base for the Redbirds.

The Phillies' Ryan Howard deserves a look, as does Florida Marlins' shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

Among teams not in the race, the Brewers' Prince Fielder is having a season worthy of strong consideration.

Fielder leads the league in RBI, is fourth in homers, and has a .412 OBP. Unfortunately for him, he plays for a team that is 15 games behind the Cards in the NL Central.

Given the voters' bias toward winners, combined with the typically great season that he is having, it does seem that Pujols will easily win the MVP award in the National League.

All things considered, I would pick Mauer and Pujols, but it will likely be Jeter and Pujols who will ultimately take home the hardware, come to think of it.