Justin Morneau Pulling Away From Pack in MVP Race

When Justin Morneau won the MVP award in 2006, the public outcry was loud and strong.

"He wasn't even the best player on his own team!" pundits shouted, pointing to huge seasons from teammates Joe Mauer and Johan Santana. In a lot of ways, they were right; Morneau was huge for the Twins, but that year belonged to Santana.

2008 is a whole different story.

Johan now dons different duds and while Mauer has been phenomenal again, Morneau is just one class better.

First, the numbers:

Morneau is sixth in batting average and OBP, and seventh in OPS, even though he is just 17th in HRs. He is also tied for the AL lead in RBI and by the end of the season will likely hold the lead all by himself.

He stands 15 runs above replacement on defense and 61 runs better on offense. He is 16th in VORP and third among first baseman.

Now, while those are all good numbers, none is overwhelming. Which is why Morneau may once again win the award to the sound of "WHY?!".

Here's why:

Morneau fits the Twins perfectly. His well-rounded game makes him valuable even when his power stroke isn't working. He's been the mainstay of an infield that featured more rotations than the average volleyball game.

He's played every game of the season, and if we discount pitchers because they only play in 1/5th of their team's games, we should also reward those players who grind it out everyday.

Saturday's doubleheader is a prime example of why Morneau is so valuable to the Twins.

Manager Ron Gardenhire wanted to DH Morneau to rest him in the second game, but Morneau refused, saying:

“I had the option to DH, but I wanted to go out there and show everybody you’ve gotta play hard,” he said. “If we don’t get into the playoffs, there will be plenty of time off, so grind it out as much as we can.

“We’ve gotta get in. If that means I play first every game, so be it. If that’s the best lineup we can put on the field, I’ll run out there until I can’t run any more.”

On a team of young players, having a teammate like Morneau who leads by example goes a long way towards a team where players sacrifice for the good of the team, which will always produce better results than nine guys with their own interests in mind.

Sure, it's easy to point to the Twins normally anemic offense, which is actually producing runs this year, and see that Morneau has driven in 17% of those runs, but his value goes so far beyond that.

Without Justin Morneau, the Twins wouldn't be in the hunt for another division title, it is as simple as that. But if he continues to produce at the level he has been, the Twins could make serious noise well into October.