If St. Louis Cardinals Crash Wild Card, Should Albert Pujols Win MVP?

While this year's MVP has no clear winner, I conceded it about a month ago to either Prince Fielder or Ryan Braun. Both are credible recipients. However, as the St. Louis Cardinals have been finishing in historic fashion, with Albert Pujols leading the way, it's a question worth asking.

If the Cardinals crash the Wild Card, should Albert Pujols win the MVP?

First, look at Pujols' credentials. He leads the league in home runs. He has elevated his average to .299 and climbing. He's seventh in OPS, which is good enough to put him in the conversation. He only has seven fewer RBI and seven fewer runs than Braun. In essence, Braun has had a better season, but the margin is much smaller than it was a month and a half ago.

While he once looked like he was going to have trouble reaching that ".300, 100, 30" season for which he has become famous, he is the first player to ever hit .300, knock in 100 RBI and hit 30 home runs in his first two seasons—and he's done it for all 10 years of his career.

For a while that streak was in jeopardy, but now it looks safe. If he does do it again this year, he'll be only the second player to do it 11 times in his career and only one season behind Babe Ruth for the most such seasons in history. 

The relevance here is that if he accomplishes that, he'll have the "MVP worthy" season that he's accustomed to. And once the numbers are good enough, that's what matters. 

The thing is, the best season doesn't equate to the MVP. If it did, Pujols would have won more than just three. It's not a WAR title. If it were, Pujols would have seven MVPs.

No, there's always the element of narrative in the MVP race, and the way that Pujols' bat has been carrying the Cardinals into this wild-card race is phenomenal. 

Here is a man who came back from a broken arm and after three games to get his timing back has been absolutely crushing the ball to loft the Cardinals back into contention. 

Date	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	BA	OPS	SLG	OPS
Since 7/9	276	246	45	82	15	19	49	26	.333	.395	.626	1.021
per 162 games	722	643	118	215	40	50	129	68

When you factor in the broken arm, the coming back so early from injury, the blazing summer and autumn bat, the third straight home run championship, the historic close to get into the playoffs and the fact that it could be Pujols' final year in St. Louis, it's easy to see him winning the narrative part of the equation. 

A month ago, it would have been hard to put him in the top three, but now it's justifiable to have him in the top two. If the Cards overtake Atlanta, you could justify putting him first.