Below is a email I just sent to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  If/when he gives me a response I will post it here.

Good Afternoon Tom,

I know you are probably getting many nasty letters today asking why you awarded Albert Pujols a 7th place vote in the MVP race.  However, I would like to avoid any condescending words until I can get a full explanation.  

I read your article today (I've quoted it below) that attempted to explain why you picked Pujols 7th, but I do need a little further explanation. 

"With the Cardinals finishing fourth, I voted Pujols seventh on my ballot. I don't consider MVP to be "the most outstanding player" award and therefore don't just go by who had the best stats. I like to credit players for lifting their teams to the post-season or at least keeping them in the race until the very end.

I understand that the Cardinals would not have been even close to the wild-card berth without Pujols, but I still like players who elevate their game in crunch time and lift their teams to new heights. And I thought Ryan Ludwick had just as much to do with keeping the Cards in the hunt as Pujols did. St. Louis did stay in the wild card race until mid-September, but mainly because the Brewers and Mets were gagging at the time."

Very well then Tom.  If, by those standards, you want to put key players from playoff teams ahead of Pujols then all I can do is disagree with your logic and call it a day. 

However, you also put Carlos Delgado, from the "gagging" Mets ahead of Pujols which is mind-blowing.  Delgado had a .353 OBP compared to Albert's outer-worldy .462 mark.  OPS was not even comparable- Pujols hit a Ruthian 1.115 while Delgado's finished with a respectable but unimpressive .871.  Defensively, it would be difficult to argue against Pujols being the better player. 

So please Tom, will you give me the real reason you put Pujols 7th on your ballot?  The Cardinals finished only 3 games behind the "gagging" Mets so I cannot accept his team being better as a reasonable excuse.  If you like players that "lift their teams to new heights" then you LOVE Albert Pujols.  So please help me understand why you would put the best hitter I have ever seen 7th on your ballot in a year when he completely dominated the national league. 

Thank you in advance

EDIT: 7:45PM-  Here is his response.  I will post my reply along with any follow up dialog below.

I probably should have put Pujols ahead of Delgado. Otherwise, I stick by the reasoning I expressed for my ballot. Listen, everybody has their own opinion as to what makes a player "most valuable." If we want to call this the Best Offensive Player award, then let's give it to Pujols every year. I like to vote for players who raise their team up to otherwise unattainable heights. I thought Delgado almost single-handedly kept the Mets in the playoff race until the final day of the season. But I'll agree with you that Pujols probably should have been above him on my ballot. There are 32 voters with 10 names each, which takes into account differences in opinion. My 7th place vote certainly didn't hurt Pujols in the overall balloting.

On another note, I could have not posted my ballot online. I did it because I knew it would spur discussion and debate, which is what the blog is all about. If people want to attack me, I can handle it. Brad Lidge got two first place votes!! That shows you how differently people can interpret this award.

TH

My Reply

Tom,

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.  There are a few follow up points I would like to make.
 
1.  The MVP award is indeed interpreted very differently by different people.  That's no doubt why this award sparks so much great debate each year.  Let's face it, I'm a Cardinals fan and you're a Brewers writer... we're not always going to see eye to eye but I do want to give you credit for posting your ballot online and explaining your answers.

2.  As things turned out, your ballot did not cost Pujols the MVP award.  However, If the results had been closer, putting Pujols behind Delgado could have made Ryan Howard the MVP, altering baseball history forever.

3. Personally, I hold the National League MVP award to be very sacred. Lot's of baseball fans feel the same way.  I certainly hope that you didn't list Pujols so low just to "spark debate" on your blog.  If that was not your intention, my apologies.

4.  Finally, I would like to offer my services to ensure that a mistake similar to the Pujols/Delgado debacle of 2008 does not occur ever again.  Next season, you can feel free to contact me when you are preparing your picks and I will be available to consult you on your decision. 

Thanks again

What will the Marlins look to get in return if they trade Kevin Gregg?

It's likely that they will want to get rid of this salary, so what positions would they want to get in return?

It's too much to speculate exactly what players they would get back but would they want a minor league OF, 3B, or SP?

He certainly has trade value but I believe that he is only under team control for 1 more year before he hits free agency and also had the knee problems so the Fish would probably be able to get 2 decent MLB ready prospects (not future all-stars though) and a low level minor leaguer.

Thoughts?