There’s already been plenty of discussion all around why Evan Grant left Red Sox secondbaseman Dustin Pedroia off his ballot. He’s been getting plenty of flak for that already.
But another ballot move that’s been deemed questionable (perhaps more so at least in my opinion), is the Tampa Bay chapter of the BBWAA giving Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett a fifth place vote on the MVP ballot.
Bartlett, who hardly played a full season at 128 games and 454 at-bats, didn’t wow anyone at the plate. He batted .286 with a .329 OBP and .361 slugging percentage. He had no power (1 homerun) and little production (48 runs and 37 rbis).
Opinions are mixed on Rays blogs but they range from “too much is being made of the Bartlett vote” to “what was he thinking?”
I don’t live and die with the Rays and I couldn’t tell you what got them to the World Series. And I won’t bore you by comparing teammates Evan Longoria’s or Carlos Pena’s stats.
But that said, Jason Bartlett for MVP?? Really?