This is the guy that SHOULD win it!

JOHAN SANTANA

• Ranks 1st in AL in W (17) • Ranks 2nd in AL in IP (206.1)
• Ranks 1st in AL in SO (219) • Ranks 1st in AL in ERA (2.84)
• Ranks 1st in AL in WHIP (0.99) • Ranks 2nd in AL in WPct (.773)
• Ranks 1st in AL in BAA (.215)

probably still manny, though jermaine dye's pretty close.

manny?

i can see the argument, but i personally hate when pitchers win the MVP. starters go out every 5 days, and have what, like 40 starts total? 25% of the whole season? unless they go 40-0 in those starts, and only 60-62 in the rest of the games, would it make sense to give a pitcher the MVP.

(don't get me wrong, i'm a HUGE twins fan and love santana - he should be working on his 3rd straight cy young...)

yes, manny. go look at the stats. he's been much better than ortiz.

No player has been more valuable to his team then Santana. The Twins are 1 game over .500 when any one else starts a game, and 20 games over .500 when Santana starts (25-5). The Twins wouldn't even be close to the playoffs if Santana wasn't on the team, and if the playoffs started today, the Twins would be the AL Wild Card team. To me, that is the definition of an MVP.

agree

before i decide, i'd like to know the win differential for every player in the mvp race.

so just because he is better than ortiz, he is the al mvp? Ramirez is not even gonna finish top 3.

ramirez has pretty much been the best hitter in the al this year. i only compared him to ortiz because everyone thought ortiz should win it. ortiz shouldn't be in the top five. and don't even bother with jeter.

dye is right there, though.

ehh...Give him the CY unanimously. I think the MVP should be a hitter's/fielder's award. Give Dye the MVP.

Jeter

There's no way Manny Ramirez should win the MVP.

In my opinion, the top five should be Ortiz, Dye, Morneau, Jeter and... well, maybe Manny, but he's a distant fifth.

Dye, Jeter, Ortiz, Morneau, Hafner

why ortiz, jeter or morneau if manny's better?

hell, vlad should be mvp over those three.

go to http://www.mlb.com and get back to me when you see how the stats match up.

manny's a better hitter than ortiz, and he plays the field. well? no, but playing average it counts for something.

the slugging and on base percentages for jeter and morneau aren't even close to manny's. dye's the only guy who's close. and vlad.

hell, why don't we give garland the cy young.

actually, i correct myself -- the obp's are close; it's the ops i meant.

Santana is making my case even better!



MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Johan Santana already has one AL Cy Young Award and appears to be closing in on another.

After his latest dazzling effort brought the Minnesota Twins within striking distance of Detroit in the AL Central, teammate Nick Punto thinks Santana deserves consideration for another honor -- MVP.

The left-hander struck out 11 and allowed only two hits in Minnesota's 12-1 victory over the Tigers on Sunday, pitching into the seventh inning and pulling the Twins within two games of first-place Detroit.

"Santana just dominates," said Punto, who had four hits and three RBI. "There's a psychological thing going on, too, with teams who come in here against him."

The Twins haven't lost a Santana home start since Aug. 6, 2005, going 22-0 in that span. Santana (18-5) is 15-0 with a 1.92 ERA during that stretch and hasn't lost a game at all since the All-Star break.

Torii Hunter had three hits and scored three runs for the Twins, who trailed the Tigers by 10½ games just more than a month ago. With the lead dwindling, Detroit has lost five of six.

"Now the season really starts," Tigers outfielder Craig Monroe said. "It starts over for us and let's get back on track, take a well-needed day off and come back and be ready to go."

After taking three of four in this series, the Twins lead Chicago by 1½ games in the wild-card standings and haven't been this close to the division lead since April 13. And Sunday's dominant victory proved the race is far from over.

They have shaved 8½ games off the lead since star pitcher Francisco Liriano went on the disabled list with arm problems. The rookie is set to make his return on Wednesday, and Punto says Santana is the reason the Twins are still in it.