The American League MVP is a toss-up. There are three outfielders all comparable and deserving of the award. Here is how Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramirez and Vladimir Guerrero stack up against one another.
Gary Sheffield. In his first year in the Big Apple, he fitted in and appeared to have been there for years.
He batted a solid .290 with 36 home runs and 121 RBI. He scored 117 runs and became the leader in a gaudy batting lineup. He did this with a bad shoulder which he had cortisone shots throughout the year. It may hurt his case that he plays with so many superstars.
Manny Ramirez. Led Boston to a great season and into the playoffs. Ramirez led the American League with 43 home runs. He batted .308 and had 130 RBI, which was third in the league.
He remained consistent and had 87 extra base hits for the season. A major flaw to his case is David Ortiz had a great season and MVP-like numbers.
Vladimir Guerrero. In his first year in the AL, led the Angels to a brief playoff appearance. This was remarkable since this team was decimated with injuries. Finished third in the American League in batting and fourth with 126 RBI. He also contributed 39 home runs and had 15 stolen bases. Plays the best defense of the three, which adds to his case.
The winner of the American League MVP will be Vladimir Guerrero. He played consistent with many of his teammates falling to injury.
The team was full of distraction but he continued to play great baseball. He has had great MVP-worthy seasons in the past, but will finally win his first award.
The regular season is over and now it is time to dissect the candidates for Player of the Year award in the National League, the race is between Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols and Adrian Beltre. Here is how the three stack up against one another.
Barry Bonds. Trying for his seventh MVP award. Batted a league-leading .362 to win his second hitting title in three years. Bonds had 45 home runs compared to only 41 strikeouts.
This gave him a career total of 703 (only 12 away from passing Babe Ruth for second all-time). He had 101 RBI even though he was walked a record 232 times this season. His on-base-percentage was an astonishing .609. His team failed to make the playoffs out the wild card race to Houston by only one game.
Adrian Beltre. Had a career year and led the Los Angeles Dodgers to the playoffs. He led the majors in home runs with 48. A triple-crown threat, ranked in the top five in average (.334), and RBI (121). A negative to his great numbers is that his on-base-percentage was .388, which is only 54 points higher than his average.
Albert Pujols. Would have won the award last season if it weren’t for Bonds. He led the Cardinals to the best record in the majors. Pujols batted .331 with 46 homers and 123 RBI to rank in the top five in all three categories. He scored 133 runs and had an on-base-percentage of.415. Has similar strikeouts numbers to Bonds with only 52 K’s. A negative to his campaign is that he has two other players that have had MVP-like years (Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds).
The winner of the 2004 MVP in the National League (drum roll please!) is … Barry Bonds … Again … For the seventh boring time. I want to give it to Albert Pujols finally, but he just isn’t as important as Bonds. He could be removed and St. Louis would still be a playoff team, but if Bonds doesn’t play, the Giants would look like the Diamondbacks.
Statistically, Bonds does too much in his limited swings. How much better could he be?

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