HALF-SEASON MVP?
History suggests Cespedes would be hard-pressed to do it
CC SABATHIA WAS once where Yoenis Cespedes is now, the midseason acquisition from the other league, helping to ignite a playoff push with mind-boggling numbers.
But Sabathia never thought he had a real shot at any postseason hardware in the National League after going from the Indians to the Brewers in a 2008 trade, even though he was 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA for Milwaukee. Still, Sabathia finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting and sixth for MVP.
Sabathia said that Tim Lincecum, who did win the ‘08 NL Cy Young Award, “deserved it more than I did, pitching the whole year in that league.”
When the talk turns to Cespedes, the Met who may be slugging his way into the NL MVP conversation this season, Sabathia says, “Has Cespedes even played 20 games over there?
Told Cespedes has 16 homers and 41 RBI in 39 games as a Met, Sabathia says, “I mean, that’s a hot streak. If this was April, we wouldn’t be talking about it, right?
“I don’t think he deserves any talk about it.”
To be clear, Sabathia says he’s amazed by what Cespedes has done since the Mets acquired him from the Tigers at the trade deadline. “It’s great,” Sabathia says. “He’s doing it at the right time and those guys are winning. But it’s a hot streak. It’s just at the right time.”
Baseball’s past shows that Sabathia is probably right, though it’s a history lesson Mets fans won’t like hearing. Based on where some other notable players who have changed leagues have finished in award voting, Cespedes may have to be satisfied being this generation’s Donn Clendenon, the midseason newcomer that lifts the Mets to dizzying heights.
No player switching leagues has ever won an MVP award and only one, Rick Sutcliffe of the 1984 Cubs, has won a Cy Young. Sutcliffe went 16-1 in 20 starts after the Cubs acquired him from Cleveland.
Only five players have finished among the top 10 in MVP balloting after going from one league to the other, according to a foxsports. com report that credited STATS, LLC for that information. The five were Manny Ramirez (fourth with the 2008 Dodgers), Sabathia (sixth with the 08 Brewers), Sutcliffe, Sal Maglie (second with the 1956 Dodgers) and Hank Borowy (sixth with the 1945 Cubs).
Cespedes likely will be hurt by the relatively small number of games he’s played in the NL. “Number of games played” is listed as the second criteria on the MVP ballots sent to voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America, which votes on the game’s major awards.
Russell Martin had a close-up look at one of the most remarkable partial seasons ever when his Dodgers acquired Manny Ramirez in 2008. Ramirez put up a video game-esque OPS of 1.232 but only finished fourth in NL MVP voting.
“He was definitely the most valuable player in that league for that time,” says Martin, now Toronto’s catcher. “To win it, it’s near impossible.
“It’s tough if you compare what somebody’s done for their team for the whole year. I just see it as unfair.
“How do you take away from the numbers somebody put up for a whole year? You look at (Bryce) Harper’s numbers and Cespedes’ numbers. You can’t take the numbers he (Cespedes) had in the American League and transfer them to the National League.”
Then Martin adds, referring to Cespedes, “But you’re doing something if you’re making enough noise for people to talk about it.”
If you could transfer numbers, says Carlos Beltran, perhaps Cespedes’ would have a case. Beltran knows the situation, too — he was traded from the Royals to the Astros in 2004, back when Houston was in the National League, and helped them reach the postseason with 23 homers and a .926 OPS in 90 games. Beltran finished 12th in the NL MVP race and was even behind teammates Lance Berkman (seventh) and Roger Clemens (eighth).
“I know my overall numbers were good, but I played half the year in the National League, so I never thought I was going to be considered for MVP or anything like that,” Beltran said. “But it was a great satisfaction to me to help the Astros and be able to perform well for them.”
Beltran, too, admires what Cespedes has done for the Mets and he’s open to the idea of Cespedesfor-MVP. “It could happen — the season isn’t over yet,” Beltran says. “There are games left. Maybe he goes crazy in those games and makes a bigger statement to be considered.”
Toronto ace David Price, a former Cy Young winner who’s a candidate again this year, knows Cespedes well from their time together in Detroit and says, “I loved being his teammate. He was ready to go every day. I’ve talked to a couple of Mets guys and they really like him over there. I’m happy for him.”
Not surprisingly, Price is OK with the idea of a halfseason player winning MVP, though he knows it’s not that simple.
“That’d be really cool,” Price says when asked if Cespedes’ efforts with the Mets could change the minds of voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America, which casts the major award ballots. “It’d stink for Harper, though… He’s the most deserving guy in that league.” Maybe it’s not minds that need to be changed then. Maybe, as Martin suggests, “They should invent another award, you know? — ‘Most Impactful After the Trade Deadline?”