ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez on Tuesday revealed his surprising pick for AL MVP.
Perez was calling the Toronto Blue Jays-Tampa Bay Rays game and was talking about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He and play-by-play voice Karl Ravech were gushing over the season Vlad Jr. has enjoyed.
Ravech then asked Perez about his MVP vote since Eduardo is a voter. Perez revealed that he is voting for Guerrero and not Shohei Ohtani.
“I actually give it to (Vladimir Guerrero),” Perez said. “And, maybe I’ll be one of the few. I understand what Shohei Ohtani has done this year. I really do, and I respect it immensely and we have not seen anything like it.”
Perez explained his reasoning for his vote. It comes down to Ohtani’s Los Angeles Angels stinking this season, while Guerrero’s Jays are in the playoff race.
“But, for me, and I’ve always said it … the ‘value’ is also in when it comes to team wins and the impact that it has on the race. And unless there is just no one that stands out, and you have an unbelievable year and your team finishes in last, then I’ll OK, I’ll give it that valuable player. But the word ‘valuable’ to me means that. Now, the most impressive player in Major League Baseball? Shohei Ohtani, no doubt.”
Perez recognizes that Ohtani has been the most outstanding player in MLB this year. But he won’t give him MVP because the Angels are not very good.
That’s unfortunate.
Entering Tuesday, Vladdy was leading MLB in batting average (.320) and was tied with Salvador Perez for the MLB home run lead (46). He has a 1.024 OSP. But Ohtani has 44 home runs and a .945 OPS. Oh yeah, and by the way, he is 9-2 with a 3.28 ERA in 123.1 innings this season.
Vlad Jr. has been awesome. But if you want to know the correct answer to the question about who AL MVP is, just ask yourself this: how many innings has Vlad pitched this season? End of story.
However, Vlad was wise to lose so much weight in the offseason.
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