But there is one in Ortiz. Even though the season isn't over, David Ortiz seems to have resigned himself to losing the MVP race and has started well...whining...in advance. To be honest, I'm a little surprised to hear this from Ortiz. I'm not surprised that he harbors these feelings; that's understandable. I'm just amazed that he comes out and says these things as his team falls apart and falls 10 games back in the division. I'd link to the standings but I think this race player is a far more fun tool to check out (you can actually go back as far as 1901!). Perhaps all the media love and SI covers have made the man a little more brazen. In any case, here's the gist:

"I'll tell you one thing," Ortiz said. "If I get 50 home runs and 10 more RBI [which would give him 137], that's going to be a round number that no one else in the American League will have."

"But they'll vote for a position player, use that as an excuse. They're talking about [Derek] Jeter a lot, right? He's done a great job, he's having a great season, but Jeter is not a 40-homer hitter or an RBI guy. It doesn't matter how much you've done for your ball club, the bottom line is, the guy who hits 40 home runs and knocks in 100, that's the guy you know helped your team win games.

Wow. I don't think I even have to comment here. If you're a baseball fan and you think that HRs and RBIs without context are the only important part of the game, I can strongly suggest one book that would be worth your time. Update: SG over at RLYW took a sabermetric look at Jeter's viability as a MVP candidate - as usual of SG, certainly worth a read.

"Don't get me wrong -- he's a great player, having a great season, but he's got a lot of guys in that lineup," Ortiz continued. "Top to bottom, you've got a guy who can hurt you. Come hit in this lineup, see how good you can be.

Oh, you mean hitting in front of Manny Ramirez, a HOFer who will go down as one of the best hitters of his, or any, era? And is it really Jeter's fault that Theo failed to resign Johnny Damon to hit leadoff? Oh, and way to bury your teammates there. That should really help morale.

Ortiz said if he had a vote, he might cast it for Jermaine Dye or Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox, or Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins.

"All depends on who makes the playoffs," he said. "Dye is having an unbelievable season, an incredible year. Konerko, too.

Wait, now he's saying that the playoffs matter as well? I'm confused - based on this argument and Boston's current place in the standings, Ortiz practically disqualifies himself.

"I'm right there," he said, "but I'm not going to win it. They give it to [Rodriguez] one year, even though his team was in last place, so now they can't play that B* anymore, just because your team didn't make it.

Okay, are you seriously going to compare a DH (whose only job is to hit!) hitting 50 HRs to a shortstop (a Gold Glove shortstop at that) doing the same? That's just...words fail me.

They gave it to Alex that year because of his numbers. But they always have a reason to vote for whatever, so that's why I don't worry about it."

Hmmm, it sure sounds like he worries about it. Listen David, if it hurts you that badly, pick up a glove during the offseason and learn to play first base! Then you would get the "position player bias" and who knows, you could beat out Travis Hafner who was having a better season than you! Now, this is not to imply that I don't think that Ortiz is a great hitter. No one can deny that and really, it would be foolish to do so. Personally, it's just that, in the context of a 162 game season, it is very hard to justify a DH winning a MVP award, especially if his team doesn't even sniff the playoffs.

Update #2: David Pinto over at Baseball Musings also has a post up on the article and checks in with his thoughts. The comments over there are pretty interesting to read.