Jimmy Rollins Wins The NL MVP...Did He Deserve It?

Also posted at Huge Tiny Mistake

Your Philadelphia Phillies shortstop edged Colorado Rockie 353 votes to 336 in the closest vote in 16 years:

Enough so that even though Rollins' power numbers paled to runner-up Matt Holliday's, his home runs to third-place Prince Fielder's and his star power to fourth place David Wright's, 16 of the 32 voters cast ballots with his name in first place. Because Rollins had affixed his reputation to the success of his team, and that added enough value in voters' eyes to overcome any numerical differences.

Of course, it wasn't like Rollins was some slug getting by on reputation. His 139 runs and 88 extra-base hits set records for shortstops. Everyone made such a big deal of Curtis Granderson's 20-20-20-20 - doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases. Well, Rollins went 35-20-30-40 and set career highs in batting average at .296 and slugging percentage at .531. And he set a major league record with 716 at-bats.

Rollins, he of the pre-season proclamations, helped lead his team to the playoffs, same as Holliday.  He did it with both the stick and the glove.  Matt Holliday slugged his way to 2nd place with terrific overall numbers and insane numbers at home.  Rollins also benefited from cozy Citizens Bank Park. Hell, 1B Prince Fielder and 3B David Wright had great years as well...do what do the numbers (beyond the Triple Crown) say?

Click inside

OPS:
Rollins     .875
Holliday  1.012
Fielder    1.013
Wright    .963

VORP:
Rollins     66.1
Holliday   75
Fielder    69.1
Wright    81

EQA (adjusted for park and league):
Rollins     .290
Holliday  .318
Fielder    .323
Wright    .329

Runs Created:
Rollins      122
Holliday   125
Fielder     126
Wright     136

Win Shares
Rollins     28
Holliday  30
Fielder    28
Wright    34

Something surprising happened while checking these numbers out.  I found myself less and less enamored with Rollins' season.  Rollins' EQA also stood much lower than the rest of the pack.   Sure, he had good counting stats, and his team made the playoffs, but both of those had a lot to do with his teammates.  Being on the best offense in the NL certainly had a lot to do with getting to the plate so much.  Rollins DID set the all-time season at bat record with 716.  He also played great defense and was the 'spark plug' for said great offense.

But I'm not sure his great season at SS outshines the great season David Wright had at third base.  Wright led the league in Win Shares, VORP AND Runs Created, both stats that combined a lot of factors  Win Shares includes defense too.   He wasn't overally flashy, but he got things done.  He also played great in August and September, so you can't pin the Mets' collapse on him.   There's really no reason to select anyone else if you are looking at the same numbers I am.  David Wright was the NL's best player last season when you look at both the plate and the field.  Rollins was great, but Wright was even better.

Also posted at Huge Tiny Mistake