A bizarre argument for a Marlins rival player to win the MVP

The National League MVP award could go to a player who plays for a rival team to the Miami Marlins. This has been an ongoing story, with a resolution becoming closer in sight. MLB.com has published an interesting, though ultimately bizarre case as to why New York Mets SS Francisco Lindor should win the award. There is no real case to pick him over Shohei Ohtani however.

Miami Marlins rival player should not win the NL MVP award.

Let me get something out of the way.... as a Miami Marlins fan, I obviously don't want the New York Mets to succeed. That said, Francisco Lindor had a great season and if he was truly the best option for the NL MVP award, I would say that he deserves it and would be happy for him.

He just simply did not have a better season than Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The argument made in that article is simply overlooking the stats. Lindor was worth 7.0 WAR. Ohtani was worth a significantly higher 9.2 WAR. Lindor hit 33 home runs, Ohtani hit 54 home runs. Lindor drove in 91 RBI. Ohtani drove in 130 RBI. Lindor batted .273/.344/.500 and Ohtani batted .310/.390/.646.

It's obviously pretty self-explanatory when you look at the stats, Shohei Ohtani was better than Francisco Lindor. There's really no way to look at it and come up with any other solution other than that Ohtani was better than Lindor. The arguments put forth in the article about 30-30 seasons and other things are just complete nonsense. Lindor had a great year and deserved to be nominated for the NL MVP award. The problem is that he has to be better than his competition, and he was not better than Ohtani. This means that Shohei Ohtani should win the NL MVP award. No rocket science here.

The argument that Francisco Lindor plays defense and Ohtani does not, does hold some weight. However, Ohtani didn't play any defense and was still significantly ahead in WAR. Lindor played both and was significantly behind. This should close the door on any further debate.