Miami Marlins division rival hitter loses out on an award

I found the argument for New York Mets SS Francisco Lindor to beat Los Angeles Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani for the NL MVP award quite ridiculous. Other division rival players were far more deserving of their awards. I found the entire debate to be laughable in fact. It's a shame that no Miami Marlins players were even in the conversation, but the season just wasn't good and no one truly stood out.

A Miami Marlins division rival player did not win the NL MVP award.

Francisco Lindor was frustrating to watch, as he exemplifies everything that is wrong with how the Miami Marlins are run, I'm talking about how Bruce Sherman doesn't spend on the team. I'm talking about how The Fish are neve rin contention for the top free agents. All the frustrating things for us Marlins fans are exmplified here. Lindor is a great player, who was acquired by a division rival team, that then signed him to a large extension.

All of that said, Lindor had a great season. He was worth 7.0 WAR. He batted .273/.344/.500. He hit 33 home runs and drove in 91 RBI. In any other season, he would be a great choice for the MVP award. He carried the Mets to the playoffs and deserves full recognition for that. He just wasn't as good as Shohei Ohtani. The first Designated Hitter to win the NL MVP award.

Ohtani batted .310/.390/.646. He hit 54 home runs and drove in 130 RBI. He was worth 9.2 WAR. There's no real comparison here. Shohei Ohtani was better than Francisco Lindor in every single way in the 2024 season. There's no argument that he was deserving of the NL MVP award. I commend both on great seasons, but Ohtani was by far the better and more deserving player.

Will there ever be a day when the Miami Marlins spend big on free agents? When we see elite hitters winning NL MVP awards here? For now, we can only dream about that. I'm sad as a Marlins fan, but glad to see these stars as a fan of the game.