Phillies' Nick Castellanos says an inconspicuous NL East star was the rightful MVP

NL East All-Star Nick Castellanos gave a shocking take on the National League MVP award in a recent episode of the Chris Rose Rotation. Castellanos stated that he believes that recent Miami Marlins' antagonist and New York Mets super-utility star Jose Iglesias was deserving of unanimous league MVP honors.

Despite real-life MVP Shohei Ohtani's historic 50-homer, 50-steal season, the Phillies outfielder went on to explain that “If you’re looking at the MVP as having the most weight on creating wins for your team, there’s no other player that has had that much weight as Jose Iglesias." He, more so than Ohtani and runner-up Fransisco Lindor, fueled New York's improbable NLCS run.

Obviously, Castellanos has a different value system for the prestigious award. While Igelsias' infusion of leadership, culture, and contact hitting certainly holds value, the 35-year-old journeyman's counting stats were lacking.

Iglesias posted a career-high .337 batting average across 270 at-bats. Had he qualified, this would have bested former Marlins' star Luis Arraez (.314) for the National League batting title. For the record, his blistering .529 average in six games against the Miami Marlins was the highest he recorded against any singular team.

However, Iglesias posted just four homers, six steals, and 26 RBI in 2024. His defense was stellar. Yet, he recorded just a 3.1 WAR. For context, Ohtani posted a 9.1 WAR and Lindor a 7.8.

While I am shocked to learn that Castellanos gave Iglesias such dramatic praise to the NL East star, MVP is a step (or several steps) too far. However, I have written before that Iglesias would be a perfect target for the 2025 Miami Marlins as the club seeks to build culture, mentorship, and consistent winning. Perhaps Miami could throw their hat in the ring to aqcuire the now MVP buzzworthy infielder.