The National League MVP Award is up for grabs. Who will be named the most valuable NL player for 2017? Kris Bryant, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rizzo, and Nolan Arenado immediately come to mind. These four are frequently discussed as the frontrunners for the award. These four names are all reasonable suggestions to take home National League glory. However, of these four, one name is not like the others. There is one reason alone that Nolan Arenado won’t be named MVP.
He plays for the Colorado Rockies.
That’s right ladies and gentleman. Nolan Arenado playing for the Colorado Rockies will prevent him from becoming the 2017 National League Most Valuable Player. That doesn’t sound very fair, does it? Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound fair. Unfortunately, it isn’t fair at all. But, believe it or not, the team you play for can dramatically increase or decrease the likelihood of winning an award.
[Blake]
What’s wrong with the Rockies? Well, they aren’t very good at baseball. Last season, Colorado finished 75-87. That was 16 games behind the NL West leader, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies were right in the middle of the NL West division and stayed pretty much in the middle of the entire National League. On the bright side, this was a vast improvement from their 2015 record. That year, they finished at the bottom of the NL West, at 68-94. That was tied for third-worst in all of the National League. In fact, that was tied for third-worst in all of Major League Baseball.
History proves that Colorado just can’t seem to cut it with the rest of Major League Baseball. In 2014, they finished 66-96, second-worst in the National League. They were 74-88 in 2013, second from the bottom in the NL West. The trend seems to go on and on. They are one of two teams to have never won a Divisional Title. Honestly, they haven’t really been relevant since winning the National League Championship in 2007.
Realistically, with this streak of being irrelevant, the Rockies have suffered from a lack of national media coverage. Yes, teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Giants and Red Sox will always get more than a fair share of media attention. However, if Colorado could find some success, they would most certainly garner some publicity. Frankly, publicity is what they need, especially if Nolan Arenado wants to win NL MVP.
Currently, Bovada gives Arenado a 7/1 odds of winning the award. Kris Bryant sits at 11/4, Bryce Harper at 3/1, and Anthony Rizzo at 9/1. Amazingly, eight players sit at 33/1 odds, right below these key players. Just about everyone on this list stands a better chance, just with the team they play for.
While I don’t agree with the way that the voters will likely cast their ballots, the point still remains. Someone playing for the Colorado Rockies must have a career-best year and then some, in order to win such a prestigious award.