Twins MVP, 2010

I know the season isn’t over yet. The Twins were the first to clinch their division, though, so maybe we should figure out who the Twins MVP is for 2010. I realized I wanted to write about this on my way home from Target this noon, only to come home to find out that the Twins Geek (John Bonnes) wrote the exact same thing at the Strib–Who is the MVP?; it’s a good read, but let me pick my Twins MVP.

The whole team. Every one of them is an MVP. I’ll even include some non-factors like Brendan Harris, although if you don’t want to include the likes of him, Ron Mahay and Randy Flores, I’m down with that.

The thing is, it took all seven thousand of them to win this year (really, I lost track of how many guys have played this year). When Slowey and Baker were injured, and when Blackburn struggled and was sent to the minors…the likes of Dunesing stepped in, with spot starts with by Manship and Perkins. When Justin Morneau–a guy heading towards another MVP season hit his head and ended up with a concussion, and missed the entire second half of the year, Cuddyer moved positions for the millionth time (he played second base, third base, and center field, other than his position in right field). Jason Kubel went from part-time DH to right field. Jim Thome went from part-time bench/part time DH to DH. Hardy, Hudson, and Punto all missed time in the infield. Valencia showed up. Casilla filled in. Like Hughes filled in for a few games. Butera showed himself as a capable defensive catcher, and seemed to have a fair amount of clutch hits that made his lack of hits in general a little easier to take.

So, who’s the MVP? Is Cuddyer’s reported leadership and flexibility more worthwhile than finally getting a real third baseman or a phenomenal defensive/offensive catcher or a starter who pitched strongly or a pitcher who should be considered in the Cy Young based on peripherals, or the bullpen’s work both early and late in the season? Who is it? I think it’s everyone put together. By everyone I’m including Bill Smith and the front office, the scouts in the field, the trainers, the coaches in both the majors and minors, and everyone else involved with this Twins season.

There is no easy way to pick a team MVP. It’s a team sport. You can’t say a starting pitcher is more valuable than a bullpen pitcher–starters can lose games before the bullpen gets involved, and bullpens can lose games after the start has left. A clean-up hitting first baseman can’t get RBIs if the batters before him don’t get on base. A power-hitting DH can’t win games with his bat if no one else hits or plays defense. A great-called game by a catcher is worthless if defense doesn’t back it up, or no one gets a hit. It’s all combined efforts that win games.

So who’s the MVP of the Twins this year? Whomever you think. Although if you’ve picked Matt Tolbert or Trevor Plouffe, I’d like a rational explanation.