Photo: Eric Espada
Jason Smith: "I can't give the MVP to somebody who is a good player on a bad team who finished 2 games over .500. If you want to point to WAR, which everyone does when they point to Bryce Harper, there's 4 guys with a better WAR than him that played on playoff teams. He got the award because he is a star player and he stood out on a bad team, and they contended just enough to make it palatable to vote for him. But there's no way I can make him the MVP. He's had so many seasons better than this and he didn't win the MVP, how does he win it for this one? 84 RBIs! If his numbers were through the roof, then I would get it. But he knocked in 84 runs. I can't give it to a guy for that. You're number 1 job is to drive in runs. How can you tell me that that's the MVP?"
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon debate whether Bryce Harper was worthy of the NL MVP this season. Jason believes Harper's numbers were lacking in certain areas, and the Phillies being out of playoff contention should matter when evaluating Harper's candidacy. Jason reiterates his belief that Brandon Crawford was more deserving of the award. However, Mike points out that Jason's argument is resorting to too many team-dependent stats, and that Harper's MVP recognition is justified.