The New York papers today jumped all over this one, so I felt it would be an interesting topic to share.

“If I get 50 home runs and 10 more RBIs, that's going to be a round
number that no one else in the American League will have,” Ortiz,
Boston's designated hitter, told The Boston Globe. “But they'll vote
for a position player, use that as an excuse.

“They're talking about Jeter a lot, right? He's done a great job,
he's having a great season, but Jeter is not a 40-homer hitter or an
RBI guy. It doesn't matter how much you've done for your ballclub; the
bottom line is, the guy who hits 40 homers and knocks in 100, that's
the guy you know helped your team win games.

“Don't get me wrong - he's a great player, having a great season,
but he's got a lot of guys in that lineup. Top to bottom, you've got a
guy who can hurt you. Come hit in this lineup, see how good you can be.”

Gotta hand it to Papi, he's not afraid to speak his mind, but I think he may have put his foot in his mouth. Jeter responded.

“I don't have to do it in his lineup,” he said.
“I'm not thinking about winning the MVP. We're talking about winning
the division. No one's focus here is on individual awards. We still got
something to play for this season.”

Ortiz is hitting .288 with 48
homers and 127 RBI. Jeter is hitting .346 with 13 homers and 91 RBI as
a No. 2 hitter. He is also having one of his best seasons at shortstop.

Jeter said it wasn't his place to debate who deserves the award.

“It's
always lovely, nice, to hear your name mentioned when people talk about
those kind of things,” he said. “But to be honest with you, I'm trying
to win a division.

“I just go out and try and play every day,
help the team win. Whether that's getting a hit, bunting a guy over,
hitting a ground ball to second, making a play, stealing a base — it
doesn't really make a difference.”

Jeter is right to stay out of the fray, it really is more about winning and making the postseason, something Ortiz may be feeling the heat from and the frustration of being edged out of an MVP once again despite putting up ridiculous offensive numbers. I'm just happy this kind of debate isn't happening over in Flushing. Howard may win MVP because of his breakthrough season, but we're happy to have a couple of MVPs of our own in Beltran and Reyes.

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