Who Should Win the 2009 National League MVP

The 2009 baseball season is over and is now in playoff mode, but let us take a look back at the regular season and who should win the Most Valuable Player award in the National League. Now please note that I said should win, not will win because the Baseball Writers' Association of America has surprised me on more than one occasion.

I looked at all the possible candidates and after the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries we were left with four players standing, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, and Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

Prince Fielder: Fielder's most impressive statistic of the season may be that he played in all 162 games or the two stolen bases the big man had. Oh and he also hit for a .299 batting average with 46 home runs and 141 runs batted in. Fielder also walked 110 times for an on base percentage of .412. The one downside for Fielder is that he is considered to be among the worst defensive first basemen in the game.

Ryan Howard: Howard had another ho hum year 45 home runs, 141 RBI, and a slugging percentage of. 571. Oh course I am kidding those are impressive numbers, he just keeps putting them up year after year and we are starting to get a little spoiled. The big knock of Howard has always been his strikeouts, which he cut down to 186, but is still way too high in my opinion. Also Howard isn't he greatest with the glove. He may not be as bad as Prince Fielder in the field, but he isn't as good as Albert Pujols either.

Hanley Ramirez: Ramirez is the wild card of the four candidates for he is the only one that doesn't play first. He led the National League is batting average at .342 and added 24 home runs and 106 RBI. He also stole 27 bases. Now Hanley Ramirez will never be confused with Ozzie Smith at shortstop, but he has improved over the years to bring himself up to an average shortstop.

Albert Pujols: Pujols had another impressive year in what is an impressive career and he is only 29 years old. Pujols had 47 home runs with 135 RBI and a batting average of .327. His slugging percentage led the league by over fifty points at .658. He also drew 110 walks while striking out only 64 times. Pujols had another very good year with the glove as well, committing only six errors. Pujols also had a surprising 16 steals out of 20 attempts.

This race was closer than I thought it would be when I first started, with all three first basemen having similar offensive numbers. This comes down to defense and Pujols is clearly the best. So your National League MVP should be Albert Pujols.

All statistics courtesy of www.baseball-almanac.com