There's No Such Thing as "LudFlex"

I understand that Dan and Al have to talk about something for three hours every night (God forbid they talk about the actual game), but any time they get into an MVP discussion, the following words invariably arise: "You know, people talk about Albert Pujols, but a sleeper pick might be Ryan Ludwick."

Maybe. And maybe if you were trying to determine the best Seattle band of the Nineties, someone might tab Candlebox as being "overlooked." There's a reason 99.5% of people would overlook Candlebox in favor of Nirvana. That reason is as follows: Nirvana was better.

Dan and Al* never get past the superficial counting stats when they run down Ludwick's case, but let's do a little comparison. Stats are as of August 27.

AVG/OBP/SLG
Pujols: .356/.466/.634
Ludwick: .304/.380/.600

WIN SHARES
Pujols: 27
Ludwick: 21

VORP
Pujols: 78
Ludwick: 47.7


This doesn't even take defense into account (OK, Win Shares does a little) -- mainly because I'm too lazy to play the apples-to-oranges game with a Gold Glove-worthy 1B and a competent right fielder.

But I understand that raw stats aren't enough for some people. So let's put this information to use in a real-life situation. Let's say you're being attacked -- by a chainsaw-wielding, Communist grizzly bear. Now who would you want on your side: a solid player setting career highs in homers and ribs, or an effing stud with a metric buttload of OPS?

Don't mistake me: I'm not trying to take anything away from Ludwick's season. He's been awesome, ranking in the top 20 in both VORP and Win Shares. But if we're talking seriously about MVP candidates, we can't just ignore Albert because he's too "obvious."

Sometimes, the right answer is just that easy to find.


*Dan and Al aren't the only ones to prosecute this argument, but they do so most visibly. I still hope to go to Massage Luxe with Al someday, though.