Rob Neyer: Wrong!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3710934&name=Neyer_Rob

All due respect to Mr. Neyer, Dustin deserved that MVP, and I'm going to show why using the same statistics Neyer himself uses to make his point.

1. OPS - Pedroia's average this season was .869, Mauer's was .864, playing in 11 fewer games.

2. More than BA - Yes, Mauer had fewer K's, but grounded into more DP. Yes, Pedroia had fewer walks, but his slugging average was 42 points higher. Mauer led the league in BA and SF, Pedroia led the league in runs, hits, and doubles.

3. Awards - Both won gold gloves, both won silver bats.

4. Neyer is one of Jim Rice's harshest critics when it comes to whether or not he belongs in Cooperstown. A point he hammers home is the difference between Rice's home/road numbers. He also insists Ron Santo deseres a plaque, despite some of his splits being worse than Rice's, but that's another story. (And for the record, I think they both belong in the Hall, for the record).

So, let's look at Pedrioa's road numbers (BA/OBA/SLG) and the difference with his home numbers: .309 (-35) / .359 (-34) / .468 (-51)

Now, Mauer's: .295 (-67) / .394 (-38) / .387 (-130)