I don’t think Javy Baez is going to win the National League MVP award this year, and I don’t necessarily think he should be the top vote-getter. Christian Yelich simply had one of those otherworldly second halves that makes him the dead bang obvious choice at this point. I’ve made peace with it.
But, that said, I’m still really happy to see Baez arrive as an official NL MVP finalist for the insanely impressive breakout year he had as the Cubs’ best bat, best defender, best baserunner, and most versatile talent.
Consider that it was just a year ago when folks wondered whether Baez was settling into a career role as a very good defender who could maybe be a league average hitter, and would thus be overall kinda valuable. That unicorn talent was always in there for Baez, and this year, he finally unleashed it at the plate. He was thus overall extremely valuable.
El Mago.
Your 2018 NL MVP finalists:
Nolan Arenado@javy23baez@ChristianYelich pic.twitter.com/CulW8H0Iyj
— MLB (@MLB) November 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1059592125510234114