Dye For MVP?

Should Jermaine Dye win the American League's Most Valuable Player award? Daily Herald reporter Paul Ladewski certainly thinks he should be considered. Ladewski focusses on the fact that Dye is not a self-promoter and that he does not have the east coast media machine behind him. He lists ten things the east coast media should know about Dye and his he should be MVP. The highlight of the article was this comment about Derek Jeter, supposedly the greatest chemistry player in the history of the world:

Trouble is, the East Coast media started their Jeter campaign in the last few weeks. And, hoo boy, when those types jump on a bandwagon, you can't find enough Clydesdales to pull it.

So lately all we've heard is how Jeter has kept the poor, deprived, injury-riddled Yankees in one piece. Please. Put away the violins. Because even with Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield unavailable, the Yankees still have Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano, Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada and Rodriguez around.

Seriously, does that sound like the 1962 New York Mets to you?

Worse yet, in the minds of many, Jeter deserves additional MVP points because he plays shortstop, the most important position other than pitcher on the field. Except that, according to The Fielding Bible, Jeter ranks 30th out of 31 shortstops in plus-minus rating, which compares the number of plays made with those of the average player at the position. He was 31 out of 32 last season.

I know. It was hard to read for me, too. How dare he criticize Derek Jeter? I have been brainwashed by ESPN to believe that Jeter the Great is perfect in every way.