Exploring 2025 MVP Contenders in American & National League

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00:00Joe, let's go to MVP now. And let's let's fight with the

00:03American League. Let's start right here right now. Because

00:06the National League Yeah, you almost shouldn't be allowed to

00:08pick Shohei, but you will. And that's fine. But let's

00:11Sorry, I just want to be right.

00:15pitching again. It's just gonna be right. You know, last year

00:19was a little dicier because he wasn't pitching. So I think you

00:22could look at the board and say, Okay, well, maybe there are

00:24more options, you know, Acuna coming off a 4070 season. And

00:28then Shohei Ohtani goes 5050. I mean, it's just it's absurd.

00:32It's absurd at this point. So yeah, Shohei Ohtani. Naturally,

00:34I mean, just lock it in. Once again, I don't know what can

00:37stop the Dodgers except playoff format and injury. So if he's

00:39healthy, and then you add in he pitches in the second half of

00:42the year, my god, like, how do you stop that? You can't. The

00:46other guy though, in the American League is Bobby Witt

00:49for me. He is not the number one guy on the board. Excuse me,

00:54currently, it's Aaron judge at 155. Bobby, we can get a plus

00:57330 gunner Henderson working his way back at plus 1200 is

01:00intriguing. Vlad plus 1800 playing for the contract also

01:03intriguing Jose Ramirez in with an injury right now. So that's

01:06a little frustrating. But every year Jose Ramirez does not get

01:09enough credit. And he is plus 2300. So I think at the very

01:12least that makes money. But I keep coming back to Bobby Witt

01:15Jr. Because this is a player who's going to contend for a

01:18batting title. He's going to steal 30 bases, at least he's

01:21going to hit 30 home runs. And that was a really good overall

01:24player. Now it's going to be tough because Aaron judge plays

01:27for the Yankees. And that narrative is huge. But there's

01:30also fatigue that settles in quite a bit with the voter base.

01:33And you see it every single year. You get these windows

01:37where everybody votes for the same player over and over again.

01:39And then eventually they go, we're bored with that. I don't

01:42want to do that anymore. Let's go vote for somebody else. And I

01:44think Bobby Witt might benefit from that. I think the the judge

01:47fatigue might set in here eventually. But Matt, I know

01:51that's not where you're going for your award. So talk to me

01:53about your picks for American League and National League MVP.

01:58All right. And let me just say before before Joe kneecaps me

02:02that my problem with Bobby Witt is there's no protection in that

02:05lineup. Look, if Calleon comes up in June or July, different

02:07conversation. I don't think guys like Pasquantino and Perez are

02:10going to protect Witt to a point where teams can't pitch around.

02:13And you mentioned 30 stolen bases, 30 home runs and a nice

02:16batting average. That's the league now. You know, I mean,

02:18why Bobby Witt? Voter fatigue? Fine, I get it. I would much

02:21prefer Vlad Guerrero. Everyone seems to forget that Vlad

02:25Guerrero was flirting with a triple crown the year that Aaron

02:28Judge broke the home run record, right? That to me is absolutely

02:31amazing. He's in a contract year, I think he has protection

02:33in the lineup. I think the Blue Jays have to be good at some

02:36point. So why not now? In the National League, the reason I

02:40went with someone other than Shohei Otani is because if you

02:42remove Shohei Otani from the conversation, who's the next

02:44best player in the league, if not in all of baseball? Well,

02:48it's Ronald Acuna for me. And I don't care if it comes back in

02:50May. I don't care if it comes back in June. I still think that

02:52he's head and shoulders above everyone else to where he truly

02:56defines most valuable. And yes, there is an inspirational story,

03:00a comeback of the year kind of story there. But to inspire,

03:03that's one thing. To be valuable, that's another. And

03:06Acuna is the most valuable player for me in the National

03:09League, Joe.

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