The New Career Achievement MVP

The 2020s so far have been kind to players who've been solid and consisted for 10 or so years running and haven't always gotten rewarded for it. The decade began with two 30something 1st basemen, Freddie Freeman and Jose Abreu, getting MVP awards, and last season featured an NL MVP race between Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, two future Hall of Fame corner infielders playing for the same team who'd never won an MVP before. Obviously, Goldschmidt got the gold, not that either of them need it.

And it's an odd development, because the MVPs are slowly becoming similar to something like the Oscars, being given out more for career efforts than solely the individual performance. Did Freeman win in 2020 solely because of the 2020 season, or because of every prior season where he'd gotten close? Did Goldy win last year just because he was excellent last year, or was there some regret from 2013 that had carried over? The lines are becoming a bit blurred, and it's making the MVP races a lot more interesting. 

For instance? If Goldschmidt finally got his last year, does that mean Arenado could be next? Does that mean Jose Ramirez could be on the way?

Ramirez has been very close to MVP status for the last few years, and has remained a steady presence in the conversation of the best players in baseball. I'd compare him to someone like Tony Gwynn, as he rarely strikes out, and he can absolutely kill ya with hitting. Unlike Gwynn he's a lot better at hitting long balls, and he's hit 35+ twice in his career, but he's insanely consistent, has only had one or two small injury stretches over the course of his 10 year career, and has been a valuable piece of the Guardians during their rise, fall and rise again. 

Even as the Guardians begin to embrace higher budget tendencies again, especially by getting Josh Bell and watching him fail to hit in a new city again, Ramirez is still a steady anchor of a smaller, lower-budget, contact-friendly squad, and, a lot like Gwynn, I don't know if he's the kind of player who really needs equals and colleagues who do what he does alongside him in the lineup. Having him and Lindor together worked for a while, but I don't know who else would match up to that mentality. I also don't know if the fact that Ramirez has become one of the elder members of this Guardians team is going to hurt their ability to be on the same page or not. 
 

Still, Ramirez, as well as Goldy, is still playing on par with his prime years, and is still a very crucial part of the Guardians lineup. Goldy is also hitting .370 at the moment and heating up the Cards' lineup with the help of, yes, Nolan Arenado. There, it's a bit more varied, it's not fully dependent on the youth, and the veterans don't exactly stick out like a sore thumb. At the same time, Goldy is sharing playing time with people like Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar, and even if he is still in his prime, the future of the team is there with him and at 35, those are interesting stakes.

Regardless of MVPs of whatever, I do think Goldschmidt, Arenado and honestly Ramirez are all-timer MLB players, and sum up both the 2010s and the modern era of baseball extremely well. I hope they continue to keep playing as well as they are, and I hope they continue to be rewarded for it.

Coming Tomorrow (?)- A young third basemen who, last week, was helping completely obliterate my Phillies.