Prince Fielder for MVP

"There might not be a single other candidate whose fate is so intertwined with the fate of his team as the Prince of Milwaukee. "

I can't remember where I read this sentence (or a reasonable facsimilie thereof) a week or two ago, but I remember reading it as a negative on Prince's resume - that basically the reason Prince wouldn't get MVP is that the Brewers started to fall out of contention.

I'd like to argue that the fact that the Brewers fate is so closely tied to Prince is the reason he should be MVP. Not only should the MVP have the stats, but he has to be a guy that leads his team - a guy without whom the team would be struggling.

I'm not sure a better case can be made for a guy taking a team to the next level than with Prince and the Brewers.

Leads the league in: Home runs, slugging, at-bats per home run
Top five in: OPS, total bases, RBI runs created per 27 outs

This guy agrees with me.

Jayson Stark at ESPN.com has this to say:

Fielder Leads the league in: Home runs, extra-base hits (tied), slugging
Top five in: RBIs, intentional walksScoring position: 27 for 107, .252 (50 RBIs in 143 RISP plate appearances)

There might not be a single other candidate whose fate is so intertwined with the fate of his team as the Prince of Milwaukee. If the Brewers bumble out of this race, there are so many stellar candidates that voters could easily overlook Fielder's power numbers and focus on other stuff -- such as the fact that he has just 27 hits all year with men in scoring position. If the Brewers have a fun little comeback story in them, on the other hand, those same voters will focus on the fact that Fielder has a shot at Mark McGwire's all-time record for most homers by a 23-year-old (49). And that he's almost certainly going to break Robin Yount's record for most extra-base hits by a Brewer (82). And, maybe most importantly, that Fielder has grown into a formidable on-field and off-field presence on a team with very little postseason experience -- or experience, period. So it's a big, big month for this fellow -- and all his fellow Brew Crew-ers.

ESPN.com also has fan voting. Since midseason, Prince has been in first place all but two times, with David Wright taking the top spot those two weeks.

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More thoughts on this later....