The Mr. G ALDS MVP Thread

Yeah, don't think it's close. Big G was THE MAN.

Agreed.

Stanton 10000000000% MVP. But this series also proved that Juan Soto is absolutely a must resign this offseason. He hit almost .300, walked a lot, threw out a runner at the plate, etc. No stage is too big for this kid. They cannot let him go. Cannot.

Juan Soto changed this team's offense singlehandedly.  This is not the best we will see of Juan Soto.  He's too smart of a hitter.  He will continue learn the vagaries of Yankee Stadium, the American League, and take advantage.  

I suppose Stanton is the true MVP, but didn't have much of an impact in the first two games. I know he knocked in a run in game 2, and hit the game winner in game 3, and knocked in an insurance run in game 4, but to me the bullpen was the critical factor in the series, and Weaver is now the keystone of the pen. Knock him out, and the pen collapses. Weaver saved all three games, holding two 1-run leads and a 2-run lead. He was outstanding, needing only Volpe's diving catch in the 8th inning of game 3 to help him out.

So, I gave him a vote because I felt Weaver and the bullpen needed an advocate. Can he do this against the Tigers or Guardians in the ALCS? Probably. And if the Yanks get over that obstacle, then Weaver will face a real test: the Padres, the Dodgers and the Mets, all very dangerous lineups right now...

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For what it's worth, combined WPA numbers for all the Yanks for the 4 games of this series:

Judge: -0.119 (But his catch against Witt in the first game might have started Witt on his miserable series and might have been the most important play for that reason).
Wells: -0.180 (But he had a clutch game in game 1, and handled the bullpen brilliantly)
Chisholm: -0.291 (But he did steal the base that led to the winning run in game 1. Well, sort of.)
Cabrera: -0.054 (But he did draw a walk in the middle of a rally in game 3, and made several good stretches to save throwing errors)
Berti: -0.080 (Silly, he played much better than that, terrific at 1st including the outstanding DP in the middle of the Royals' rally in the 6th in game 4, and hit 6 balls hard with just two skinny singles to show for it)
Cousins: -0.32 (Ah, well, there you have me, he didn't really contribute in his one appearance)
Hamilton: -0.042 (Gave up just one hit in 5 batters and 4 outs, but it was the big one, scoring the Royals 4th run in game 2)
Hill: -0.214 (And here's where WPA loses the thread; Hill did give up a 2 run single in game 1 that put the Yanks behind 5-4 in the 6th, but Volpe's error set it up, and the Yanks rallied to win anyway)
Schmidt: -0.048 (Fatal error, pitching to Isbel like he was Soto)
Rodon: -0.195 (Two great innings and then PFFFFBBBBBTTTTT!!!!....)

And on the plus side:

Mayza was here: +0.004
Cole: +0.194 (but he got hit hard both games, Game 4 was much luckier than Game 1).
Torres +0.311 (great game one, good game 4, so-so the other two games)
Soto: +0.262 (a little bit of plus in all games, game 1 better than the others, nothing dominant. Yet.)
Kahnle: +0.229 (great work in the game 1 and game 3 wins, also pitched well in game 2)

And the top three:

#3: Stanton, +0.334, but if you want to name him MVP, his solo HR in the 8th in game 3 turned the series, so OK by me.
#2: Holmes, +0.382, good in all 4 games, much to the astonishment of all who saw it, 1 win, 1 hold, and 1 stabilization of game 3 in relief of Schmidt, holding the tie at 2-2.
#1: Weaver: +0.603, saved all three wins, all close games. The nature of WPA tends to overrate the value of closers in close games, but his total WPA is not quite twice Stanton's, so he's the MVP. And if you're willing to believe that, I have patent medicine for sale: $5.99 a bottle (used to be $2.99, but inflation, you know).

The bullpen was the biggest star(s) but you need to score runs too. So for one individual, I'll go with Stanton.

Thanks for saluting our old friend, MrG Kay! We certainly miss him on these boards.