And we’re not really talking about strength of competition here but instead strength of opposing pitcher. So regardless of the way teams are playing at the time, the pitchers on the Yankees, Athletics, and Twins (Santana!), are going to be better than on the Blue Jays, KC, and White Sox who had a particularly horrid pitching staff this year.

And, yes, the Mets faced faced Santana this year!

I guess that’s why you’re so hyped over Wright.

I’m pretty sure Wright will win barring miraculous finish from someone else. Once the media gets behind a candidate it’s pretty much over and it sounds like they’re all getting closer to anointing him.

The switching players bit is relevant only when you hear the argument that so and so can’t win because his team finished 2nd or whatever-if that’s true, then the award should be named Best Player on a Team that Makes the Playoffs.

Did the Padres really manipulate Peavy to pitch against the Mets or did his turn come up?

As for playing the Yanks, you did play them when they were playing their worst baseball of the year.

I think KC had a better month the month the Phils played them than the Yanks did the month the Mets played them.

What jumps out at me is how many times Smoltz faced the Mets. That says to me the Braves really knew who their main competition was from early on in the season and planned accordingly.

As for what impact switching players would have for each team, I don’t know how relevant that is. If you switched out Magglio Ordonez for A-Rod, do you think that would really change the fortunes of their teams this year? I don’t. But that doesn’t mean A-Rod shouldn’t get the MVP.