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If the Yankees, who are 3.5 games out in the AL East and 3.0 games out in the wild card, make the playoffs this season then All Star 3rd basemen Alex Rodriguez will make a strong case for AL MVP. Throughout the 1st 101 games of the season the fan favorite for MVP is either Texas Rangers Josh Hamilton or Ian Kinsler. However Arod is also having an MVP type season. Hamilton and Kinsler are fan favorites because this is their break out year and its the 1st time either player has put up great numbers. Arod on the other hand is still putting up great numbers but since his numbers last year were much better, the value of Arods numbers this season are flying under the radar.

Here are the reasons why Arod deserves the AL MVP, if the Yankees make the playoffs, over the other favorites.

His current stats are amung the top 20 in the AL even though he missed 20 games of the season on the DL. He is 1st in slugging % with .593, 2nd in OPS with .990, 4th in homeruns (21) and batting average (.318), 5th in 3rd basemen fielding %, 7th in OBP with .398, 10th with 61 RBI, 14th in steals (15) and extra base hits (41), 15th in total bases with 179 and 19th in runs scored with 60.

His affect on the Yankees success. When Arod was on the DL the Yankees went 8-12 while averaging 4.15 runs per game. When Arod is in the lineup the Yankees are 48-33 with 4.83 runs per game. In games in which Arod is in the lineup but has 0 hits the Yankees are 8-14 with 3.09 runs per game while the team is 40-19 with 5.47 runs per game when Arod has at least 1 hit. The 42 games in which Arod was either on the DL or had 0 hits the Yankees are a terrible 16-26 eith 3.595 runs per game. The Yankees average nearly 2 more runs per game when Arod has at least 1 hit and the Yankees record is much better just from the presence of having Arod in the lineup (8-12 without and 48-33 with). Arod sparks the offense for the Yankees and even changes the way the opposing pitcher runs the game. With Arod at the plate the pitcher uses much more juice and effort to get him out, leaving him tired for Jason Giambi and Posada or whoever is batting 5th and 6th in the lineup on each given day.

Arod is also the main offensive producer in the Yankees lineup. He leads the team in homeruns, batting average, runs, slugging %, steals, OPS, extra base hits and total bases. He is 2nd in RBI 3 behind Abreu, and 2nd in OPB only .001 behind Jason Giambi.

Arod has struggled against Left Handed pitchers in clutch situations but when its a Right Handed pitcher its a much different story. Here is Arod's lines (Average, homeruns, RBI, walks) against RHP.

RISP- .246, 3, 25, 12 

Runner on 1B- .326, 4, 10, 0

Runner on 2B- .278, 2, 7, 5

Runner on 3B- .500, 0, 5, 3

Loaded Bases- .250, 0, 2, 0

1 out- .373, 4, 14, 4

2 out- .346, 6, 20, 10

1st Inning- .364, 4, 12, 2

Late Innings- .391, 2, 4, 2

Here is why Hamilton and Kinsler wont be MVP. 1st off they are on a team that isnt in playoff contention. Its possible for a player on a non-playoff team to win the MVP but its rare. The 2 players also feed off of each other. Josh Hamilton wouldnt be anywhere near the RBI mark that he has if he didnt have Ian Kinsler batting infront of him and stealing a base to get in scoring position. If Arod had Ian Kinsler batting infront of him then he too would have close to 100 RBI. Kinsler on the other hand basically scores himself by always being on base and having the speed and ability to steal but without Josh Hamilton to bat him in, his runs scored total would have a bit of a drop. For Arod he has Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu batting infront of him every night. Both players have a .347 and .348 OBP respectively. Arod also has Damon who has a solid .384 OBP but with Jeter and Abreu batting behind Damon and grounding into a combined 24 double plays, Damon is often times erased from the basepaths before Arod gets to the plate. Hamilton on the other hand has Kinslers .383, Youngs .343 and Catalanottos .354 OBPs batting infront of him. Young and Catalanotta have only 16 double plays so Kinsler isnt erased as often as Damon is for the Yankees.

If the Yankees make it to the playoffs then Arod will be the AL MVP this season, assuming that he continues this pace. He has been playing very well even with missing 1/4 of the season on the DL and has most certainly helped the Yankees win and is the driving offensive force towards the Yankees postseason chances this season.