NEW YORK — Earlier this week the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced a trio of finalists for each of its major awards: the MVPs, Cy Youngs, Rookies of the Year and Managers of the Year from each league. Unsurprisingly, the Mets had a pair of qualifiers in Francisco Lindor for National League MVP and Carlos Mendoza for NL Manager of the Year.
Neither faces an easy path to win, considering Lindor is going up against Shohei Ohtani’s historic season and Mendoza is battling presumptive favorite Pat Murphy of the Brewers. But each nonetheless deserves his due. Mendoza in particular has a chance to garner some serious first-place love for his work in guiding the Mets to a playoff berth.
The BBWAA will announce its winners Monday through Thursday next week, at 6 ET each night on MLB Network. The Manager of the Year results will be released on Tuesday, followed by the MVP results on Thursday.
The Case for Lindor
The case for Lindor is simple: He was far and away the best NL position player.
Ohtani is rightfully the MVP favorite given his generational accomplishments at the plate. But the Dodgers star never stepped onto the field with a glove, which is where Lindor really shined. In addition to compiling more offensive WAR than any National Leaguer other than Ohtani, Lindor rated as one of the top defensive shortstops in the game, ranking second behind only the Cubs’ Dansby Swanson with 16 outs above average at the position.
Offensively, Lindor came within a whisker of a second consecutive 30-30 season, finishing with 33 home runs and 29 stolen bases. And he posted up, appearing in every game before injuring his back in mid-September.
Along the way, Lindor further established himself as a leader, most notably calling the players-only meeting that his teammates credited for their dramatic turnaround and run up the standings. Lindor was a massive part of that, shaking off an early slump to hit .309/.377/.566 from May 21 through the end of the season. He didn’t bash 54 home runs or steal 59 bases like his chief MVP rival, but he accomplished a few things that even Ohtani couldn’t.
In another year he’d be the clear-cut NL MVP. As it is, he may have to settle for one of the greatest individual seasons in franchise history, without any league-wide hardware to show for it.
The Case for Mendoza
Imagine Mendoza being considered a Manager of the Year candidate in the ninth inning on April 4, when the Mets were three outs away from falling to 0-6. Or in the late-night hours of May 29, when they were 11 games under .500 and, by all accounts, heading to a Trade Deadline sell-off.
Mendoza’s ability to not just steady that ship but to set it on a course for postseason success was a testament to all he accomplished as a rookie manager.
It can be difficult to quantify managerial contributions. The obvious candidate this year is Murphy, who rightfully receives lots of credit for keeping the small-market Brewers relevant despite losing their two top pitchers, Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff.
But why, exactly, is Murphy a better candidate than Mendoza, who deserves his own share of love for the way he handled several crises? On that fateful May 29 night, Mendoza and president of baseball operations David Stearns acted quickly, designating reliever Jorge López for assignment almost immediately after he flung his glove in the Citi Field stands. Mendoza subsequently gave his players space to conduct a meeting without his input.
He was hands-on when he needed to be and hands-off when that felt appropriate. On the field, he embraced analytics but was unafraid to go with his gut, as he did in defying the book during several important April victories. And ultimately, he won, leading the Mets to the playoffs despite all the junctures when they seemed unlikely to make it.
