Kingdom

Let's consider, with everything being one big hypothetical, a baseball scenario in the National League. We have the Triple Crown watch in effect for not one, not two, but THREE players. It's a scary thought, considering we have given 2010 the Year of the Pitcher tag.

What if.. Albert Pujols wins the triple crown, Joey Votto finishes 2nd or lower in the 3 categories, but the Reds make the playoffs and the Cardinals do not. Who's the MVP? A guy who's accomplished something we haven't seen in quite a long time, and probably none of us except maybe for Dave or OrioleMagic were alive to have known the last triple crown winner AND having done this while staving off two legitimate contenders for the same offensive crown AND he's doing this when quality pitching is at an extremely high level. Or do you give it to the guy who almost got it but has proudly help led his team to the playoffs for the first time since Jose Rijo was a star.

Alex Rodriguez is an example of a man who put up robust statistics on a team that did not make the playoffs, in fact, his team finished last in the AL West, to win the MVP. At the same time, Ichiro is an example of a guy who provided a surge of energy and excitement to a team that in consecutive years saw Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., and Randy Johnson jettison to other teams that managed to win a lot of games, and win the MVP.

Albert Pujols has previously finished second in voting to Barry Bonds and Ryan Howard. He's also won it three times, and finished in the top ten 2 other times. Triple Crown or Playoffs, which earns this hypothetical "most valuable" player award?