Editor’s note: After I finished writing this post I realized it became more of an indictment on how MVPs are chosen than a post about why Jimmy Rollins doesn’t deserve the MVP. Don’t worry, though, that’s still in here somewhere.

Over the last several weeks there has been more and more and more talk about Jimmy Rollins deserving consideration for National League MVP.

Does he deserve consideration? Sure. I hope the BBWAA considers everybody. Through Rob Neyer I came upon this terrific on Vegas Watch breaking down the NL MVP candidates.

The point there, which I am overwhelmingly inclined to agree with, is that Rollins is not even the most valuable Phillie, let alone more valuable than the likes of David Wright:

Is this really even worth discussing? As far as I can tell, the main thing in Rollins’ candidacy is this stupid 20-20-20-20 thing. Who cares? Can we talk about how the guy walks less than half as often as Wright, while having a lower slugging percentage and getting destroyed in BA, rather than his possible inclusion in some gimmicky club?

Of course, the voting doesn’t exactly go down the way logic would dictate it should. Justin Morneau won the MVP award last year despite being the third-most-valuable Minnesota Twin.

The Mets are imploding right now and Wright is going to be penalized by voters for this. See, the voters tend to misunderstand the term “Most Valuable.”

There are no restrictions on the award such as “MVP of a winning team” or “MVP of a playoff contending team.” To demonstrate just how fickle the voters are, let’s consider Albert Pujols.

I highly doubt Pujols will get many, if any, votes for MVP, mostly because the Cardinals were an afterthought from April-August, entered the conversation for a week, and now they’re an afterthought again. I wonder what jerseys the St. Louis IHOP waitresses are wearing now, considering the other St. Louis disappointment, who are already an afterthought.

Where was I? Oh, Pujols. Here’s a breakdown of Pujols and Wright, in categories the BBWAA generally consider important (once again, forgive its crudeness):

Player…….HR…RBI…..R……BB……SB…….BA……OBP…..SLG
Pujols………..32…101….97……98……2……..324…..429…….570
Wright…………30…105…110…..93……34…….322…..415…..548

I’m still trying to figure out why Wright has such an overwhelming advantage…stolen bases? Well, ok, I’ll concede stolen bases. But are stolen bases really the one thing that are keeping Pujols behind Wright, Rollins, Matt Holliday, and Chase Utley?

Now, I’m not saying I would cast my vote for Pujols, I just wanted to point out how being on a bad team eliminates you, not only from the running, but from all consideration.

What if we narrowed the conversation to first basemen? The general consensus seems to be that if the Brewers win the NL Central, Prince Fielder deserves the NL MVP.

Let’s revisit the breakdown:

Player…….HR…RBI…..R……BB……SB…….BA……OBP…..SLG
Pujols………….32…101….97……98……2……..327…..429…..570
Fielder…………50…119…108…..85……0……..290…..392…..622

Fielder has stranglehold on most of the counting categories, but Pujols is blowing him away in BA and OBP. And then of course there’s Fielding, which in spite of his name, waved bye bye to Mr. Fielder somewhere between his first tee-ball game and his father’s moonshot to break in New Comiskey Park.

And yet, Pujols is ignored from this conversation as well.

The Cardinals’ woes have taken the light off Pujols, who is putting together a fine year despite the drop from his previous totals. The Phillies’ surge has put the spotlight on Rollins, who is merely an icon of the team, and like I said, not even the most valuable Phillie.

The NL MVP is Wright and very little can change in the next three days to propel Utley, Holliday, or the other competitors (the least of which is Rollins) past him.

That doesn’t change the fact that Rollins is probably going to collect a ton of votes and maybe win the MVP. Despite all that I have said, if the Mets don’t hang on to first, Rollins could get the MVP.

And then I get to write an angry post.

Just, out.