This column started with a basic question: Who is the 2022 Mets MVP?
The question came to mind because each time I walk through the Mets clubhouse, it strikes me just how valuable so many of their players have been this year. Which leads to a whole bunch of other thoughts, including still trying to determine what “most valuable” means and what to put into the equation to come up with that definition, plus a few thoughts on Buck Showalter.
So I want to detour to these supplemental issues before I get to the Mets MVP — at least who I think it is through three-quarters of this season — but I promise I will get there. Heck, I will go 1-through-5, but maybe that is the place to begin.
I think you can make a pretty solid case for at least three different Mets as their most valuable player and at least 10 who should be considered for the top five slots. That probably explains why they have held first place for so long this season and have the third-best record in the majors. I think it also explains why Showalter is going to cakewalk to his fourth Manager of the Year award for his fourth different team. Is that Hall of Fame-worthy even without a championship? Alas, a column for a different day (none of my competitors steal that one).
