2011 SB Nation Awards: National League Most Valuable Player
by John Sickels on Nov 11, 2025 1:00 PM EST
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PrintEvery year SB Nation takes a poll of the various Major League Baseball network blogs to determine winners for Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and Most Valuable Player. The official BBWAA awards come out next week, but we name our own winners this week, finishing the ceremonies today with the National League Most Valuable Player.
The 2011 SB Nation NL MVP is Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The voting:
| Num | Name | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Kemp | 21 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 269 | ||||||
| 2 | Ryan Braun | 7 | 19 | 2 | 257 | |||||||
| 3 | Joey Votto | 8 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 176 | |||||
| 4 | Justin Upton | 1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 140 | ||
| 5 | Prince Fielder | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 119 | |
| 6 | Troy Tulowitzki | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 91 | |||
| 7 | Jose Reyes | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 86 | |||
| 8 | Roy Halladay | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 85 | |||
| 9 | Clayton Kershaw | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 56 | |||
| 10 | Albert Pujols | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 51 | |||
| 11 | Lance Berkman | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 44 | ||||
| 12 | Shane Victorino | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 41 | |||
| 13 | Cliff Lee | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 33 | ||||||
| 14 | Andrew McCutchen | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 26 | |||||
| 15 | Pablo Sandoval | 2 | 1 | 1 | 19 | |||||||
| 16 | Brandon Phillips | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 17 | ||||||
| 17 | Matt Holliday | 2 | 1 | 12 | ||||||||
| 18 | Mike Morse | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||
| 19 | Carlos Beltran | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| 20 | Mike Stanton | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| 21 | Ryan Roberts | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| 22 | Ian Kennedy | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 23 | Hunter Pence | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 24 | Raul Ibanez | 1 | 1 |
My personal ballot went 1-Kemp, 2-Ryan Braun, 3-Joey Votto, 4-Pablo Sandoval, 5-Troy Tulowitzki, 6-Jose Reyes, 7-Prince Fielder, 8-Lance Berkman, 9-Andrew McCutchen, 10-Mike Stanton
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No Justin Upton?
Was there a reason you left Upton off your ballot?
I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'
by mikel1218 on Nov 11, 2025 1:19 PM EST reply actions
My thoughts exactly.
Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.
by Jevant on Nov 11, 2025 1:33 PM EST up reply actions
upton
If I had it to do over again he would be on there, probably at 4 or 5 with everyone else moving down a slot.
by John Sickels on Nov 11, 2025 6:40 PM EST up reply actions
+1
I may be biased as a Dbacks fan, but taken in context of “most valuable player” Upton has to be in the top 2-3. He was the only offensive threat for a team that was one inning away from the NLCS. Take Upton off our team and we win 75-78 games tops
by ScottAZ on Nov 11, 2025 9:36 PM EST up reply actions
It was one of the Cardinals guys that gave him a vote
Taking at bats away from Mayberry and Brown was certainly valuable in the Cards’ World Series run
"If you find a man or woman who sticks around after you tell them "I may be a demented horse, but I know CPR," you marry them. No questions asked." - kishi
by CaptainCanuck on Nov 11, 2025 6:45 PM EST up reply actions
Kemp
Who in the world voted Kemp 5th? Was it Jamie McCourt?
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.
by Savoy on Nov 11, 2025 1:44 PM EST reply actions
no dude...
if i had to guess… it was the same retard who put kershaw fifth in cy young…. and lol i am right…. it awas Gaslamp ball san diego padres blog who did it again
by matthewmafa on Nov 11, 2025 1:52 PM EST up reply actions
Damn those handsome devils!
"When you find your way. Then you see it disappear."
by padmadfan on Nov 11, 2025 2:40 PM EST up reply actions
yep
and check out there childish reasons at Gaslampball today…..why vote?
Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.minorleagueball.com
www.mlbdailydish.com
by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 11, 2025 4:27 PM EST up reply actions
I just read the thread
What unbelievable douchebags. Such an awful, awful place. Isn’t watching the Padres already bad enough?
"BA doesn't stand for Batting Average. It’s Brandon Allen, as in the percentage of a hitter’s worth compared to Brandon Allen. Ted Williams, at his best, was only 4/10th of the hitter Brandon Allen is today." - YonYonson
by hero66 on Nov 12, 2025 3:35 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
the really strange thing is
The guys who seem to run that blog seem to think it’s strictly a “homer issue” - it really isn’t. Being a fan of a baseball team in good faith means that you are in fact a fan of baseball in general, a fact which seems to be lost on these guys.
There are plenty of very dedicated SB Nation blogs that are clearly favorable towards certain fanbases, and it’s clearly a strength, not a weakness of the network. Fandom, however, does not require nor even suggest a need to abandon civility.
Frankly, what happened over there doesn’t just make Gaslamp Ball look bad, it makes SB Nation itself look bad. THAT is the issue. There are numerous extreme-homer blogs out there for almost every MLB team. I don’t see why any of them deserve to be associated with the legitimacy and the purported objectives of SB Nation. Just my opinion.
by mrkupe on Nov 12, 2025 6:25 PM EST up reply actions
No, the issue is much more simple that that, and it seems to be lost on everyone.
The voting was done by a 20 year old girl who happens to have an abiding love for her team and the blog to which she contributes. There were no criteria for how to vote and she voted with her heart instead of merely her head. Now that she’s being relentlessly attacked, the board mods and all of us who read GLB everyday are defending her actions. The more you attack, the harder we’ll defend, simple as that.
To all the people who decry the lack of civility, let me point out something that has become much more rare these days; The decency and common sense of men of a certain age. Once you and everyone like you found out who voted and why you should’ve had the decency and common sense to let it go, but no. You all had to keep attacking and making a young baseball fan feel bad.
This sport is dying, the average age of World Series viewers was 50 years old. The GLB is populated by young fans of a last place team. That’s a pretty rare and precious commodity in my eyes, one this sport or blog shouldn’t take lightly. This sport has to appeal to more than just the Aspergers set or the Geritol crowd if it’s going to survive. Having young fans means they make mistakes sometimes. Being older and wiser, you should know when to simply laugh and wink and let it be.
"When you find your way. Then you see it disappear."
by padmadfan on Nov 13, 2025 6:12 AM EST up reply actions
I kind of agree with you
Besides who cares about what a so-called group of ‘experts’ think about voting for fake MLB awards? Besides, a few respected writers SBNation largely consists of fanboys in my opinions. There is nothing wrong with that but there is no reason to take what they say too serious.
Big Sexy
Follow KBR and Dewey on Twitter! @KBRandDewey
by King Billy Royal on Nov 13, 2025 11:18 AM EST up reply actions
the only reason you agree is
you checked out the padres site and found out how big of trolls and jokes they are…. and since you are the same…. you liked them… you fit in.. Good job Billy!!!
by matthewmafa on Nov 13, 2025 2:06 PM EST up reply actions
No need to get personal
I just don’t know why people get upset about an online MVP or Cy Young FAKE vote.
Big Sexy
Follow KBR and Dewey on Twitter! @KBRandDewey
by King Billy Royal on Nov 13, 2025 8:54 PM EST up reply actions
dude nobody attacked her...stop making up shit...
we just wanted an explanation….
and her explanation was i voted for best looking… and i f*cking hate the dodgers…
nice……
by matthewmafa on Nov 13, 2025 1:57 PM EST up reply actions
she didn't vote for best looking
if she did Kemp would of probably been 1. Girls absolutely swoon over Kemp. Never seen a Dodgers player get that much love from the girls.
by mcpeepants23200 on Nov 18, 2025 6:10 PM EST up reply actions
oh please
That young fan who voted “with her heart” put a hometown player with a solid-but-not-great season at the top of the list and intentionally put Kershaw in 5th for the stated reason that she “f’ing hates the Dodgers”. That was rude and inconsiderate to everybody else who genuinely cared about their vote being a legitimate and fair contribution, and who genuinely cares about seeing SB Nation improve upon itself. She obviously didn’t care about the feelings of others, and sorry, I don’t really see why that should be defended, or why pointing this out suggests a lack of “decency and common sense” on my part.
From what I can tell, the legitimate grievances concerning the process (as in, not just homers yelling at homers of a different sort) continue to be lost on not just the poster in question, but on many of the posters over there. This really shows nothing more than a desire to perpetuate an atmosphere of blissful ignorance - it’s not hard to figure out why people might have an issue with what happened, and it has nothing to do with “attacking” the poster or the community. Making a mistake is one thing, acting like you didn’t make a mistake and that it’s actually everybody else who “just doesn’t get us” is just bizarre.
Finally, as to the voting criteria . . .well, how hard is it to figure out? You already know what the real-life criteria for MVP and Cy Young are. If you have any confusion, you have an entire network of individuals to ask, as well as the administrators of the poll. I’m presuming specific criteria wasn’t given precisely because of an assumption that nobody would be so trivial or ignorant as to do exactly what happened here.
by mrkupe on Nov 13, 2025 2:22 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Fine.
You obviously have a certain set of standards and criteria you apply to the voting process. You have your own legitimate and valid reason for voting the way you did, I’m not saying you didn’t. But within sports there is a certain leeway for given for biases. I just don’t approach baseball like a scientific endeavour. Frankly, I think there is a little too much of that lately. I like that there are people who feel strongly about sports alliances. It’s fun to stoke those fires. It’s fun to throw on a red hat with a bunch of your friends and say “You know what? Screw those blue hat guys! They suck!” It’s not insensitive to really want to beat someone, within reason, at a game. Occasionally, those competitive juices run over. Like I said before, it’s a failing common to youth. If that’s trivial and ignorant to you, well, you’re entitled to your opinion.
Voting like this would be completely unacceptable for a journalist. But I find it hilarious that so many people are surprised that asking a blogger for a homeristic fan site to vote might produce a result that was less than unbiased. Really?
Just because a fan took advantage of an opportunity to tweak a rival doesn’t invalidate your hard work or disrespect the whole community. Actually, I find the whole thing hilarious, but that’s just me. To each, his own.
"When you find your way. Then you see it disappear."
by padmadfan on Nov 13, 2025 4:10 PM EST up reply actions
I don't vote
I don’t have a stake in Minor League Ball. I’m not even an author on this site - I couldn’t post anything on the front page if I wanted to.
I’m not asking anybody to approach baseball solely from a scientific perspective - I, personally, am much more of a qualitative thinker than a quantitative thinker. I’m much happier watching a game than I am breaking down the numbers, although I do both.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying and participating in the spirit of good-hearted competition. There’s a lot wrong with taking it too far, to the point where it’s no longer about the game and the good feelings it fosters. It’s entirely possible to, believe it or not, manage everything, where you can think like a fan AND think objectively!
The fan did not just “take advantage of an opportunity to tweak a rival”. The fan took advantage of the greater community of SB Nation blogs, and did so with the most juvenile of rationale. If you want to laugh about it, that’s fine, but it’s a little silly for you to suggest that just because you aren’t bothered by it, certainly nobody else has any reason or justification to treat it with any more seriousness than you do.
by mrkupe on Nov 13, 2025 5:02 PM EST up reply actions
As for the first paragraph
That’s horrible. This vote doesn’t mean a whole lot, but why waste the votes with a girl who clearly doesn’t know much about baseball? I’m shocked there wasn’t a vote for Adrian Gonzalez if this is the case.
As for the second paragraph, it’s great that women want to be equal, but when it comes to certain things, women apparently aren’t allowed to be equal, but only when it’s in their favor, such as what you are saying now. Everyone should be equal, so whether it was a 20 year old girl or a 50 year old guy, it was a stupid vote, there’s no defending it.
TBLA 2011 Postseason Prediction Champion
by Ivdown on Nov 13, 2025 6:52 PM EST up reply actions
I blame SB Nation for part of it
GLB should have known better, but who sets up MVP voting with ZERO criteria? Seems pretty stupid to me.
Big Sexy
Follow KBR and Dewey on Twitter! @KBRandDewey
by King Billy Royal on Nov 13, 2025 1:29 PM EST up reply actions
dude its the MVP voting and Cy Young...
you obviously are voting for the player who had the best season…. you dont need Criteria to vote for that..
by matthewmafa on Nov 13, 2025 2:03 PM EST up reply actions
That's true.
Thank goodness fandom and homerism never taints real awards like Gold Glove voting. I’m sure all awards are free of such biases.
"When you find your way. Then you see it disappear."
by padmadfan on Nov 13, 2025 3:28 PM EST up reply actions
do you really consider gold gloves on the same level as the cy young and mvp?
no wonder you’re part of gaslamp ball
by lakersdodgersyankees4life on Nov 14, 2025 5:19 PM EST up reply actions
Really?
Because John said he doesn’t really agree with voting pitchers for MVP. Also, some analysts won’t vote for guys on sub .500 teams. You need criteria if you want a meaningful vote.
Big Sexy
Follow KBR and Dewey on Twitter! @KBRandDewey
by King Billy Royal on Nov 13, 2025 8:53 PM EST up reply actions
And if you need proof
Carlos Delgado got robbed by some scrubby Chicago writer one year since the Jays were not a ‘contender’.
Big Sexy
Follow KBR and Dewey on Twitter! @KBRandDewey
by King Billy Royal on Nov 14, 2025 5:22 PM EST up reply actions
let this be my announcement, then
I’m officially declaring my candidacy to take over SB Nation’s San Diego Padres blog. Spam away to our SB Nation overlords, folks!
by mrkupe on Nov 11, 2025 4:48 PM EST up reply actions
please do
I can email Eric Simon if you’d like.
Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.minorleagueball.com
www.mlbdailydish.com
by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 11, 2025 7:12 PM EST up reply actions
Do it man
Those morons at Gaslamp are giving all the SBN bloggers that take their job seriously a bad name
by Jack Huber on Nov 12, 2025 10:32 AM EST up reply actions
I would join as an assistant manager of gaslampball to Mrkupe !
count me in
Yoenis Cespedes
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15469
^ the bottom video ^
by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Nov 12, 2025 12:59 PM EST up reply actions
Utterly aside from the stupidity of the last week, I would endorse this 100 percent! SBNation ought to have someone capable of generating at least one interesting thought about baseball a week in charge of their blog covering the Padres. GLB is such garbage that I’ve just assumed that it’s not worth visiting any of the individual team sites on the network. Instead, I just stick with the few professional/professional-quality national general-interest sites.
As I said before, SBNation could get more cogent and timely information about the Padres if they just signed a deal with Geoff Young to recycle his old content now that he’s hung up his keyboard.
by realitypolice on Nov 14, 2025 9:56 AM EST up reply actions
history?
Since the expanded playoffs, has any team had a league MVP and Cy Young winner the same year and not made the playoffs?
by acr on Nov 11, 2025 1:54 PM EST reply actions
Seriously, who voted for Ibanez?
That’s hilarious!
Friend:why do you love ripping on Jeff Francoeur?
Me: Because hes an idiot, who posseses huge physical tools but will not, nay, cannot, harness those tools into any sembelance of usable baseball skill and refuses to make any effort to do so. Hes like a tragic greek figure. doomed by his own stupidity and 80 raw power.
by harendaman365 on Nov 11, 2025 2:43 PM EST reply actions
out of curiosity
why did you vote sandoval so high? i am a giants fan, but just interested in your take.
by James Westfall on Nov 11, 2025 5:05 PM EST reply actions
sandoval
Well….Baseball Reference has Sandoval at WAR 6.1 on the year, which ranked fourth in the National League among position players. His OPS+ was outstanding at +153. Defensive metrics at third base quite strong. In retrospect I ranked him too high due to just 117 games played, but his performance was excellent.
by John Sickels on Nov 11, 2025 6:38 PM EST reply actions
Thanks.
I am in complete agreement with all of your points…the injury was a big set back, but I think the way he recommitted himself over the off season and the performance of 2011 was definitely worthy of consideration and good indicator of future success…personally I saw him as a #6 option or #7 but it is good to see his overall improvement and him getting some attention.
by James Westfall on Nov 11, 2025 7:38 PM EST up reply actions
Sandoval
didn’t he gain most of the lost weight back during the season? I remember watching a Giants game and hearing them talk about that.
Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.minorleagueball.com
www.mlbdailydish.com
by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 11, 2025 8:08 PM EST up reply actions
I think a lot of that was overblown, but yeah that was said.
But that’s fairly common, to gain weight back during the season. As long as he continues to commit himself during the offseason and stays in shape everything should be good to go.
Adoptive father of 18th round draft pick and future ace, BRANDON ALLEN
by Nnamdi Asomugha on Nov 12, 2025 12:19 AM EST up reply actions
yeah
Yeah I think his season was overlooked. But I did not weigh games played enough in my earlier analysis, and in retrospect he should rank lower…I would say in the 6-7 area as you point out, with Upton in that range as well.
by John Sickels on Nov 11, 2025 8:40 PM EST up reply actions
He did recommit himself during the offseason
But he put all the weight back on during the season. I am still a little worried about his long term future.
Big Sexy
Follow KBR and Dewey on Twitter! @KBRandDewey
by King Billy Royal on Nov 12, 2025 11:28 AM EST up reply actions
he is already back in arizona
he is taking this weight thing seriously it sounds like. I think it will be a struggle for him his entire life, but he seems to be willing to put in the work to not let it get out of control.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/09/SPKI1LS7PM.DTL
by James Westfall on Nov 12, 2025 11:38 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I know that
My point isn’t that he isn’t going to lose weight, it is that he isn’t committed to keeping it off for the season. Fatties tend not to age well in MLB.
Big Sexy
Follow KBR and Dewey on Twitter! @KBRandDewey
by King Billy Royal on Nov 12, 2025 1:46 PM EST up reply actions
My thoughts exactly
If I was the Giants, I would gently suggest stomach staples.
Its all about da []_[]
by philiafan14364 on Nov 12, 2025 1:51 PM EST up reply actions
i agree
i do not think he will age well. Hopefully he can be productive for another 5-7 years. fingers crossed.
by James Westfall on Nov 12, 2025 3:05 PM EST up reply actions
He may not be committed to keeping the weight off, but he’s at least committed to losing some of it now, which is better than what he was doing in the past. As the poster above said, he’ll struggle with his weight all his life. Some people just have better metabolism than others.
by msgg139 on Nov 14, 2025 11:35 AM EST up reply actions
Rumor is per Rosenthal Kemp and Dodgers are close on 8/160 deal
i’m so stoked!
TBLA 2011 Postseason Prediction Champion
by Ivdown on Nov 14, 2025 11:40 AM EST reply actions
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