The other obvious reason Posey got more votes is that his team made the playoffs, whereas Braun and McCutchen did not. There’s an argument to be made that this shouldn’t be a factor, since MVP is essentially an individual award and it’s not fair to give a guy extra credit for having better teammates . . . but this is a historical bias that has always been baked in to the MVP. You’ve always been more likely to win if your team made the postseason. No reason to be surprised that it happened again this year.

Those two factors — tougher defensive position and being on a playoff team — definitely explain why Posey appeared to run away with the award.

Buster Posey had 245 at bats at home this season, and had 7 HR. That’s one every 35 at bats.

In 66 career at bats, Ryan Braun has 6 HR. That’s one every 11 at bats. Sure, it’s a relatively small sample size, but look at it this way. Buster Posey, in the season which people are saying is one of the best ever for a catcher, his MVP season, only managed to hit one more home run than Ryan Braun has in his career at AT&T, but it took him 179 more at bats to get it.

When you look at the splits, Posey does have a slight edge in OPS. And both players hit 17 home runs on the road. But Posey did not have a 3 home run game at Petco in San Diego. He didn’t hit two out at Target Field in Minneapolis. He didn’t have that signature road power performance.

Let us also remember that while many San Francisco fans are quick to attack Braun for “being on roids” (though it has been shown that the suspension he faced was for a banned substance, not a PED), they are quick to ignore the impact that Melky Cabrera’s hitting .346 for nearly 500 at bats directly in front of Buster Posey had on Posey’s RBI total. Though he was banned for PED, Cabrera did have the highest average in the game. Who was batting in front of Braun for most of the season? Rickie Weeks, who struggled all season, and saw his batting average remain below .200 until after the All Star Break. Additionally, the narrative of “The Giants won the World Series with Posey in 2010, missed the playoffs in 2011 because Posey got hurt, then won the World Series again in 2012 because Posey came back” is a gross oversimplification. While Posey was spectacular (in the second half of the season), let’s not ignore the aforementioned Melky Cabrera’s performance, as well as the addition of Hunter Pence, who drove in 45 runs in 60 games.

Essentially, the MVP vote came down to narrative. It had to, because Braun was statistically better…and much better, than Posey. Outside of average and OBP, Braun led in every category, and in some, the margin of difference was quite substantial. 17 more home runs, 30 more runs scored, 29 more stolen bases. But the narrative of “Posey coming back from a broken leg” plays better with the national media than “shamed defending NL MVP wins his appeal on a technicality”. it’s all BS.

What it should have come down to was the Giants making the playoffs, and the Brewers missing it. It’s not Braun’s fault, it’s the bullpen’s fault…a bullpen that blew 29 save opportunities kept the Brewers from October baseball. The Brewer offense led the NL in home runs, runs, and stolen bases. They did their part, and you cannot ignore Braun’s performance in carrying the team, especially without Prince Fielder batting behind him.

If it came down to the playoffs, as it did in 2011 when Matt Kemp had a slightly better year in power numbers, then Posey still should have won. But the margin of victory is unjustifiable, as is the Hank Aaron Award going to Posey.

I like Buster Posey, and hope he can play a long time, and stay healthy. How can you not like him? But the fact of the matter is that of the catchers that were finalists for the MVP, the wrong won finished on top. Yadier Molina had a comparable average and home run total, slightly less RBI (a product of his position in the lineup), but was clearly superior on the field. The Cardinals made the playoffs…but again, Molina lacked the “feel good” aspect that Posey did. All things considered, when the writers fawn about Posey having one of the all-time great seasons for a catcher, they seem to ignore, or dismiss Molina’s season.

Posey hit 17 of his 24 home runs on the road – but his batting average at home was 14 points higher. On the road, he goes for power, and at home where it won’t work, he hits for average. Seriously, it’s pretty amazing that he can adjust like that.

That’s without getting into other metrics.