FanSided NL Player of the Year: Matt Kemp

It is hard to argue with the man that FanSided writers named the NL Player of the Year.  While it is not the person we as Brewers fans would like it to be, it is hard to be disappointed by the outcome.

Matt Kemp was one of the best players in baseball this season, hands down.  I can not even remember the last time we were legitimately talking about a guy walking away with the Triple Crown in the middle of September.  Kemp finished first in the league in home runs (39) and RBI’s (126), Kemp missed out on the oh so elusive award by ending the season 13 points behind Jose Reyes in batting average.

What I want everyone to keep in mind as they read this, Braun and Prince were certainly not shafted by the FanSided universe.  Credit is given where credit is due.  The members of the FanSided family are just and true.  Here is the list:

The way the voting is tallied is as follows: first place votes – 14 points, second place votes – 9 points, third place votes – 8 points, fourth place votes – 7 points, fifth place votes – 6 points, sixth place votes – 5 points, seventh place votes – 4 points, eighth place votes – 3 points, ninth place votes – 2 points, tenth place votes – 1 point.

1. Matt Kemp (LA Dodgers) – 325

2. Ryan Braun (Milwaukee Brewers) – 234

3. Prince Fielder (Milwaukee Brewers) – 148

4. Justin Upton (Arizona Diamondbacks) – 111

5. Joey Votto (Cincinnati Reds) – 101

6. Albert Pujols (St. Louis Cardinals) – 94

7. Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado Rockies) – 75

8. Jose Reyes (New York Mets) – 72

9. Lance Berkman (St. Louis Cardinals) – 68

10. Clayton Kershaw (LA Dodgers) – 48

11. Hunter Pence (Philadelphia Phillies) – 30

12. Roy Halladay (Philadelphia Phillies) – 27

13. Shane Victorino (Philadelphia Phillies) – 23

14. Ryan Howard (Philadelphia Phillies) – 14

15. Cliff Lee (Philadelphia Phillies) – 12

16. Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh Pirates) – 12

17. Michael Morse (Washington Nationals) – 9

18. Mike Stanton (Florida Marlins) – 9

19. Ian Kennedy (Arizona Diamondbacks) – 8

20. Aramis Ramirez (Chicago Cubs) – 8

21. Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves) – 6

22. Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati Reds) – 4

23. Chris Young (Arizona Diamondbacks) – 4

24. Starlin Castro (Chicago Cubs) – 3

25. Carlos Gonzalez (Colorado Rockies) – 3

26. Tim Hudson (Atlanta Braves) – 3

27. Carlos Beltran (San Francisco Giants) – 2

28. John Axford (Milwaukee Brewers) – 1

29. Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta Braves) – 1

30. Yadier Molina (St. Louis Cardinals) – 1

31. Pablo Sandoval (San Francisco Giants) – 1

This list contains 3 Brewers.  Braun and Prince are the Silver and Bronze medalist, but if you take a peak at number 28 on the list you will see a one John Axford.  Naturally, everyone is going to think that I voted for him.  That is not the case.  While I think the world of John as a person and a player, he did not make my list.

So, someone not from a Brewers site voted for John Axford as on the best players in the NL this season.  Hard to be upset about a season when you have the 2nd and 3rd best sluggers in the league, to go with 3 of the Top 10 arms in the league.

Braun may still very well win the MVP award from MLB, but the reality is that Kemp was a god amongst mortals in Los Angeles.  The fact that Kershaw and Kemp were able to perform at the highest level in the sport, with no supporting cast, deserves our respect and admiration.