NEW YORK — In the East, there's the power hitter with the big mouth and big numbers and the shortstop who might be having the best season of an illustrious career but deflects talk about his own candidacy. In the Midwest, there's the game's best pitcher, its best young catcher, a blooming power star and the offensive engine of the defending World Champions who hasn't stopped hitting since he won the World Series Most Valuable Player award last year.
Candidates in the race for this season's American League MVP trophy range far and wide, just like opinions on who should win, whether you talk to scouts, fellow players or sabermetricians. Only one thing is certain when it comes to choosing from among Boston's David Ortiz, Derek Jeter of the Yankees, the Minnesota trio of Johan Santana, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau or Chicago's Jermaine Dye — debate will rage until balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America is announced in November, and it may not stop even then.
A recent tour of the Devil Rays' locker room on their visit to New York highlighted the race's unpredictability. Asked who would win, Carl Crawford said, "Where would the Yankees be without Jeter?" One locker over, his teammate, Jorge Cantu, said, "Big Papi should win. He just amazes me."
Earlier in the season, though, it seemed there'd be little discussion. Some believed Ortiz, Boston's designated hitter, had clinched the award by putting up video game numbers once again and the Red Sox looked so good they seemed a sure bet for the playoffs. But Ortiz missed eight games with a heart ailment and the Sox collapsed under the weight of other injuries and pitching troubles, falling all but out of the playoff race.
"A month ago, I didn't think anyone would beat out David," said Fox Sports analyst Tim McCarver. "I thought he had overcome not playing a defensive position, which is hard to do."
And now? "I give a slight edge to Dye," McCarver said. "When the dust settles, Dye may be ahead of Jeter and Ortiz. And you've got to throw Morneau in it, though he won't win.
"But if Morneau was playing in New York and Jeter in Minnesota, Morneau would be the favorite. If Dye were in New York, he'd be the favorite."
Jeter and Ortiz have gotten the most attention, particularly recently when Ortiz suggested that power hitters make the best MVPs and challenged Jeter to "come hit in this line-up," as if that were like hitting for the Royals. When Jeter responded to Ortiz's comments by saying that he wasn't focused on individual awards and wanted only to win the World Series, he earned the backing of Joe Maddon, the Devil Rays' manager.
"I loved what he said, that was outstanding," Maddon said. "That's a big part of the reason the Yankees are who they are. Dye is in there, too. He's been great, Morneau's been wonderful. But the circumstances Jeter plays in on a daily basis and what he's done with the Yankees' injuries and A-Rod struggling a little bit, holding this thing together, is outstanding."
Asked about the MVP race, Don Zimmer's crinkly blue eyes lit up. "There's only one guy — Jeter," said Zimmer, the former Yankee bench coach who is now a Tampa Bay consultant. "Someone will say, 'Sure, you're saying that because Jeter's your buddy.' Well, I don't play favorites on baseball questions.
"If he had only 60 RBI, maybe he's not in the conversation, but he's going to knock in 100 runs. I might not be saying it if the guy in right field (Gary Sheffield) was hitting 40 home runs like he usually does and (Hideki) Matsui was in there, too. But Jeter has had to step up and he did. This is an exceptional step up.
"This is the year Derek Jeter is MVP."
One AL scout, who has seen each candidate numerous times, believes Dye, who is batting .323 with 41 homers and 114 RBI for the White Sox, last year's World Series winners, should get the award.
"He's been the most important player, the reason they are still in it," the scout said. "He provides offense and he's had a great defensive year. If it was just offense, it'd be Ortiz.
"Jeter will get some support from outside New York, but he's got a $200 million supporting cast. So he gets hits. Why wasn't Wade Boggs MVP five times if it's all about hits?"
Perhaps Jeter's candidacy is linked to his career, which includes four World Series rings, not just this season. It could be a lifetime achievement award of sorts, kind of the way Paul Newman's Oscar for "The Color of Money" was perceived by some. Newman had been nominated six previous times but hadn't won, though he had arguably better performances.
Still, Jeter has had a terrific season. Clay Davenport, a writer for Baseball Prospectus, rates Jeter and Minnesota ace Santana as the top players in the league, according to his WARP (wins above replacement player) formula. WARP incorporates hitting, fielding and pitching to measure how many more wins a player is worth than if the team replaced him with a fringe major leaguer at the same position all season. Jeter and Santana are tied in WARP at 11.3.
"Everyone else is a good win and a half behind," Davenport said.