I’m all for recognizing true defensive excellence in baseball. Far too often, we the fans ignore the runs that were prevented in favor of runs that were scored. Which is why I felt that Tampa Bay’s acquisition of Jason Bartlett from the Minnesota Twins back in November was a pretty good one. Not only were they able to get Matt Garza as well in that trade that sent Delmon Young to Minnesota, but Bartlett was a pretty good defensive shortstop in 2007. His 67 Out of Zone plays was good enough for fourth in MLB among shortstops, which helped make up some for his below average Revised Zone Rating (.804).

But this is 2008, and Bartlett hasn’t been as good this year. His RZR has remained consistent (.808), but even with the 100 fewer innings in the field, his OOZ is just 44, a 35% decrease. His Range Factor is also down from 4.67 last year to 4.22. And with an Adjusted OPS of 83, I really don’t think that he’s helping the team all that much.

So you can imagine my surprise to see that the Tampa Bay chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America has voted Bartlett as the team MVP this season. Cue the confusion.

While it’s true that he’s still an improvement defensively over Brendan Harris who manned the position last year (which really isn’t saying much, by the way), it’s difficult to understand the logic here. What Bartlett has over Harris with the glove is canceled out by his deficiency with the bat. Harris had 13 Win Shares in 2007. Bartlett has 10 so far this year.

I do think that the BBWAA is on the right track in crediting the Rays’ W-L improvement over the past year to their defense. But I give just as much credit, if not more, to rookie third baseman Evan Longoria’s work at the hot corner. And BJ Upton’s markedly improved performance in center field deserves commending as well. And you know what? Longoria and Upton’s offensive contributions blow Bartlett’s out of those warm Tampa waters (full disclosure - I have no idea if Tampa’s waters are warm. I digress). It’s not even close.

I understand the tendency to point to free agent signings or trades rather than internal moves when we see vast improvements in a team’s performance. We look for what that “missing piece” was for success. And Bartlett fits the bill, I suppose, in that sense. But in the case of the Tampa Bay Rays, it was more Upton gaining experience and the performance of Longoria that we ought to be crediting.

When arguments like these become available in major sports websites, maybe it’s time for us UmpBumpers to just quit and spend the rest of our days writing extensively and exclusively about the worldwide gross totals of The Dark Knight (almost at $450MM and counting!):

If Tampa Bay surrenders its lead in the AL East in the next three weeks, Rays’ rookie third baseman Evan Longoria will become a top candidate for Most Valuable Player.

Oh boy. These are the words of Gerry Fraley, a writer for The Sporting News. He has also written for other known publications such as the Philadelphia Bulletin, Atlanta Constitution and The Dallas Morning News.

And from what I understand, here’s the basic argument concocted by Mr. Fraley. Evan Longoria, the injured rookie third baseman of the Tampa Bay Rays, will show that he deserves the AL MVP in 2008 because he won’t be helping the team in any way shape or form while he is on the disabled list. By not hitting, fielding, pitching, fungo-ing, peppering, soft-tossing, fetching refreshing bottles of Gatorade, or even blowing into the faces of his teammates to cool them down after a hot inning, he will prove that he is the MVP.

This might be akin to saying that Johnny Bench is the MVP of the 2008 Cincinatti Reds. Or that Trevor Hoffman circa 1998 is the 2008 MVP for the Padres.

Hat tip to Rays Index for the link.

Reds OF Jay Bruce will start the year in the minors. Reds 1B Joey Votto could be heading there, too. Ditto for Rays 3B Evan Longoria and Rangers C Jarred Saltiama…Saltiamacch….you know, Salty.

Here’s what folks are saying about these moves:

Keith Law on Longoria and his replacement, Willie Aybar: “[W]hat the hell are the Rays doing with Willy Aybar? He’s not a good player to begin with. He missed 2007 with a substance-abuse problem. He was arrested less than two months ago for beating his wife, and only got out of jail because she didn’t want to pursue the charges, not because he was acquitted or cleared. And this is the guy you’re thinking of running out there instead of the best prospect in baseball? It’s stupid, uncharacteristically so for that front office.”

DRays Bay on Longoria: Seriously? That is going to be the excuse? He doesn’t hit breaking balls well?!?! And tell me, exactly how is he going to learn how to hit a major league breaking ball in the minors?

Rob Neyer on Longoria, Bruce and Votto: It doesn’t matter much if the Rays send Evan Longoria down, because they’re not a playoff team either way. But the Reds maybe have sort of a legitimate shot … if Bruce and Votto combine for 1,000 or more plate appearances (and yes, I pulled that figure from thin air).

Bugs and Cranks on Bruce: The question is, was this decision made before Patterson even made camp in an attempt to save money? If the Reds don’t call up Bruce until June, they get an extra year before Jay is arbitration eligible.

Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News, on Salty: To create the most value for the most catchers in a system stacked with catchers, Laird must play regularly. So must Saltalamacchia. The best way to do that is to have one catch regularly in the majors with no temptation to play the other. For now, that means Laird must play in the majors and Saltalamacchia in the minors. It’s just better for their values.