You're not allowed to write about the Yankees during the playoffs because they are too boring.

It's fun to see a liar's logical constructs collapse:

"But Monday is Aug. 1, and for now, Reyes is not just still the best player in town this season, he is the MVP of his league. He has the second highest batting average in baseball, after Adrian Gonzalez, who is the MVP for the American League so far. He has scored 78 runs, even though you know what the rest of the Mets batting order has looked like for so much of this season."

The Mets are tied for the 7th-best record in the National League (I will ignore the American League, since this discussion is about the NL MVP).

The Mets have the same record as the Pirates.

Jose Reyes has 4 HRs and 35 RBIs. (Yes, CitiField decreases HRs, but it also increases triples.)

78 runs is a lot; 23 stolen bases is a lot; Reyes gets extra credit for playing shortstop, even though he's been mostly a butcher with 12 errors already.


Consider the season that Curtis Granderson is having so far: .269/.363/.567, 28 HRs, 77 RBIs, 94 runs, 19 stolen bases.

So this is a CFer with 16 more runs scored and 42 more RBIs.

Reyes is (a lot) better in batting average and triples.

Granderson's team is (probably) going to make the playoffs.

So which player is having a better year?


The whole "team record" thing isn't my rule. It's Lupica's rule. It's a rule that applies to every MVP contest for the past 30 years, but it suddenly doesn't apply to Jose Reyes and the Mets.


"Oh, sure, there are other players with better across-the-board numbers in the National League, starting with Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles McCourts. Ryan Braun is having a big year for the Brewers, so is Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard always has the numbers with the Phillies, who still have the best record in baseball. Brian McCann of the Braves was in the conversation before he got hurt."

Oh, sure, across-the-board numbers don't interest me in MVP discussions.

Neither do team records.

Neither do injured players like McCann, with the exception of Jose Reyes, who missed three weeks.


"He has done that without hitting the ball over the wall, done that from leadoff, done that with all those multiple-hit games and all those triples, done that standing on second or third after blowing into one of those bases and smiling and clapping his hands. No one in the league has carried a team more than this."

It's probably true that Reyes has carried his team more than any other NL player. But now you're giving Reyes extra credit for playing on a bad team.


Also, this is the 700th column you've written about Jose Reyes.

The Yankees, 21 games over .500, 2 games back of the Red Sox ... they bore you that much?

The only mention of the Yankees in this three page column are (1) mocking ARod, (2) praising HOPE week, (3) an indirect knock that the Mets are the best story in New York, and (4) mocking the Yankees' chances in the playoffs vs. the Rangers.

Which makes no sense.

The Yankees are boring.

The Mets are the best story in New York.

When the Yankees are playing the Rangers in the playoffs, I want a profile of Lucas Duda. Or maybe you can caddy for the so-called NL MVP on the golf course.