Writers simply dislike Ellsbury for some reason.

"AL Anti-MVP: Jacoby Ellsbury, Yankees

 

Look, it would be easier to pick an Alex Rodriguez/Mark Teixeira tandem, since they went from carrying the offense last year to burdening it in 2016. But they were baseball geezers at the end."

Look, it would be easy to be accurate.


"Ellsbury is not the worst player in the AL or even on the Yankees. But is there anyone more invisible for the money (well, maybe Joe Mauer)"


Yes.

I can think of several on the Yankees.


"Brought to New York to be a catalyst, Ellsbury on Thursday registered his second steal since June 19. How is that possible?"

I also don't understand why Gardner and Ellsbury stopped stealing bases.



"Did anyone notice a lot of veterans who might have been in play for this award vanished, never to return: A-Rod, Prince Fielder, Omar Infante, Desmond Jennings and Jimmy Rollins?"

Yes, I noticed. But ... vanishing means they're adding even less value than Ellsbury.

Whatever. It's not something to get too hung up about (the LVP isn't even a thing).

The problem is, taking the totality of the 2016 season, Ellsbury is not worse than any of the other Yankee non-pitchers. Which isn't saying much. Sanchez didn't do it long enough, Beltran is gone, Castro leads the team with an astonishingly low 70 RBIs.

Ellsbury was paid too much, of course, but not compared to ARod, Teixeira, Headley, McCann ... if you're taking salary into account when you figure out your LVP.

It's not a defense of Ellsbury. The signing is no longer defensible. The Yankees paid a premium for an ordinary player. But what gives with the sportswriters who fixate on Ellsbury's deficiencies and then get all teary-eyed when Teixeira finally takes a hike?