Justin Morneau. .321 34 HR 130 RBI

I like what Jeter does and this was perhaps his finest season. While I am not one who believes he is overrated and that his value can not be adequately assessed by statistics, I think his offensive numbers get a bump from having A-Rod, Abreu and Giambi hitting behind him. Frankly, he, Damon and Cano get better pitches to hit throughout the year.

Morneau had more combined runs/RBI than Jeter and played on a team that had far fewer runs. The 20 hr difference between them is far greater than the .022 difference in batting average. He had a bigger impact on getting the Twins to the play-offs than Jeter had for the Yankees.

I would rate them for AL MVP: 1. Morneau; 2. Jeter; 3. Dye: 4. Ortiz; and 5. Thomas

In the NL I rate the MVP race as 1. Howard; 2. Pujols; 3. Beltran; 4. Cabrera; and 5. Utley