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 [/b][/quote]Morneau may have been the batting champion, but how does his defense compare to Jeter? Barring injury, Jeter plays every day. A catcher must be rested.

Furthermore, if we're going by how good the team around them is, you could argue the pitching in Minnesota was better and more consistent with Santana and Liriano versus Wang, et al.

Sure, Morneau plays on a team with less "stars," and I'm not saying he shouldn't be a candidate for the MVP, but Jeter had an awesome year that stands out among an entire team of great talent. Furthermore, let's wait and see which team gets farther in the playoffs...Jeter is already having an amazing postseason after just one game (1.000 BA, 5 hits, 2 doubles, a homerun, and an RBI) while Morneau is not off to a great start (0-4 .000 BA, 0 RBI's, etc.).

Granted, its one game, so its pretty unfair. But one started like a sparkplug, the other a dud. So let's see which team makes it further, and then decide who is more valuable.