NY Mets: Did the 2007 collapse cost David Wright the MVP?

The closest David Wright ever came to ending the New York Mets MVP drought was in 2007. A year that included 30 home runs, 107 RBI, and a .325/.416/.546 batting line featured a fourth-place finish in the MVP vote.

There was no shortage of honors for Wright that year. He did take home a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove. What he didn’t get was a playoff appearance. And that might be exactly why Wright finished a distant fourth in the MVP vote even with some terrific numbers.

We all know how the 2007 season ended for the Mets—epic collapsing failure. Is this what cost Wright a chance at the MVP Award? I think it might have.

The 2007 Mets collapse may have swayed MVP voters to look away from David Wright

The 2007 MVP honors would end up going to Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins. He received 353 vote points, 16 first-place votes, and a 79% share. The runner-up was Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday at 336 vote points, 11 first-place votes, and 75% of the share. Finally, with the bronze medal, was have Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers. He had 284 vote points, 5 first-place votes, and 63% of the share.

Wright finished behind them all with 182 vote points, zero first-place votes, and 41% of the share. A superior WAR than every offseason player in the league that year aside from ninth-place finished Albert Pujols, a voter in today’s world may have thought differently.

Wright definitely had MVP-worthy numbers, but this competition was stiff. Rollins was about as well-rounded as Wright with more runs scored, hits, and stolen bases to back up his case.

Meanwhile, Holliday hit .340, smashed 36 home runs, and drove in a league-leading 137 runs. Fielder’s big number included a whopping 50 home runs while still managing to slash .288/.395/.618.

The 2007 season included plenty of heavy hitters. Wright didn’t lead in any major statistic—something each of the top three vote-getters did.

Rollins and Holliday have something else in common. Each played for a postseason club. It wasn’t easy for the Phillies or Rockies to get there either. Philadelphia clinched on the final day of the season. Colorado had to play a one-game playoff against the San Diego Padres to take the Wild Card. Fielder’s Brewers fell a few games shy of the postseason. Still, with awesome power numbers and an above .500 record for the club, he was able to secure a third-place finish in the MVP vote.

Team record probably shouldn’t, but does, play a role in votes for MVPs. If the Mets didn’t see their NL East lead evaporate in the final weeks, there’s no way Rollins gets the nod. The question then comes to whether or not Wright would have been able to defeat Holliday and Fielder.

We can’t know this answer for sure. However, in order to accomplish this, Wright would have needed to steal most of Rollins’ votes. He may have gotten a couple, but Holliday, Fielder, and maybe even someone else would have received those tallies.

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Wright’s 2007 campaign was one of the all-time best from an offensive player to suit up for the Amazins. MVP-worthy for sure, the standings played a factor but so did a few other offensive forces around the league.