This summer has been incredible in terms of young player performances. It seems like every few weeks, a rookie such as Carlos Correa or Kyle Schwarber is promoted to the majors and makes an immediate impact.
That youth movement might be best captured by 22-year-old Bryce Harper, who has silenced his critics with a breakout fourth season. Harper's offense has been 97 percent better than the league average and the best in baseball by 19 percent. He leads the NL with 31 home runs. Since May, Harper has been a clear-cut favorite to win the NL MVP. If Harper fails to win the MVP, it will likely be due to the Nationals' team collapse. On July 5, they were 10 games over .500 and 4.5 games up in the NL East. Now, they are two games over .500 and 6.5 games behind in the division. Because of the lack of consensus on what "value" means in the context of the award, voters might hold it against Harper, should the Nationals fail to reach the postseason.
Value should represent the estimated runs a player produces or saves for his team, relative to the type of player his team would likely rely on without him. Given that stance, one might assume I would be in complete support of Harper for the award, but there is another candidate who has done even more for his team this season. That player is Giants catcher and 2012 MVP Buster Posey.