Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers left little doubt about who should have won the NL MVP award last year, with the first 50-50 season in baseball history and a myriad of other accomplishments. The New York Mets had, in Francisco Lindor, another legitimate MVP candidate. However, a rival star feels like an unsung hero on the Mets’ roster should have won the award.
Nick Castellanos believes Jose Iglesias should have been the MVP
According to Philadelphia Phillies veteran Nick Castellanos, however, another Mets infielder should have been MVP. No, it probably wasn’t on your bingo card:
“Nick Castellanos says that Jose Iglesias deserved to win NL MVP over Shohei Ohtani. ‘If you’re looking at the MVP as having the most weight on creating wins for your team, there’s no other player that has had that much weight as Jose Iglesias,” Jomboy Media posted on X.
Castellanos was talking on the Chris Rose podcast and didn’t hold back on his praise for Iglesias. He has a wider, uncommon view of what is needed to be the MVP, though.
Iglesias was the Mets’ unsung hero in 2024
He named his contagious energy and his penchant for improving team chemistry as reasons why he had such a positive impact on the Mets’ 2024 campaign.
“If you look at the MVP as having the most weight on creating wins for your team, there is no other player that had that much weight as Jose Iglesias,” Castellanos said, explaining how Iglesias helped Lindor, Mark Vientos, and many other Mets in 2024. ‘The way I look at baseball, I think he is the unanimous NL MVP.”
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Iglesias only needed 85 games and 291 plate appearances with the Mets to accumulate 2.5 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in 2024. He had a 137 wRC+ and 4 Defensive Runs Saved this past season.
Maybe Iglesias didn’t deserve the MVP if we look at the situation objectively, but the current free agent did have an amazing year with the Mets and a huge impact on their success.
