  Is there a more revered individual award in professional sports than the MVP award in baseball? Sure, each of the other leagues have their own MVP awards, but none carry the weight that baseball's does. The baseball MVP award is the Oscar; the others are Golden Globes - they're nice, but they just don't mean as much. This is the second part in a series where I'll take a look at the best active players in baseball that haven't won the MVP award. I'll look at the 5 most surprising candidates in different age classes, rank the level of surprise that they haven't won, and take a look at their chances to pick one up before they retire. Today, let's look at the veterans who are probably past their prime, but still could have very good seasons left in them - players between the ages of 31 and 35 on Opening Day 2004.
5. urlLink Brian Giles Age: 33 Career BA/OBP/SLG (through 2003): .302/.417/.563 Best MVP finish: urlLink 13th in 2002 Chances of winning an MVP: 5% It hasn't been a common career path for most superstars. Giles didn't get an opportunity to play in the majors with a loaded Indians lineup until 1997 at 26. Through 1998, despite pretty good numbers, Giles remained a part-time player. Then, in the offseason and with a surplus of outfielders, Cleveland traded Giles to Pittsburgh. It was the opportunity he needed, and he took advantage of it. Giles exploded on the National League, averaging 33 HR and 104 RBI since then. A big part of his problem MVP-wise has been the teams for which he's played. Even if he would have been a starter in Cleveland, he would have shared the limelight with perhaps the strongest batting order of this generation. And in Pittsburgh, the Pirates have only won more than 75 games once in Giles tenure there. Now with San Diego, things are looking up team-wise, and MVP-wise. While merely an afterthought in the voting while a Buc, Giles has the potential to get some real nationwide recognition on a Padres team that could be pretty good very soon. At the same time, because of the late start to his career, Giles is already 33 and will probably never be as good a hitter as he was early in his Pittsburgh career.
4. urlLink Jim Thome Age: 33 Career BA/OBP/SLG (through 2003): .285/.411/.568 Best MVP finish: urlLink 4th in 2003 Chances of winning an MVP: 15% I know a lot of people probably disagree with me ranking Thome this low in the list, perhaps rightfully so. Thome is a monster, but I think the players to follow are better. I mentioned the strength of the 1995-2000 Indians lineup earlier, but Thome really puts it into perspective. Thome, playing 3B, and Manny Ramirez were part of that lineup, which powered the Indians to its first pennant in 41 years. For the most part, those two players alternated batting order spots... one usually batted 7th and the other 8th. Yep, that's right. Two of the better sluggers of this generation, and not slouches despite their youth, formed probably the strongest bottom third of a batting order in history.
Thome is so powerful (40 HR per 162 gms in his career) that many people forget or don't realize that he's a very disciplined hitter. His OBP routinely tops .400 and he's never drawn fewer than 89 walks since he became an everyday player. He just recently launched his 400th HR, and seems destined for at least 500, might even have a shot at 600.
Thome is making a pretty decent case for winning the 2004 NL MVP when you couple his batting statistics with his role as the veteran leader of a very solid Philadelphia club that has a great shot at the postseason. He might not have many more chances like this left in his career though. 3. urlLink Gary Sheffield Age: 35 Career BA/OBP/SLG (through 2003): .299/.401/.527 Best MVP finish: 3rd in urlLink 1992 & urlLink 2003 Chances of winning an MVP: 5% It was a slow start for Sheffield. He was a hotshot prospect for the Milwaukee Brewers in the late-80s. Brought up in 1988 as a 19 year-old, he understandably struggled. After a bottoming out in 1991, the Brewers made a classic bonehead move and gave up on Sheff. He was traded to the Padres in Spring Training 1992 for Jose Valentin, Ricky Bones, and Matt Mieske. Great trade, Bud! All Sheffield did was make the best run at a Triple Crown this generation has seen that season. While he wasn't successful (1st in BA, 3rd in HR, 5th in RBI), it was still good enough for a 3rd place MVP finish despite being on a sub-.500 team. Sheffield has had some other monster seasons since then as well, including 1996, 2003, and 2000, when he hit 43 HR while playing with the Dodgers. 43 HR while playing 81 games at Dodger Stadium is pretty remarkable. However, I don't like his chances at winning an MVP at this point.
He's 35, is playing in the American League for the first time since 1991, and on a team of superstars, which will split their MVP votes. The window isn't completely closed though. While Lee will disagree, I think Sheffield is closing in on induction to Cooperstown. An MVP season this late in his career would cement it, in my eyes. 2. urlLink Carlos Delgado Age: 31 Career BA/OBP/SLG (through 2003): .284/.395/.558 Best MVP finish: urlLink 2nd in 2003 Chances of winning an MVP: 20% Now, if I told you that Player X batted .344 with 41 HR and 137 RBI, would you, even in such a high-offense era like today's, doubt that he'd won an MVP award that year? Well, those were Carlos Delgado's numbers in 2000... and he finished 4th in the voting! Jason Giambi won the award, and he wasn't a bad selection, but Delgado has had a few Jimmie Foxx/Frank Thomas-type years and is still yet to be named MVP.
Delgado is an RBI-machine, which doesn't mean as much to me, but is important to MVP voters. His chances have probably been damaged by the AL East quite often. The Blue Jays have struggled to keep up with the Yankees and Red Sox in recent years, and without playing for the playoffs, Delgado gets lost in the mix a little in September. He's still not too old, and capable of putting together 3 or 4 more tremendous seasons, so I think he's got a pretty good shot to capture the elusive MVP.
1. urlLink Manny Ramirez Age: 31 Career BA/OBP/SLG (through 2003): .317/.413/.598 Best MVP finish: urlLink 3rd in 1999 Chances of winning an MVP: 20% Despite being ridiculed by the media and fans for a very nonchalant attitude, Manny Ramirez is still one hell of a hitter. Like Thome, he was an afterthought in the Albert Belle/Carlos Baerga lineups in Cleveland. When he got his chance to shine though, he took advantage. He's averaged 41 HR and 134 RBI per 162 games throughout his career. His career slugging percentage is almost .600 - that's top 10 all time. While there's a decent chance that will go down as Ramirez hits the decline phase of his career, he's still going to go down as one of the most feared power hitters in the game. The knocks on him include his refusal to pinch-hit while "sick" and the fact that he was born to play DH. The media will hold that against him. But he's come back from an offseason of discontent and been nothing but a model ciitzen in 2004. No one can deny how devastating Manny is with a bat in his hand. Next time, I'll take a look at the younger veterans, ages 26-30, guys who have plenty of time and as good a shot as anyone of winning the MVP. 
