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The National League MVP results were just announced, with Cincinnati's Joey Votto coming one vote from a unanimous victory. That's the obvious selection, and Votto deserved it, though I would have taken a long look at Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez if I'd had a vote this year.
Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman finished 16th, showing up on eight of 32 ballots and not finishing higher than seventh on any of them. First baseman Adam Dunn made five ballots, getting a seventh- and ninth-place finish to go with three 10th-place votes. His nine points tied him for 21st in the vote.
I'm sure there will be some Nationals fans miffed at Zimmerman's finish, but if it makes you feel any better, Zimmerman got the second-most votes of any player on a team with a losing record, finishing a point behind Milwaukee's Ryan Braun. There are some good arguments to put Zimmerman higher on the list, but he ultimately suffered from the same thing that put him on just two ballots last year: he played for a bad team.
It's a large part of the reason I didn't put Zimmerman on my ballot in 2009, and six of the top 10 finishers this year played on playoff teams. Right or wrong, that's still a factor in the minds of many voters.
