In the spring, the Los Angeles Times reporter Bill Shaikin asked Yasmani Grandal what he made of Baseball Prospectus projection system, PECOTA, forecasting the Dodgers catcher to be just about as good as any MVP contender in the National League.Thats just absurd, Grandal said. Shaikin wrote that Grandal scoffed at the projection, and that he was bemused. You cant really look at those numbers, Grandal concluded.I was quoted in the piece, because at the time I was the editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus. When PECOTA projections came out each spring, there were always plenty of requests from reporters who couldnt believe -- or whose team sources or readers couldnt believe -- how we could be so down on a team. This spring, I was called upon to explain the relatively sour projections for the Diamondbacks and Royals, each of whose GMs had mocked or criticized the projections.This, though, was the first time a player had called us out for being too nice to him. Its an odd feeling, and itll make a guy reconsider some things. Im still reconsidering, but five months later, I still lean toward that uncomfortable position that Grandals wrong about himself.**We have to start at the beginning: When baseball was born, it didnt have to be. Theres nothing innate to the human experiment that says a stick-and-ball challenge with elements of tag, overhand throws, gloved catches, boundaried dimensions and a dangerously painful spheroid must be played, and we can easily imagine universes where planets exist exactly like ours but without baseball. In such a universe, many of todays professional baseball players would surely have become stars in other sports -- football or basketball or Earth Bs baseball replacement. But many, probably most, would be doing some dumb ol job for some jerk boss and saving a few bucks from each paycheck to open a watch-repair shop someday. What we as a culture choose to appreciate is often arbitrary. You, yes you, are undoubtedly the best in the world at something that we never decided had value, at some sport or game or art or technology that we never invented.Within the sport itself, too, there is an arbitrariness to what we value. In the original Bill James Historical Abstract, James writes about Maurice Archdeacon, the fastest ballplayer in the world in 1921. Archdeacon was born ten years too late. He hit .333 in 127 major league games, but he had no power, and his speed, which would have been a valuable weapon in the previous decade, didnt match up against Babe Ruths home runs. Who knows how many players could say something like this: failed starters from the 1950s who might have been Andrew Miller if bullpen specialization had taken hold earlier; players who couldnt hit lefties but born too late for the Golden Age of platooning; high-OBP hitters in AVG-obsessed decades; brilliant types born too early to make use of baseballs data revolution.Or, arguably, catchers who frame, which is how Grandal got brought into this MVP conversation in the first place.Grandal is a fine hitter, though that fact is obscured by his home ballpark and a low batting average. Only two catchers -- Jonathan Lucroy and Wilson Ramos -- were better hitters in 2016, by wOBA, and only Lucroy, Buster Posey and Russell Martin top him since 2014. But he doesnt hit the way MVPs hit. His arm and blocking arent notable, and he has twice led the league in passed balls. But hes almost certainly an extraordinary pitch-framer, finishing second in the majors in Baseball Prospectus framing runs (with 27 saved) this season after leading the majors (with 26) in 2015. That made him the seventh-most valuable player in the NL this year, according to BPs wins above replacement player -- just as PECOTA had projected.The existence of pitch-framing is not controversial; teams have taught it for decades, and Grandal traces his own education in the skill back to a college coach. He takes pride in his ability to steal strikes, and his teammates and bosses praise him for it. There is, then, nobody disputing that collecting strikes is real, and very little dispute that Grandal is good at it.But theres also no disputing that making strong relay throws is a real skill for a middle infielder, or that a good pickoff throw is a real skill for a pitcher. Were I to argue that Elvis Andrus relay throws are worth 30 runs and make him an MVP candidate, I would find disputers. So Grandals potential MVP candidacy would come down to one question: Is the number -- the 27 runs -- credible?Through two games of the NLCS, Grandal appeared to have contributed very little to the Dodgers working a split in Chicago. He was hitless in three at-bats, with a couple of walks and a sacrifice bunt. He hadnt scored or driven in a run. With the score tied in the eighth inning of Game 1, he grounded out to strand runners at second and third. His offensive contribution, by win probability added, was negative.But consider Kris Bryants at-bat in the first inning of Game 2. The first pitch, from Clayton Kershaw, was on the inner edge of the plate and near the top of the zone, a pitch that is called a strike only 62 percent of the time, according to Baseball Prospectus. The next pitch was on the outer edge of the plate and below the strike zone, a pitch called a strike only 4 percent of the time. Those two pitches didnt end the at-bat, but they changed it tremendously: Bryant hit .299/.547/.582 after getting ahead 2-0 this year, but just .209/.266/.326 after falling behind 0-2. (After 1-1 counts, he hit .262/.366/.507.) By protecting one borderline strike for his pitcher and creating another, Grandal turned the actual MVP frontrunner into an extremely handsome version of Cliff Pennington.Two pitches later, Bryant was called out looking. That pitch is a strike only 62 percent of the time, according to Baseball Prospectus. Thats what the Dodgers catcher does.For Grandal and his unwilling bid for superstardom, its not clear whether that strikeout came a decade early or right on time. Until 2011, framing was more of a good-relay-throw kind of attribute -- talked about but not quantified -- and was generally considered an on-the-margins skill. Nobody in his right or wrong mind would have made a case for Grandal to be near the top of an MVP ballot. Since then, research into quantifying framing has become ever more precise, as Baseball Prospectus now controls for the pitcher, the umpire, the count and the pitch type before assigning value to the catcher. Because framing is a skill that stabilizes quickly and that benefits from huge samples over the course of a season, these numbers might turn out to be more reliable than defensive metrics at any other position. Even seven or eight years ago, Grandal might have been lumped in with Chris Snyder and Chris Iannetta, patient and powerful catchers with low batting averages and limited defensive appeal. But in the year 2016, here I am writing about Grandal as an MVP candidate.On the other hand, in the year 2016 Grandal isnt actually an MVP candidate. When ballots are revealed next month, Grandal probably wont be near the top of any of them. Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, whose models of WAR are the most commonly cited, do not include framing; at those sites, Grandal appears to be only an average major league catcher. The free agent market hasnt yet seen teams paying big premiums for framing-first catchers, even as certain teams -- the Pirates, Rays and Astros most notably -- have shown a clear affinity for them. (Perhaps because they arent valued on the market, and are thus bargains.)A decade from now, one of two things is likely to be true. Teams will pay top dollar for good framing, which will be incorporated into every model of WAR, which will be cited by MVP voters, who will put players like Grandal near the top of their MVP ballots. Baseball culture will continue to adjust what it values in a player, and the notion of a superstar will move ever onward. Or else framing metrics will get much more conservative and catcher WARs will lose their bonuses. Baseball stats will continue to adjust what can be quantified as valuable in a player. Nobody will talk about framing catchers being worth an MVP vote.Either way, Grandal will be saved a scoff.**On Monday, before the Dodgers off-day workout, Grandal was at his locker in Los Angeles. I asked if he remembered Shaikins piece about that site that said he would be as good as any MVP contender. Grandal thought for a half-second, then rolled his eyes broadly and chuckled.I tell him, that was me, and its a little awkward.Somewhere between May and now, I decided Grandal was maybe just being humble, deflecting attention; no sensible young player with 40 career home runs ever says MVP? Yup, thats me. But Grandal denies my theory.I wasnt dodging the question at all, he says. What I said is what I believed in. Theres so much talent in this league. I get what you guys are trying to explain, but at the same time youve got so many other guys out here in this league that are really good and have been doing it for so long.I wasnt mad. I was shocked, to tell you the truth, he says. It was mind-blowing when I heard it.He agrees that his receiving is a valuable skill -- he wouldnt work so hard on it otherwise -- and he says he thinks that the influence good catchers have on a pitching staff is often overlooked. And when he hits free agency, he expects his agent will be able to sell his value in ways that might have been impossible a decade ago.The way the game has evolved, catchers are kind of looked at differently, he says. Before, coming through the minor leagues you had a lot of guys who were really good catch-and-throw guys who couldnt hit, and now youre seeing those guys making it because theyre really good behind the plate. Youve got this new stat thats out there that can make a backup super valuable to what a team is trying to accomplish.And yet, when I ask what hed look at if he were voting on the MVP award, he cites offensive stats and clutch performance and names Daniel Murphy. He describes the type of player who hits big home runs in close games, like Grandal himself would end up doing in Game 3 of the NLCS on Tuesday.Do you ever look at your framing stats?Nah, he says. I just wait for somebody to come up to me and say something about em.I consider saying one more thing about em. I consider telling him that he and Murphy tied with 6.8 wins above replacement this season, according to BPs model of the stat. I decide its not worth it. Historys going to decide anyway. Cheap Nike Air Max 90 Premium . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. 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The Goldeyes came back with a pair in the bottom of the first, another in the third, two in the fourth and two more in the fifth and then got great relief from Kaohi Downing, Brendan Lafferty and Patrick Keating, as the Fish beat the St. Paul Saints 7-5 to win their second straight over St. Paul this week. "If youre going to spot somebody a field goal, better to do it in the first inning," said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. "It was a big night for Ryan Scoma with three hits and a good game for everybody at the plate. And Luis (Alen) has had a couple of good games the last two nights, driving in some runs. Its good to see some of our hitters starting to feel sexy at the plate." When asked about that comment, Forney laughed: "Good hitters like to feel sexy at the plate. If you dont feel that way, you want to get out of there as quickly as you can. Some of our guys look like theyre starting to feel sexy in the batters box. Thats a good thing." With the win, the Goldeyes improved to 23-21 and took over second place in the American Associations North Division from the Saints, who fell to 23-22. The Goldeyes had two out and were looking at the wrong end of a 3-0 deficit heading to the bottom of the first when Ray Sadler beat out an infield hit. Casey Haerther then doubled home Sadler and Josh Mazzola singled home Haerther as Winnipeg cut the St. Paul lead to 3-2. The Goldeyes tied it up withh a run in the third, as Mike Coles walked stole second and scored on a single by Sadler.dddddddddddd Winnipeg took the lead in fourth as Fehlandt Lentini drew a leadoff walk, Ryan Scoma doubled to put runners on second and third and then Luis Alen drove home Lentini on a ground out to short. Nick Liles singled to drive home Scoma and the Goldeyes had a 5-3 lead. They stretched that lead to 7-3 in the fifth, as Haerther singled to lead it off, Lentini walked, Scoma singled to load the bases and then Alen singled home Haerther and Lentini with the eventual winning runs. St. Paul added a couple of runs in the sixth, but Downing, Lafferty and Keating came in to pick up starter Mark Hardy and Winnipeg got back to .500 at home (9-9). Hardy (5-2, 3.27 ERA) went only 5.2 innings and gave up five runs on nine hits, but still earned the win, while Keating (1.33 ERA) picked up his eighth save. Starter Dylan Thomas (0-2, 14.81 ERA) took the loss. "Mark didnt look comfortable in that first inning coming off the rubber, but he settled down and pitched into the sixth," said Forney. "After the first, he hung up a bunch of zeroes and gave us a chance to win." Scoma led the Goldeyes 10-hit effort with three hits in four trips. He also scored a run. Haerther had two hits, scored two runs and drove in one and Sadler had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run. Alen had only one hit but he drove in three including the winner. The Goldeyes and Saints will meet in the final of this four game series on Friday night, 7:05 p.m. at Shaw Park. ' ' '