Shane Loux, who pitched for three teams over parts of five seasons over a decade, does not think a baseball player can add “value” to a non-playoff team – and therefore shouldn’t be eligible for a Most Valuable Player award on the heels of his historically great 2015:

When challenged, he stuck by his guns:

But that value is measurable.

Bryce Harper put up a somewhat respectable WAR of 9.5 in 2015. But, using Loux’s logic, he could not have had the same “game-changing value” in 2015 as he had in 2014 (1.4 WAR) and 2013 (4.0 WAR), when the Nationals made the playoffs.

While Loux is not arguing that Harper should have won in 2013 and 2014, he is saying he shouldn’t even be considered this year – while only players from the Cubs (Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant), Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke), Pirates (Andrew Mccutchen), Cardinals (Yadi!!!) or Mets (Yoenis Cespedes) would be eligible.

The problem, however, is none of those eight players were nearly as good – or valuable – as Bryce Harper in 2015.