Ian Desmond should be an MVP candidate. I realize there is no way he will win. In fact, he probably won't finish in the top ten in voting. In fact, I already told you back in May why Jose Altuve should be MVP, but I'm going to make a case for him as a finalist anyway so humor me. Desmond meets all the typical criteria for an MVP: 1) He is the best player on his team. 2) He plays for a winning team. 3) He ranks among the league leaders across multiple statistical categories. Let's see if Desmond passes the smell test for each of these unofficial criteria and watch him in action. If nothing else, maybe he can at least win a Twitter poll of MVP candidates. I'm sure his mother would be proud of that.

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If you don't agree with my unofficial criteria above, then let's start by examining some excerpts from the actual ballot given to the Baseball Writers Association of America.

"The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931:

1.  Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.

2.  Number of games played.

3.  General character, disposition, loyalty and effort..."

It also goes on to say that being a part of a winning team is not a prerequisite. Let's put the kidding aside and realize that hardly any MVP winners come from losing teams. Look up the list - it's a short one. That's why descriptions for award winners often include "... he led his team to a 93-69 record." We know the number of games played is not up for debate, so let's talk value.

How do we measure value? Well, we have all sorts of fancy stats for that nowadays. Desmond leads the Rangers with a 3.9 WAR and 115 wRC+ this season. Despite leading the AL West, the Rangers have had their share of troubles across the field. Shin Soo Choo has missed extended time, Delino Deshields struggled and was demoted early on, and worst of all, Prince Fielder was forced into early retirement after a miserable last few months ending with spinal surgery. The Rangers were forced to be movers at the trade deadline to fill holes at catcher and the outfield. Throughout it all, Desmond has remained a constant. Adrian Beltre is still productive, but is not having quite the season Desmond is. Three more RBI for Ian and he would be ahead of Beltre in every single counting stat.

One aspect that casual observers tend to overlook is defense, where Desmond may be undervalued. I won't pretend he is an elite defender, but a .969 Fielding Percentage isn't too bad when you consider he transitioned from his long time shortstop position to the outfield this year. Actually, a closer look reveals his 6.7 Fld rating is not far below reigning MVP Josh Donaldson's 7.8 Fld. He also ranks in the top 15 among AL qualifiers with a 6.7 Def rating. Not top five, but when you look at the offensive profiles of most of those above him, there are a lot of players that are only in for their defense (again Jose Iglesias rears his head!). Narrow the field and you're left with just Manny Machado, Mookie Betts and Josh Donaldson as viable candidates to match Desmond in terms of combined offensive/defensive strength. OK, fine, let's throw Mike Trout in there just for fun. He's not too bad in the field I've heard. David Ortiz may get some votes for sentimental reasons, but are we really putting a DH as more valuable than a position player? I think we have a solid final group with (in no particular order) Altuve, Donaldson, Machado, Trout, Betts, and Desmond. (I'm lying - that's totally in the exact order I have them)

I'd like to see Big Papi pull that off!

On to the actual statistics fantasy owners care about. Desmond is hitting .291, good for top-20 in the AL. Desmond is sixth in the AL in steals and tied for seventh with 81 runs scored. He is also approaching 20/20 territory, currently with 20 HR and 17 SB. Only Trout, Betts, and Altuve have a higher HR/SB total in the AL. Although he won't win a single category for you, having a player who can rank among the leaders in every single major category is undoubtedly more valuable.

Extra points for the bat flip. Byung Ho Park would be proud.

To close, it's pretty hard to quantify character and disposition; I'm certainly not going to enter that discussion here. Still, you have to give Desmond credit for having a remarkable comeback season. After passing on a guaranteed contract for seven years and $107 million, he went on to have a disappointing 2015 season in which he hit .233/19/62. He had no choice but to settle for a one year deal with Texas for $8 million. While I don't feel bad for any millionaire, I do think Desmond has shown resiliency and put in a great deal of effort to earn back his reputation as a star player. That's why despite the fact he is an All-Star, I still feel he is undervalued. Desmond won't come close to winning the real-life MVP, but he is indisputably a top candidate for fantasy MVP. He currently ranks eighth among all position players in fantasy rankings for standard 5x5 leagues and in formats where he qualifies at SS, he can be considered the most valuable infielder outside of that pesky Altuve. Still, Trout shmout, amirite?

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