Nick Castellanos believes Mets' Jose Iglesias should have won 2024 NL

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani was the unanimous National League MVP this past season, thanks largely to the slugger becoming the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.

But Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos believes the NL MVP should have been given to a Mets player, and he’s not talking about Francisco Lindor.

Castellanos’ 2024 NL MVP pick? Jose Iglesias.

Signed to a minor league deal last offseason, the veteran Iglesias was called up by the Mets in late May, and he quickly helped turn things around as he took over the starting job at second base.

Over the course of 85 regular season games, Iglesias, who is currently a free agent, slashed .337/.381/.448 with four homers, 26 RBI, and 39 runs scored, all while playing elite defense.

But the now-35-year-old’s impact went far beyond the box score, which is why Castellanos believes he should have been named MVP.

“If you’re looking at the MVP as having the most weight on creating wins for your team, there’s no other player that has had that much weight as Jose Iglesias,” Castellanos told Chris Rose. “Because I think with him being able to come in and bring that Latin spark, knock the ice off Lindor, finally got [Mark] Vientos probably comfortable to be able to be an everyday third baseman. And now, a bunch of guys that looked like they had no direction, running in all different directions in the beginning of the year.

“They made the playoffs, got to where they did while the whole Mets organization had the OMG signs where everywhere from in the city to the stadium… The way I look at baseball, Jose Iglesias is unanimous National League MVP.”

Of course, Iglesias and the Mets ended up eliminating the Phillies in the NLDS before advancing to face Ohtani and the Dodgers in the NLCS. The Dodgers prevailed and ultimately went on to win the World Series.

“I’m saying that him going to the Mets and being himself got the organization to move in one direction,” Castellanos said. “Shohei Ohtani played a huge part in the Dodgers winning. I don’t know if he’s the sole purpose of the Dodgers moving in one direction. That doesn’t mean that what Shohei did isn’t record book-worthy and he’s not an amazing baseball player. If I’m starting a team I pick Shohei over Jose. There’s no doubt about it. I’m not stupid. But the way that I saw baseball last year, with my eyeballs, Jose Iglesias is the National League MVP.”

And when Rose retorted that the sabermetrics community wouldn’t buy anyone but Ohtani winning the MVP award, Castellanos replied with a perfectly Castellanos quip.

“I’m not a sabermetrician,” Castellanos said. “I’m a baseball player.”

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