This MLB Monday miniseries moves into its final month of “retrospective” analyses, even as the current League Championship Series get under way. In this entry, we did have a relatively scandal-free process, which is nice. It gets harder and harder to do this, and since most baseball fans act like Donald Trump supporters when confronted with facts about the sport they love, we’re looking forward to a break. Yes.

2021 World Series MVP: Jorge Soler, RF, Atlanta (original, confirmed)

The Atlanta Braves won their first World Series since 1995 with a six-game triumph over the Houston Trashstros. We assume Houston was unable to cheat in its establish fashion here, but that doesn’t mean we think the team’s accomplishments are legit, still. After all, once a cheater, always a cheater—unless severe consequences are applied, and in this case, MLB did next to nothing to repair the Trashstros’ reputation.

But we digress: Braves right fielder Jorge Soler (3 HRs, 6 RBI, 3 BBs, 1.191 OPS) was named the MVP. He topped the champs’ roster in home runs, RBI, and OPS while playing error-free defense. His WPA mark was also the highest on the team overall, and with no pitchers going 2-0, etc., it’s easy to confirm this award now. He parlayed this stint with the Braves into almost $70M in contracts since his MVP performance.

2021 ALCS MVP: Yordan Alvarez, OF, Houston (original, confirmed)

There’s a certain irony about the Houston Astros beating the Boston Red Sox in six games to win this AL pennant—since both teams were caught cheating via sign stealing with the same devious architects of deceit. Either way, outfielder Yordan Alvarez won the MVP vote here, and we’re inclined to think of him as being clean, since he joined the team in 2019—and his stats seriously declined from then to the 2021 season.

Alvarez hit .522 in this matchup with a 1.408 OPS, to go along with 12 hits, 1 home run, and 6 RBI. His WPA mark was miles better than any other hitter on the roster, and no Houston pitcher dominated in multiple starts. He’s gone on to become a superstar in the three years since this “coming out” party, and he’s still only finishing his age-27 season, too, so perhaps he was just struggling to find himself at age 24 here, right? Sure.

2021 NLCS MVP: Eddie Rosario, LF, Atlanta (original, confirmed)

The Braves beat the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS across six games, as left fielder Eddie Rosario (.560 BA, 1.647 OPS) was voted the MVP. With 14 hits in the matchup, he certainly was impressively lucky: 3 HRs and 9 RBI attest to that. While reliever Will Smith posted two wins and a save in this series, he only pitched four innings, so we will confirm Rosario’s random outburst as more MVP worthy.

2021 AL MOTY: Kevin Cash, Tampa Bay (original); Scott Servais, Seattle (revised)

Funny how this works, as Tampa Bay Rays Manager Kevin Cash (minus-1 PPP) didn’t really do that good of a job yet somehow won another MOTY vote. Clearly, he won’t be winning our nod here. And even though the Seattle Mariners notched “only” 90 wins to fall two victories short of a playoff berth, their manager—Scott Servais—posted a plus-14 PPP mark, which is really insane. This then becomes his second MOTY nod here.

2021 NL MOTY: Gabe Kapler, San Francisco (original); Mike Shildt, St. Louis (revised)

The San Francisco Giants made their first postseason since 2016 with a 104-win season that defied all logic and reason. Their skipper, Gabe Kapler (plus-4 PPP), won the vote for the on-paper miracle. But we know better, of course, and there’s no way he gets this trophy from us—especially when his main rival, Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts (minus-3 PPP) all but handed the NL West race to the cheating Giants. Dismissed.

So, who should win this hardware? St. Louis Cardinals Manager Mike Shildt (plus-5). He won the 2019 vote although we didn’t confirm that. He posted the best PPP mark of all NL managers: in fact, his reward was to be released from service by the Cards organization over philosophical differences! Well, he re-surfaced in 2024 to lead the San Diego Padres to the playoffs after a more-esteemed manager could not do so in 2023.