The hoopla generated by David Ortiz's recent statement that Derek Jeter didn't deserve MVP honors certainly drew attention to the East Coast candidates in Boston and New York. For years, numerous baseball fans in the middle of the country have maintained that the large-market teams on the two coasts tend to dominate the award categories at season's end, and this year's MVP race in the American League will test that notion. At least two serious contenders are playing on Midwest teams -- Jermaine Dye of the White Sox and Minnesota's Justin Morneau. Perhaps Dye's chances will suffer with Chicago's fade over the last couple of week, but Morneau looks as good as anyone. The slugging first baseman ranks in the top 10 among AL hitters in average (.325), home runs (33), RBIs (125), slugging (.576) and on-base-plus-slugging (.957). So does Dye, but his team's fate may hurt his chances. Ortiz ranks in the top five in five categories. He's the AL's home-run (50) and RBI (130) leader while also placing near the top in runs (108), slugging (.625) and OPS (1.030). Should Boston's crash and burn in August diminish his chances? Meanwhile, the Twins have salvaged what seemed to be a lost season, going 65-28 since June 8. They were 22-35 when this surge began, 11.5 games behind first-place Detroit. Now the Twins are a half-game back of the division leaders and are in line to claim at least the wild-card berth. Morneau is a .374 hitter in this stretch of 93 games, with 28 doubles, 22 homers, 87 RBIs and a 1.068 OPS. If his effect on his team's performance and success is the deciding factor, it might be hard to deny the 25-year-old Morneau. Since June 8, no one in the majors comes near his .374 average, and in the American League, only Ortiz (.299/.430/.673) can top Morneau's OBP (.425) and slugging (.643).