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Sebastian Giovinco isn't on MLS's MVP shortlist ... WHAT?!?!

Leander Schaerlaeckens
Sebastian Giovinco
Sebastian Giovinco probably can’t believe he isn’t an MVP finalist. (Getty Images)

It’s awards season in Major League Soccer, which means it’s high time for some bickerin’ and in-fightin’ among the league’s cognoscenti, media and assorted fans.

There are fascinating races shaping up. For Rookie of the Year, Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Jack Harrison (New York City FC) and Keegan Rosenberry (Philadelphia Union) were all shortlisted after unusually effective maiden campaigns. In the Coach of the Year category, Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Patrick Vieira (NYCFC) and Oscar Pareja (FC Dallas) are all hugely deserving. And all the potential winners for Newcomer of the Year, Ola Kamara (Columbus Crew), Nicolás Lodeiro (Sounders) and Jelle van Damme (LA Galaxy) were instant contributors.

But there was consternation, too. Over Tim Howard’s inclusion on the Goalkeeper of the Year shortlist, for instance, given that he didn’t make his debut for the Rapids until July 4 – on our national holiday, because he’s an American damn hero, that’s why – and only played in half the season. He was huge down the stretch, to be sure, but can you play half a season, and turn in half the body of work of everybody else, and still win? Because steady-as-they-come Luis Robles of the New York Red Bulls and Jamaican sensation Andre Blake of the Union are perfectly deserving as well.

The far bigger outcry, however, came over reigning MLS MVP – sorry, that’s Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player Award, even now that its namesake has un-retired and returned to the Galaxy – Sebastian Giovinco’s omission from the shortlist for that award. Because that is a bit scandalous.

Yes, the Red Bulls’ Bradley Wright-Phillips is a deserving candidate. His 24 goals included zero penalties and seven game-winners, and his three-year haul now stands at a record 68 goals as he collected his second Golden Boot in three years. His teammate Sacha Kljestan merits real consideration as well, with an astounding 20 assists, seven of which won games, and he is long overdue for recognition of his enormous gifts and accomplishments. And nobody questions that David Villa of NYCFC should be in there, considering his 23 goals and ego-free toil for a team whose dirty work a former World Cup, Euro and Champions League winner could have thought well below him.

Nobody has any beef with the three of them being among the finalists. It’s just that the guy who isn’t there deserved it just as much, if not more. At whose expense Toronto FC’s Giovinco should have been included is hard to say, but the tiny Italian posted the third-highest points total in league history with 17 goals and 15 assists — 32. Who holds the record? That would be 2015 Sebastian Giovinco, who had 38.

At 32, he had three more than BWP, five more than Villa, and six more than Kljestan.

So why in the world was he not a finalist?

It could be that the five games he missed with an injury in September and October hurt him, given that this was just before the time when league players, coaches, front office staffs and media members voted. Perhaps he was overlooked — that’s not a short joke — because he happened to not be around just before some difficult decisions were being made.

The Giovinco snub raises fresh questions over what it means to be the most valuable. In a low-scoring sport that remains tricky to quantify, even if enormous gains have been made in analytics and our understanding of them, there’s no plainer feat than scoring a goal or giving an assist. In a raw numerical sense, Giovinco is the most valuable because he combined to do those two things more often than anybody else.

From a more subjective point of view, he’s the league’s most skillful and exciting player, but he’s probably also the one who changes the course of games the most with his trickery and long dribbles. In that way, too, he’s the most valuable, forming a bridge for Toronto between midfield anchor Michael Bradley and finisher Jozy Altidore.

There is no logical justification for Giovinco not being an MVP finalist.

(Full disclosure: I, as usual, did not cast my MLS awards ballot. I believe that awards affect players’ careers, or at least our perception of them. Therefore, the people who cover those careers, and perceptions, wielding that influence represents a conflict of interests.)