Derek Jeter made headlines last week, but not the type he was looking for.

While standing in front of a religious exhibit at a Los Angeles museum, security guards reprimanded him for getting a bit too close with his newest girlfriend, actress Jessica Biel, in front of a Jewish exhibit. Not that anyone should feel sorry for Derek Jeter, but what the papers should have been reporting is that the Yankees captain was the recipient of his first MVP award.

Unfortunately for himself and Yankees fans, Jeter was not voted American League MVP.

Justin Morneau, the Minnesota Twins first baseman, edged out the Yankee shortstop on the balloting by just 14 voting points. While Morneau had a fantastic year, it is hard to see how a player who is arguably the fourth best player, a mediocre division winner, can be more valuable than the only Yankee that stayed healthy from opening day to the postseason. While the casual baseball fan is probably not too familiar with advanced sabermetrics, Jeter’s win share total in 2006 was 33, as compared to Morneau’s 27. For comparison’s sake, Albert Pujols’ MLB leading total was 39. And no one is saying Jeter is more valuable than Pujols.

As a Canadian, Morneau is probably unfamiliar with American politics, such as who George W. Bush is or why people hate him so much, but even he has a large enough brain to realize that winning the MVP was “a total, unexpected surprise.”

The mess that is Major League Baseball’s award selection process is easy to see. Jeter did win the Hank Aaron Award, which means he was the best hitter in the American League, and his third consecutive Gold Glove Award, meaning he was the best fielder at one of the most demanding positions in baseball. He also had 34 stolen bases as opposed to Morneau’s three. So MLB might as well have come out and said, “We recognize that Derek Jeter was a better hitter, a better fielder and a better base runner than Morneau. We also recognize that he played for a better team at a much more difficult position. Therefore, we are giving the award to Justin Morneau, because we as Americans hate Derek Jeter.”

All jokes aside, there must be a reason for the existence of the mass controversy in this year’s voting. The way the system works is that two (potentially biased) writers from each major city cast their top 10 players in each league in descending order. Fourteen points for a first place vote, nine for second, eight for third, until it gets to be one point for 10th.

One such writer, Joseph Cowley from Chicago, decided that Derek Jeter was the sixth best player in the American League, after such dubious selections as Oakland designated hitter Frank Thomas and a familiar name to Yankees fans, David Ortiz. Cowley admitted he did not watch too much baseball this year and had no idea what type of season Derek Jeter had, so why was he given such a crucial vote?

Derek Jeter has won many awards, including Gold Gloves, the Hank Aaron Award, the World Series MVP and Jessica Biel, but the major individual accomplishment still eludes him. Maybe one day the most beloved athlete in New York (Mets fans’ opinions excluded) will earn the respect he deserves.

But until then, at least Yankees fans can take their frustrations out on Alex Rodriguez.