Hamilton is on an MVP track

The numbers make a good MVP case for Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton, but teammate Marlon Byrd possibly had the best opening statement.

"The strongest argument we can make for him is to win the wild card," Byrd said. "That's it. He's done everything he could this year."

As a Washington National in 2006, Byrd was an innocent bystander when Philadelphia's Ryan Howard deconstructed the NL East and was named National League MVP.

Howard hit .313 and set team records with 58 home runs and 149 RBIs, but the Phillies finished three games behind the Dodgers for the wild card.

"They didn't make the playoffs," Byrd said, "but the numbers that he put up were just ungodly."

Everything about Hamilton this season - from his totals going into last night's game at Fenway (.303, 28 HRs, 111 RBIs) to his epic Home Run Derby performance at Yankee Stadium, to the inspirational tale of revival that's made him one of the year's captivating stories - has been larger than life.

A playoff berth, Byrd said, would cement the MVP.

"If he keeps putting up the numbers and we make this push, it's a good chance," he said.

Hamilton said this is easily the best offensive team he's ever played for, which makes posting numbers easy.

"Of all the years, including my amateur career, this is the best team I've been on, not as far as players and talent-wise, but as far as getting along with each other as team," said Hamilton. "You don't find that very often."

For Hamilton, winning the wild card is more important than winning the MVP, but his teammates are taking it as their responsibility to put him in position to win some hardware.

"For him it would be incredible," said Mike Young, a mainstay with the Rangers since 2000. "I've been on teams with players that won MVPs. There's nothing like it. It's almost like it's a team award.

"Baseball's one of those great team sports where you feed off the people around you. So it would be a great thing for the team, but it would be an even better year for Josh."

Young was Alex Rodriguez's double play partner in 2003 when Rodriguez, already a two-time runner-up, won the American League MVP award with 47 home runs and 147 runs as a 25-year-old shortstop. The Rangers lost 91 games that year, finished last in the AL West, but Rodriguez walked away with his first of what would be three MVP trophies so far.

"It's similar," Young said. "I think Alex probably hits more homers, and he was playing short. But from an RBI standpoint, Josh is obviously setting the pace in the major leagues this year. So it's really difficult, obviously, to compare one season to the next."

The Rangers inherit the AL East race among New York, Boston, and Tampa Bay by proxy in their quest for the wild card, which make this series at Fenway as important as any for a team that hasn't swept a series since it beat Seattle three straight back in May.

"That's the biggest thing," Hamilton said. "We're not thinking about catching the Angels in the division or anything. We're thinking about that wild card spot."

The MVP conversation will get louder in the coming few weeks, and Hamilton has competition. White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin is the AL home run leader on the AL Central's best team. A trendy pick is Anaheim's automatic closer, Francisco Rodriguez, who is up to 49 saves (and counting).

But if the Rangers can string together some wins, they can make the argument a lot easier to settle.

"We know that it would catapult him to MVP status," Byrd said. "So we're killing two birds with one stone."

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com