NEW YORK -- Albert Pujols views MVP voting a little differently these days.

"You have to consider everything. You have to put all the numbers together," the St. Louis Cardinals star said Monday after powering past Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard to win the award for the second time.

Pujols won despite the Cardinals finishing in fourth place, the lowest spot for an NL MVP winner since Andre Dawson and Chicago Cubs wound up sixth in 1987. Howard led the majors in home runs and RBIs for the World Series champs.

The result will surely renew a debate that Pujols once raised himself: What qualifies as "most valuable"?

In 2006, a month after leading the Cardinals to the World Series crown, Pujols carped when Howard -- whose Phillies missed the playoffs -- captured the coveted award.

"I see it this way: Someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP," Pujols said at that time.

Shortly thereafter, Pujols clarified his remarks and said Howard was certainly worthy of the award.

"I think the writers made the right choice in 2006," Pujols reiterated Monday. "He did deserve it."

Just as Pujols believed he earned it this year.

"I wasn't surprised at all," he said.

Pujols hit .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs while playing with a sore right elbow that required surgery. Howard hit 48 homers with 146 RBIs for the Phillies.

Voting was completed before the playoffs began.

"I'm happy I didn't have to make that decision," Pujols said on a conference call from his St. Louis home. "What you do for your team. The players who take their teams to the playoffs should have some consideration."