AL home run record holder Aaron Judge has been named the league’s Most Valuable Player, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced. Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani finished second, followed by Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez.
Judge has been the favorite to claim the award since a few weeks into the year. The herculean slugger popped six home runs in the season’s first month and only picked up the pace from there. He topped double-digits in longballs in each of the next three months before collecting 20 more from August onwards. His homer pace hit a bit of a lull once he reached 60 and pulled within one of Roger Maris with a bit more than two weeks to play, but Judge eventually claimed the record with blasts off Tim Mayza and Jesús Tinoco.
It was an obviously historic season from a power perspective, but the three-time Silver Slugger winner’s achievements went beyond the longball. He flirted with a Triple Crown late in the season and ultimately finished second among AL qualifiers with a .311 batting average. His .425 on-base percentage paced the circuit, and his .686 slugging mark was well better than Alvarez’s second-place .613 figure. He also played a significant amount of innings in center field, adequately moving to the outfield’s most demanding position after a career spent mostly in right field.
Judge helped the Yankees to 99 wins and an American League East crown. He earned his fourth career All-Star selection, and finished in the top five in MVP balloting for the third time. It’s his first time winning the award, and it couldn’t have come at a better time personally. Judge is a first-time free agent, and his ultimate destination will be one of the storylines of the winter.
Ohtani comes in second place the year after winning his first MVP. An incomparable player, Ohtani hit 34 homers and posted a .273/.356/.519 line as a designated hitter. The right-hander also tossed a career-high 166 innings, posting a 2.33 ERA with an AL-leading 33.2% strikeout rate in 28 starts. On his pitching accomplishments alone, he finished fourth in Cy Young balloting. That’s nothing short of remarkable for a player who also finished fifth in slugging and fourth in longballs in the American League. If not for an historic offensive season from Judge, Ohtani would likely have flown to a second straight MVP.
Judge received 28 of 30 first-place votes, with Ohtani collecting the other two. They were 1-2 in some order on every ballot, while Alvarez picked up 22 third-place nods. The Houston star hit .306/.406/.613, trailing only Judge among AL players in on-base and slugging. He finished third in homers and earned his first All-Star selection and MVP finalist appearance.
Guardians third baseman José Ramírez secured six third-place votes and finished fourth overall. Astros second baseman José Altuve came in fifth, edging out Cleveland second baseman Andrés Giménez (the only player besides Alvarez and Ramírez to secure any third-place votes). Julio Rodríguez, Mike Trout, Xander Bogaerts and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander rounded out the top ten.
Full voting breakdown available here.
Finally. He most definitely deserved it. Now, here comes the Judge with his MVP!
Jose Ramirez was more deserving than the strikeout machine Judge
The Yankee hate makes for some moronic comments.
Well, I can only point to simple facts:
Judge’s postseason problems against Cleveland are nothing new, dating back to the 2017 ALDS. In that series, Judge went 1-for 20 with 16 strikeouts. He is now 2-for-37 with 27 strikeouts against Cleveland in three postseasons (2017, 2020 and 2022). MVP ??? I think not.
MVP is voted on before the post season starts. It’s only based on regular season
MVP is voted on before the playoffs start. It’s based only on regular season. Judge should’ve won in 2017 too
Mvp is for regular season stats not the postseason
that’s a 37 AB sample size based off 3 separate years..
MVP is voted on before the playoffs. It’s solely based on regular season
27 strikeouts in 37 at bats????
LMAO
Lol so clueless. The Yankees wouldn’t even have been in playoffs without Judge so he should be penalized for just his postseason. Go away
What’s funny is Ramirez has had a few terrible postseasons himself…
Because Judge had a poor playoff in 2017, he shouldn’t win this years mvp.
There should be some simple baseball iq test administered before letting someone post.
With those rules, Barry Bonds never would have won an mvp….
Ok then. Judge has 908 career Ks in 7 seasons …almost 2 full years of never putting a ball in play
You’re a focus on the negative guy huh? Lol
In what world is Jose Ramirez more deserving? Would you feel that way if Judge was 5 inches shorter and on the Rays or the Indians or some other smaller market club?
Ramirez had a great season and is under paid (his choice to sign that deal, btw) but it was by no means an MVP calibre season, by any form of measuring that value and deservedness.
Judge edges Ohtani on WAR and tie-breaker is playing for a team in playoff race last month of season. Alvarez and Ramirez deserves third and fourth, some years their performances would have won but not this year.
Ramirez had a great season but nobody deserved it more than Judge who should have been unanimous.
Judge definitely deserved it. Mammoth year
i agree hippy without judge dragging nyy across the finish line either tor or tb wins the division.
Yankee fans don’t deserve this legend. We would treat him right in Oakland.
ruff – I agree, the fans in Oakland would respectfully pause their intimate acts whenever Judge steps to the plate.
Pretty darn funny hahahaha
Trumbo – Thank you my friend.
I used to live in Oakland. Oakland would have offered him 7 years/$82.6M w/ a $400k buyout on a $17.4M option or they would have traded him to the Yankees a few years ago and the Yankees may have already signed him to a 10 year/$300M contract.
Judge was drafted by Oakland and turned it down- probably because A) He’s a loyal Giants fan and B) He knew how much he was worth and he knew how much of that he’d potentially lose out on by playing for Oakland.
Easy call. All Rise!
Mindless robot. Ohtani is the real MVP. Judge is good for beating up on garbage pitching.
Yeah , all those difficult Ohtani at-bats against Oakland and Texas….
When a player breaks the all time home run record, and has one of the best offensive seasons of all time… He is the MVP.
If there was a most remarkable player award, Ohtani should win that hands down.
Well said Halo. I agree.
Record breaking may not figure into the voting as much as you might think. Even if 62 home runs was short of the A.L. record, he still would have won, I believe.
Mark McGwire finished ahead of Sammy Sosa for the single season home run record in 1998, but Sosa easily won the MVP Award over McGwire.
He didn’t break the all time record. That number is 73. He broke the AL record.
Okay Barry.
Barry? Is that you?
Jjd002 looking to break open that conversation!
Roid Boy Bonds didn’t hit 73 until ‘01
Barry Bonds was the best, most fearful hitter I ever saw roids or not.
He wasn’t until he started cheating.
Yes he was. He was the best player anyone born after Mays played, has seen. Roids or no roids.
Trout was better in his 20s than Bonds. And if Bonds was the most fearful, why was Griffey named to the all century team and not Bonds?
Halo11Fan is indeed correct. Trouty is the best ever! Trout his first few years in CF was out of this world…He should have atleast 3 gold gloves.
Trout is far from the best ever. The best ever doesn’t spend 80% of the season on the IL for a strained leg muscle. As an Angel’s fan you’re jaded but from the outside looking at that trainwreck of a team I see nothing but softness with the exception of Ohtani who I’m sure will be headed out of that pit of despair. I get it that’s your team and you’re gonna take up for your guy but Trout can’t put in a full season anymore and he’s still fairly young. I can think of about twenty names I’d put ahead of Trout on an all time list as things stand. Maybe when all is said and done I might feel differently but for now the way things are going I’m not seeing that.
Mystery Team, shut your yap. Plenty of others are aware as well. I am just one of many with that opinion on Trout. Go find another site to post on. I don’t like you.
Except Trout split time between CF & LF his first two years; Roughly 75/25.
I mean, if you want the truth, that honor was voted on by journalists, whom with which Bonds had a… tumultuous relationship to say the least, and this is talking about 80’s and 90’s Bonds.
Griffey was the sweetheart, of course he got in.
That cheating roid head stats don’t count
He didn’t come close to breaking the home run record.
@ Halo Both had historic years. One was top 5 in both hitting and pitching in the same year. No one has ever come close to doing that before in MLB history. The other became the Single Season Home Run record holder and led his team to the playoffs.
(Please don’t even try to bring up anyone that had to use steroids or other PED to try to hit HR. They don’t count or matter. They will live in infamy, not the HOF.)
So I would amend your statement. If there was a Best Overall Player award, Ohtani would win that. Since its a Most Valuable Player award, the edge goes to the player on the playoff bound team.
Get off your soap box. What happens in 5-10 years you find out Judge was on some banned undetected supplement. You going to come back with your tail between your legs? You don’t know this information so don’t act like you know all.
Soap box?? What are you talking about? Bonds cheated there will always be debate from all sides there’s no reason to have his tail between his legs, if it comes out in ten years that Judge cheated as well then he’ll get the same treatment. As fans of the sport we are all entitled to have an opinion especially on such a hot topic within the sport.
Nice contribution beanball.
Throwing out a player substance issue with absolutely nothing to back it up and incorrect use of a basic cliche.
Keep up the good work!
As it should be. Long time coming. Too long. Well earned, well deserved.
Hopefully next Aaron Judge news will be “Aaron Judge and Yankees Reach Agreement on 8 year $340M Contract” or something along those lines.
I agree with you. You really can’t see him any other jersey than pinstripes. It’ll be too weird. Somebody is going to back up the money truck
Every time I do the math, I figure a couple of things:
1) He should stay a Yankee for the sake of his own legacy
2) They should sign him to an 8 year deal and they should see it as two or three different deals combined into one deal:
A record breaking deal valued for 3 years, followed by another 3 year deal at a still elite but much more palatable value and a 2 year retirement tour style deal that takes the place of those kinds of 1 or 2 year deals a lot of guys get after their career contract is over but they aren’t done playing yet, or want to keep playing long enough to reach some personal stat records but it’s no longer really about the money.
Contract just moved up from 300MM to 325MM
Pretty sure it was $325mm+ already
He has the Yankees bent over a barrel. He might get a lot more then that.
Damn, with how good Judge was this season I thought Altuve was gonna win it.
I do think Altuve’s moment in the sun is over, even with the Astors winning the WS this year, but yes, it felt like there was a period where it felt like simply by being on the active roster Altuve was going to be a bunch of baseball writers’ number one choice for MVP.
Altuve is only interested in World Series wins.
Then why did he lie to keep his MVP?
What did Altuve lie about?
28 votes for Judge and 2 for Shohei. Nicely done 99.
I love what Shohei did but it should have been 30-0 based on the season judge had! 8 yrs – $355MM
I would have voted for judge, but I can not blame anyone for voting for the guy who finished 4th in Cy Young and hit 34 HRs.
I loved Roger Maris, half the size of Judge, in NY eyes, Mantle should have won in 1961, Roger Maris laid his life down for BB. I will always respect Roger Maris…
And, Maris did it while receiving death threats and getting booed. That’s just incredible that he was able to pull through. What he often doesn’t get enough credit for either is his RF defense.
That’s not to take away from what Judge did. It’s simply to add to what Maris did. Both had amazing seasons and Judge’s was historic first so many different reasons.
History in the books!
Well deserved! Judge should have also won it in 2017. Let’s get the man signed and build this team to finally knock out the cheating Astros.
Who do you think taught Houston how to do it?
LOL. The only way you will win is if the Astros don’t show up.
I vaguely remember the YANKEES using technology for stealing signs in 2015 and 2016 but I guess that is different. The Yankees had the same set up as the Astros, but relayed signs via the runner on second vs auditory the way the Astros did.
But the Astros are dirty rotten cheaters!!
Yankees did not have the same set-up. Astros were decoding signs. The Yankees were investigated for cheating, along with the Red Sox, but were not found to have cheated, unlike the Red Sox, who were fined. Yankees were found not to have sufficient equipment. Red Sox toyed with the technology briefly. Astros cheated ALL SEASON LONG. NO ONE else did that. That’s why the Astros were punished.
The Yankees tried to cheat, Utah. You can spin it and deny it all you want, but cheating is all about having dishonest intentions and acting upon it to try to again an unfair advantage. It does not matter if the Yankees weren’t punished like the Astros and Red Sox were, if Houston and Boston took it to whole another level, etc. The Yankees cheated and got away with it primarily because them coming clean is why the memo that told everyone to stop was sent out in the first place.
And yes, Utah, I know you’re going to reply and fire back with denial. The Yankees cheated, bud: espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33810814/mlb-letter-new-yo… <—- from this very article – "Additionally, sources told ESPN that the letter notes that former Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild called the replay room to ask about pitch identification, which is against the rules." As I said before, no where in the definition of cheating does it mention the rules but it's clear as day that were trying to gain an unfair advantage aka cheating.
Now for the rest of the story.
The Yankees were found to have cheated and to have some done it since 2015.
They tried in court to keep a letter from the Commissioner to them regarding their cheating buried, but they failed. We know what they did, when they did it, and that they were fined for it.
They were fined in 2017 and along with the Red Sox were the reason that the Commissioner sent a memo in Sept 2017 to all the team owners telling them to cut that bleep out or there would be hades to pay.
The Astros owner and FO failed to pass that info on to the players and they kept right on using their electronic sign stealing through the end of season.
Then over a year later a disgruntled former Astros player felt so bad about the sign stealing that he ratted out the team. He didn’t feel bad enough to return his ring or playoff share. Just bad enough to say, “those guys cheated”. Even though he benefited from it and by his own admission never said anything to any other Astros player, coach, or FO personnel while itv was happening.
MLB came down hard on the team and execs for basically ignoring the Commissioner’s memo in 2017.
The players got a pass because it was not against the rules for them yet. Like any union worker, the rules and penalties have to be agreed on in advance and included in the CBA.
So the Yankees TRIED to cheat but didn’t have the right equipment?
And that, somehow, makes them INNOCENT?
Altuve is the rightful 2017 MVP due preforming at a high level almost all season long, thus being more valuable to his team than any other player in the league at the time.. Judge didn’t do that in 2017.
Buzzer boy.
can we give the cheating thing a rest or should we call the 19 reds cheaters because the benefited from the ws throwing the ws. my point is at one point every team in bb has cheated in some way or another some got caught others didn’t.
Utah is very bitter for whatever reason.
Astro fans think all cheating is the same, kinda like how a 3x over the limit DWI is the same as illegal parking.
Astro haters swear first and second degree murder are perfectly acceptable just because they’re not as bad as third degree.
Astro fans didn’t exist a few years ago , so we accept you don’t understand rules.
Only people who live in a bubble of ignorance claim that Astros fans didn’t exist a few years ago, so back to your bubble you go.
Or ones that just actually view attendance figures.
Just an fyi, the Astros use to play in the NL, you probably didn’t know that lol.
No, just people who live in a bubble of ignorance.
Here, lemme enlightenin you: I’ve been watching the Astros since 2005, aka back when their games were on local TV channel 51. I personally know some one who has been following them since days of JR Richard and Mike Scott aka the late 70s and 80s. Before they were in the NL central, the Astros played in the NL West. You probably didn’t know that. Lol. My older brother played used to play basketball with the son of former Astros player Kevin Bass, However, do go on and keep living up to the phrase “ignorance is bliss”.
Clearly, TheDogDays ran back to his bubble. The outside world is very scary and contains too much he doesn’t know. Lol.
lol “you know someone” that has rooted for the Astros for a long time. That’s awesome and lame. Cmon man do better.
Let me enlighten you with facts…
Astros AL attendance rank from 2010-2015
10th, 13th, 10th, 13th, 12th, 11th
In the 4th largest city in the US.
Delusional just like your take on the Astros cheating…
Here’s some more enlightenment for you: Houston is full of people who started watching the Astros before they moved to the AL West. Like you said, 4th largest city in the US. For you to have that known would’ve required you to leave your little safe, delusional, bubble of ignorance. No one can make you leave it. Stay in it for as long as you wish. You can look at attendance records all you want, but your claim is still willful ignorance. As some one who has lived in Houston for all of his life, calling your claim ignorant is stating a fact, not an opinion.
With of all that being said, follow your own advice: do better, champ. I know you won’t, but one can hope. Lol.
“You can look at attendance records all you want, but your claim is still willful ignorance.”
Huh? Are you saying the numbers are wrong? Those are facts lol! Little more persuasive than the guy you knew that watched Mike Scott geez.
Just like with the cheating scandal, simply calling people names without any factual evidence won’t make it go away…
“Huh? Are you saying the numbers are wrong? Those are facts lol! Little more persuasive than the guy you knew that watched Mike Scott geez.” – I’m saying unless you left your little bubble, and spent a few years in Houston, you wouldn’t have known that your precious stats about attendance don’t give you the full picture. Truthfully, I don’t need to be persuasive at all. I don’t think you’re wrong, I know you’re wrong. After all, the big bad Astros hurt your feelings so much that you willingly ignore any facts that don’t support you. Any one who claims there were no Astros fans prior to 2012 is factually wrong and delusional. After all, Houston is a large city and there are a whole bunch of people here that exactly like my buddy. That knowledge that comes from living here is all. FYI, don’t think I didn’t notice, but as soon as I dropped some knowledge on you about the history of the Astros, you instantly abandoned the assumption that I didn’t know anything about the team before 2010. You’re way out of you league on this. Ignorance is bliss. Enjoy. You can have the last word.
Lol! I’m not literally saying they had zero fans!!
The point was, they obviously didn’t have many until they started winning.
I’m showing you the numbers and you’re claiming ignorance with nothing to back it up. Bizarre.
What am I ignorant about? That’s the actual attendance!
A season for the ages. Well deserved. Happy to be a witness to history
He’s lucky MVP voting doesn’t factor in postseason performance.
Ohtani too. He didn’t even play! Ha
Nice, now come win one with the Giants. Ha
I’m shocked.
No brainer. He had a historic season. Congratulations to Aaron Judge
It was Judge’s pitching that got him the award. Oh, wait, he plays in NY and not Toronto. Ohtani is the MVP
Yea, should have given the award again to a player who screws up the pitching rotation because he can’t pitch on regular rest, and hogs all the DH ABs away from aging All-stars like Trout/Rendon. Its a minor miracle the Angels won 70 games catering to Ohtani
Wow, that’s a take one doesn’t hear every day. Hmmm.
bucsfan, Trout is just coming into his prime. Not aging yet.
the way i see it judge deserves it because without judge does nyy even win the division or make it to the alcs personally i don’t think so. now i do think ohtani is a special player and plays very well on both sides but you take oh of this year’s halo’s they still finish about the same
Bucsfan – I’m with you. I’ve been saying it for a while myself. The six-man rotation is hurting the Angels. They need to switch back to a five-man rotation—more Ohtani starts and no starts from a 6th pitcher will only result in more wins. Also, Ohtani can get the day off after each start to charge up while Trout (or Rendon) can DH on those days instead of getting a full day off and losing their bat in the lineup.
Despite Ohtani being a dual threat, Judge still produced a higher WAR. Also, sure being a good hitter and a good pitcher is great but Judge played a plus centerfield where Ohtani pretty much only took the field when he pitched, if you’re going to knock Judge for not pitching, Ohtani gets knocked for not fielding.
Add up all Judge’s PA and every play to CF.
Then add up all Ohtani’s PA and every batter he faced while pitching.
Who was involved in more plays? So that CF excuse don’t play homie.
Judge became the true single season home run champ passing Roger Maris and that is why he got the MVP.
NOT because he plays CF and Ohtani doesn’t.
Well, no. Judge didn’t beat Ruth, for example.
In no way does mean that the award going to Judge is not well deserved. He had a monster, magical season that was a privilege to be witness to.
Ohtani also had a historic year. Not even Ruth matched what Ohtani did this season.
Well deserved
4 bills now.
I hope this is hyperbole. Judge is an unbelievable player, but will turn 31 at the start of next season. It’s really a no win situation for anyone that signs him because the agents, the media, and the fans throw out these ridiculous numbers and the players start to believe them. A realistic contract would be a 5 year $40M a year to put him around $200M. The player gets $40M a year and the team doesn’t have to pay him in his late 30s.
But the “way too low”, “not even close” responses that are in your head right now shows how ridiculous this process has become.
Any other uniform and he doesn’t win, plain and simple.
Not sure what you are getting at. He carried his team on his back – a true MVP. It’s not because it’s the Yankees, as it has been quite some time since they had an MVP.
Highest WAR in the league, he absolutely wins.
An Angel wins almost every year. What are you talking about?
Trout deserved each and every one. He should have had at least one more in either 2012, 2013 or 2015, or all of them.
Ohtani deserved his too and if he had won this year only idiots would argue against it after he put up a top 5 season as both a hitter and a pitcher. No one has ever come close to being as good as he is now. It would have been well deserved.
Judge also deserved this award. He is now the true single season home run champ. Undisputed. He did that while coming very close to winning the old school triple crown. Incredible, magical season.
There is just no reason to try to put down other players to try to argue about this MVP award.
They went to the playoffs once. They deserved none of them. Putting up saber-metric stats while losing is not MVP worthy.
Hysterical considering several Yankee players over the past 20+ years could have arguably won awards and didn’t. But keep believing in the “Yankee-bias” and enjoy another string of terrible Angel seasons.
Congrats to him on his 2nd AL MVP…
Congrats Judge! Incredible, historic season.
It wasn’t unanimous or I think they would have said so.
Ohtani would have been deserving if he won it. His season was historic. Unprecedented. He was a Cy Young finalist and if this award had just been for best hitter he would have been a finalist for that too. Not even Ruth can say they were that good all around.
Ohtani just ran into a guy that became the real single season home run leader. Another historic season.
Baseball fans have been privileged to watch what these two have accomplished this season.
These are the kinds of posts I enjoy seeing as a fan of the game.
If you ask Judge himself, Bonds is the real single season home run leader.
@goastros123 I wonder how he really feels?
Judge is surely intelligent enough to know the deafening fallout resulting from him saying anything like, “Well, Bonds cheated, right? And all the other guys with more than the 62 I hit cheated, yeah? I mean, it’s clear, isn’t it, that they all took performance enhancing drugs to get there? I’m the real HR champ.”
He could end up in Cooperstown in 2037 and the only thing reporters would STILL be asking him would be, “Do you stand by the comments you made in 2022…”
@JackStrawb What if that is how he really feels? Regardless, it came straight from the horse’s mouth so I’m going to roll with it.
@goastros123 It could well be how it really feels, but I have to take it as one of those statements someone makes because any other statement is essentially impossible to make.
It’s like asking any press secretary if the president they work for is a liar. We know he is. They know he is. We know they know he is. They know we know….
But unless they’re three weeks from publishing their memoirs (and even then), the answer is always going to be, “No.”
@Jack Perhaps he just doesn’t care. The man was preparing for the playoffs when asked. “The numbers are the numbers” is what I would expect him to say in 2037, “how I personally feel isn’t going to change that.”
Probably the best of all possible answers.
Judge grew up 100 miles from the Giants’ ballpark and rooted for Bonds as a kid. He’s not going to turn on one of his boyhood idols.
You should be able to understand that, right, goastros? If I said Altuve wasn’t the legit AL MPV in 2017, would you agree with that?
Fink, what are you talking about? I did not say he was going to turn on Bonds nor did I suggest he was. I simply pointed out that he believes Bonds is the real record holder as a response to “Ohtani just ran into a guy that became the real single season home run leader. “
I misunderstood your reply to JackStrawb, goastros. My apologies.
All good.
I didn’t ask Judge. I know what the answer is and its Judge.
Once Bonds started using steroids everything he did before or after was thrown out the window. It doesn’t count to real fans. Only to those trying to make excuses for people like him who cheated the game and the fans and who stole money from players that were clean. Don’t be one of those people.
What about the pitchers who were juicing too? And the hitters on opposing teams who were juicing?
When SF lost the World Series to the Angels in 2002, the Angels roster included these guys listed in the Mitchell Report:
Brendan Donnelly
Scott Schoeneweis
Troy Glaus
Donnelly pitched five games in relief and got the win in Game 6, striking out two of the four batters he faced.
This was Glaus’s batting line in the Series: .385/.467/.846/1.313
Glaus hit three home runs in the Series. Bonds hit four. Glaus drove in the winning runs in Game 6.
Making Bonds the scapegoat for a league swimming in drugs is just too easy. Selig had to be hauled up to Capitol Hill and threatened by Sen. John McCain and Rep. Henry Waxman before he came up with an acceptable anti-drug policy. The owners dug the long ball.
We shouldn’t let Selig and all the other juicers use Bonds as a prop they can hide behind. The head of BALCO, Victor Conte, said the drug tests were so easy to beat that “only the dumb and the dumber” got caught.
You might be interested in this essay in The Times by Jeff Novitzky, the dogged investigator who pursued Bonds tenaciously. It’s entitled: “I Investigated Bonds and Clemens. Yes, They Belong in Cooperstown.”
nytimes.com/2021/12/30/opinion/hall-of-fame.html?s…
Fink – Absolutely correct. To say nobody else was juicing because they passed the tests is like saying nobody is driving over the speed limit because they weren’t pulled over.
I mean if Manny Ramirez can pass the tests for over a decade while likely juicing, who can’t?
Was a MLB problem not a player issue,
Players continue to look for an answer to being better,
Amphetamines, antidepressants, Lasik
I can’t blame Bonds, others were doing it and it was not illegal at the time, no testing
Who is a real fan and who isn’t is not up to you, BaseballisLife.
i may not like what players like bonds did during that era but i also just can’t throw out all the numbers. the fact is that over 75% of bb was juicing (the 75 is an educated guess i don’t think we will ever know the real answer) or the fact fans loved seeing sosa and mcguwire chase each other for the record or when bonds broke it few years later. i think why a lot of us are hung up on bonds and clemens is because they were aholes during there playing days and made themselves easy villains for us to hate. let’s just accept that it was a dark time in baseball and move on.
Wouldn’t trade Ohtani for Judge on any day.
Judge plays in a homerun stadium, easy for Yankees to be among league leaders.
Give me a player who excels in hitting and pitching, no comparison to who is most valuable, what a joke
Most outstanding – does not equal most valuable. There is no doubt what Ohtani os doing is unprecedented and outstanding – but to say he was the most valuable after Judge literally carried his team into the postseason is ignoring facts.
The award was most valuable, not outstanding
Being surrounded by other valuable players on his team, only tarnishes the accomplishments, while being on a losing team with less talent only shows how valuable ohtani is
Playoffs, I don’t think Judge showed up when needed to be valuable
Ohtani is definitely more talented all around. But Judge had tremendous pressure on him and played on a winning ball club. I think if Ohtani had the same pressure on him, he may or may not have performed as well. I think it’s easier to rack up stats when playing for a non-contender.
Pressure while on a winning team
What about pressure to carry a team on a losing team that faces all the better teams
How many times was Shohei booed by the fans in Anaheim?
Judge was booed in Yankee Stadium by a handful of moronic ingrates AFTER winning the AL home run crown and carrying his team all year.
Pressure? Anaheim is a ride in the teacups at Disneyland compared to Yankee Stadium. I’m not justifying the stupidity at Yankee Stadium, mind you. Just saying, there’s no other fan base as ruthlessly demanding as in the Bronx.
No other stadium is built in a way to enhance homeruns
If you want to lead the league in homeruns, Yankee stadium had always been designed to aid the hitters, always, note why so many Yankees are at the top
Ruth, mantle, maris, judge
@stroh I’m skeptical, tbh. Playing sports or working when it simply does not matter is one of the hardest things in the world to show up for, whereas focusing when people are watching is comparatively easy.
Also, even for the Angels you’re playing in front of tens of thousands of people, in front of cameras, in front of regional and national tv audiences, in front of and against your peers while also playing for many millions of dollars in your next deal….
There’s never an absence of pressure; real pressure.
Ohtani already was a superstar in Japan. Had he waited two extra years to come over stateside, MLB execs were predicting a $200MM+ contract for him as an unrestricted free agent. On top of LA’s media, he still has to deal with Japan’s today. The man can handle the pressure on the moon without a spacesuit. He’s not chasing money or stats, he wants to compete and win. Plain and simple.
Valuable as In not even come close to his team being .500 every year? No one is the MVP of the league on a losing team.
Tell that to Trout and all the other MVPs on losing teams.
Comments like that just show your own lack of knowledge of the game of baseball.
@21Clemente21 Same, but that has to do with expectations for 2023 and beyond. Judge is turning 31, Ohtani 28. That’s a lifetime in baseball.
Judge hit 30 home runs at home and 32 on the road. So much for the Yankee Stadium advantage.
Machado, another MVP finalist hit a total of 32 home runs, and Shohei hit a total of 34.
Judge drove in 131 runs, 36 more than Shohei, and he scored 133 runs, 43 more than Shohei. Judge’s OBP was .425, 69 points higher than Shohei’s.
Shohei is the best baseball player in the world, IMO. No one else can both pitch and hit at his level. But even factoring in his pitching, Judge had a higher bWAR and fWAR. WAR stands for Wins Above Replacement. Shohei is more phenomenol, but this year Judge was more valuable. It’s not a joke.
make that “phenomenal,” dang it!
@fink also doesn’t the nyy stadium work in the other teams favor? then again people are going to hate, there probably the same people that said nolan couldn’t hit outside of col. some players are just studs and hit anywhere, he!! judge could hit a moonshot on jupiter and they will still say “well it’s because of nyy stadium”
Agreed pink. And he should’ve won another mvp in his first full season in the league also, when he hit 52 home runs, well outpacing the competition. But it was said at the time that he was not consistent enough lol,hitting only .282 ,compared to Altuve’s 300 batting average, ironically which by today’s pundits standards is a relatively unimportant stat.
Judge had more runs, far more RBI, and a higher OPS+, wRC+, DRS, bWAR and fWAR than Altuve. Case closed.
Ye approves
Congratulations Aaron, From a Braves Fan, Good Luck This Off-season, and do what is right for you and your family
I think Yankee fans should be slightly perturbed by the fact Judge hasn’t re-upped yet. Not rocket science here. If both wanted it done, it would have happened by now. Hello San Francisco, you might have a new RF soon.
Nope – just a dance – that he earned.
More likely a Dodger then a Giant.
His agent needs to entertain and receive actual offers from other teams to leverage the Yankees. I’d be perturbed if he had already re-signed as his agent would have left stones unturned. Judge took a huge gamble on himself and won and earned the full payout.
I understand that inclination, but the reality is that it might work against everybody in the game- the teams and Judge- if teams keep running up offer amounts to force the Yankees to match until there are reported 10 year/$500M offers on the table or something and then the Yankees walk away and then no other team actually wants to sign Judge to that kind of contract and then it gets really awkward when Judge goes back to the Yankees for 2 or 3 fewer years and $10M less in AAV or he has to sign with another team on a pillow contract for like 1 year/$50M or something… it wouldn’t be the first time that had happened…
The Yankees know they’re the Yankees and they already tried to low ball Judge (relatively speaking) and got rebuffed only for Judge to increase his overall value with a historic season and an MVP trophy, so I think the Yankees will know what the market could potentially explode to with competing offers and just try to give Judge so close to that without going insane that he goes ahead and signs.
That’s a risk Judge takes that the Yankees can pull their offer in a high stakes game of negotiations. I highly doubt it will turn into another Correa situation as the Astros had only offered him only a 6-year deal. Correa also faced stiffer competition on the elite SS market. The Yankees have offered Judge 7 years during the past spring. Nimmo currently is his closest FA competition and isn’t on his same level.
He’ll be a Met before the year is over. If there was ever a power move for Cohen to make then this is it.
Nah
How will the LOLmets be able to sign Judge when they don’t have the money to keep most of their pitching staff?
All players in the top 10 had massive seasons this year and could have won MVP in other years, Judge had to break the AL HR record to edge them out. I dont think he should have been a runaway winner, but have no problem with him winning overall. I just hope he goes to the Dodgers or Padres now.
whoever he goes to will OVERPAY
That could be said of virtually every single year’s batch of top 10 MVP vote getters… and Judge’s average and solid defense would have still put him in the top 3.
Some players with more pedestrian power numbers but high WAR have won MVP before, so it wasn’t just about the HR’s– but a player like Judge is going to hit a ton of home runs if he’s got a high batting average.
No big surprise here. Too bad he didn’t win the Triple Crown (I’m a Red Sox fan by the way). Don’t think he’ll come close to another chance for the Triple Crown.
one of the best contract year hitting performances of all-time
Just think, the Braves could have drafted him just one pick before the Yankees… but we went with Oklahoma st pride Jason Hirsch I believe was his name … brutal
bravesfan, never knew that. Yikes..
Class guy who had a tremendous year. Congratulations.
Ramirez should have been a finalist over Alvarez
Put it in the books, does it really matter? He still wouldn’t have got a single 1st place vote.
Except Alvarez is better then Ramirez.
The Yankees would of made the postseason even without Judge, just like how they do every year hes been hurt. Ohtani clearly had the better year. If Ohtani’s breakout season was this year or if the Angels made the playoffs, Ohtani would of won the award
I love when fans use exaggerated comments to boost their weak arguments like: Ohtani clearly had the better year.
Clearly had a better year because Judge was on the Yankees I guess….
Lmao. Ohtani was even better then last year did not win . Decades from now they will laugh at this? This is a sports celebrates records from 80 or 90 years ago. lol
They might laugh at continually given votes to players who’s teams can’t go .500. How valuable are you if your team can’t win?
It always seems odd to punish a player for having lousy teammates.
How are they being punished. They are not valuable if they don’t win. What other sport do fans consider players on perennial sub .500 teams the best in the game? The answer is none. The true superstars in sports make those around them better. Maybe with runners in scoring position a superstar shouldn’t be looking for a walk but actually finding ways to score those runners. Imagine if Jordan decided to pass in crucial game situations to the worst players on the team every time.
Most people see MVP as the best player overall in their league, just like the Cy Young is the best overall pitcher in the league. Are you saying deGrom didn’t deserve the Cy Young award because he had a losing record and a lousy team? It’s very similar. the definition for MVP is left for interpretation so I will give you that that. I think most people see the MVP as the “best overall player” award as it should be in my opinion. If they want to make a distinction between the two there should be two different awards Imo. I don’t think any definition is necessarily correct though, if anything it’s an interesting debate.
I’m just not sure what value their is if the one and only goal of competing is winning. I’m not saying the MVP needs to be from the best team but from a team that at least has a shot at making the playoffs. If Pete Alonso hit 70 hrs next year and the Mets win 70 games , I would not expect him to be MVP.
If big meat Pete hit 70 homers I wouldn’t care if the Mets lost 100 games if he hits 70 he should be the MVP in my opinion. But there is real answer to the MVP question.
imo if they want to give the mvp to the best player then it should be named the best player award. way i look at it is who was the most valuable to there team and without them where would they be. i.e. take either nolan or goldy off the team with mo cards don’t win the division, take manny off the pads they don’t make the playoffs ect. ect.
I’m curious, would you do the same thing for the Cy Young? Give it to a pitcher on a winning team. I’m not arguing I’m just interested in hearing your thoughts.
i don’t look at the cy in the same manor even though a lot of people say it’s the pitchers mvp. i see the cy being best overall pitchers in there league not most valuable then again the cy was named after a player not named most valuable pitcher
also when it comes down to player y or x i usually want to see the award go to the player that played on a losing team
Who were the two not to place Judge first?
LordD, We must find out and hold them accountable!!!! Hahaha JK
are we talking blanket party accountable or firing squad? asking for whale’s fan
Brodie, I can’t say for sure…I suppose we should just let the mob speak for itself.
fair enough i say both but only shot them in leg after the blanket party
I don’t know Brodie….The whole blanket party thing sounds a bit harsh..
it is especially nowadays you use your shaving cream because every in basic just used body wash. (least when i was in basic in the usaf back in 04)
Nice Brodie! Were you Security Forces? Groom Lake detail?
no i was f-16 avionics @ shaw afb my brother was sf but he was stuck in malatrom in mt
Bada$$ Man!
thanks really appreciate, also don’t forget about any of the other users here that served too there just as bad a$$
I don’t have an issue with anyone who voted for Ohtani. Both are deserving but this is Judge’s year. That said, I am curious who didn’t as I predicted Judge would win overwhelmingly, but that two voters wouldn’t vote for him. Now I want to know who!
we can always go to the extreme and get all 30 writers and do cia style interrogation until they break. or less extreme pay a russian hacker to break into mlb and leak the official voters ballot
Or we might just get lucky with a whistleblower….
we could but where is the fun in that? again asking for a whale’s fan (aka Carolina hurricanes)
I don’t think we have to go to that extreme. I’m pretty sure votes are public. If not, however, CIA interrogation is a fallback!
My guess was that it would be two LA-based reporters who would vote for Ohtani, probably figuring Judge would win it so they’d be “safe” voting for the guy they covered.
Not so sure.. after all the one guy who voted Rutschman ROY was a Toronto reporter lol..
And my guess was correct! From the Daily Bulletin:
“Angels beat writer Sam Blum, of The Athletic, and L.A.-based Associated Press writer Greg Beacham were the only two voters to pick Ohtani.”
aww (goes back to the garage to put the battery and jumper cables away)
I think we should proceed forward with the jumper cables just to be sure!
You sure that wasn’t Homer Blum and Homer Beacham?
Seriously, though — that’s so shameless it’s kind of funny.
Fink – That’s nothing, at least they had Judge on their ballot.
The two writers who left Pedro off their MVP ballots … and the writer who left Pedroia off … those three names are burned into my memory forever.
Those writers should have lost their voting privileges after that.
I’m with you on Pedro, but I’m puzzled about Pedroia. I wasn’t aware that he’d ever been voted on for the Hall of Fame. He only recently retired. Isn’t there a five-year waiting period after retirement before they’re eligible, or did that change?
Not biased by any means I’m sure lol. A good argument for why the baseball riders should not be allowed to vote. Often ignorant and biased.
I would like to know that as well. They probably voted for Altuve again lol
Beginning with his age 31 season two years ago, Giancarlo Stanton had 8 years and $233M on his deal, with $215M of it guaranteed. The Yankees seriously tried to offer Judge 7 years and $213M guaranteed knowing Stanton was his teammate, not on the same level in the field or in the clubhouse? Yankees should have been at $275M as now they will need closer to $325M guaranteed to get him signed.
What the Marlins signed Stanton for shouldn’t be of consideration. The universal response was the Yankees offer was good and Judge should have taken it. Judge went out and had an historic season. He bet on himself and will probably get an additional $100M guaranteed. Good for him.
@WampumWalloper It’s an excellent point, but I’m reluctant to use a bad contract as a guide to good or at least reasonable contracts. As we know, no one would have offered Stanton anything like $215m, guaranteed, as of the 2020-21 offseason.
In that vein I know deGrom and Verlander would like to use Scherzer’s contract as precedent, but that deal was done specifically to lure Scherzer to a Mets team that had been as ridiculous and offensive in Cohen’s first year as it had been throughout the Wilpons’ tenure. The Dodgers’ offer appears to have been 2/72m, which seems like a sane neighborhood for Verlander to settle in, whereas the Mets had to offer 3/130m to get Scherzer to risk a continuation of their circus in to the 2022 season.
Btw, the Yankees offer last offseason to Judge was actually higher than warranted by projection systems, according to the author of the fangraphs-based ZIPs system.
According to Dylan Hernandez the Dodgers offered Scherzer 2/85, very close to the same AAV, but would not go a third year guaranteed.
Jose Ramirez building a HOF career
Still haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere that Judge only tied Ruth for HR in a season’s first 154 games.
Poor Hal. Judge, MVP: Most Voluminous Payday
Cashman’s no gambler, but I’d be interested to see him let Judge and Rizzo walk, give Cabrera a 1Bman’s glove and let him put up 2 WAR there, and sign Nimmo, Rodon, and your bullpen monster of choice with that $60m AAV.
He already signed Rizzo, Jack. I’m still thinking Judge ends up in San Francisco.
People keep talking about Judge’s age and his injury history. Nimmo is 11 months younger than Judge and they both debuted in 2016. Since then, Judge has missed 177 days to injuries, and Nimmo has missed 256. Judge has played over 100 games in a season five times, and Nimmo has done it twice.
Judge has accumulated 37.0 bWAR to Nimmo’s 17.2.
If age and durability are issues with Judge, I don’t see how pivoting to Nimmo is the way to replace him.
I’d love to add Rodon. Been saying that since before the trade deadline. But I don’t see Cashman doing it. He keeps talking like the rotation is just fine as it is.
I’m sure the rotation is fine according to hal, and German is a perfectly fine number five pitcher also to him.
Congratulations to the REAL single-season home run king!
Judge is only good at beating up on bad pitching. The real MVP is Ohtani.
tyrone – You know Judge played 76 games against the AL East, right?
Yankee fans be like: Ohtanis good but the edge needs to go to the player on the playoff team
Also Yankee fans: PlAyOfFs ArEnT tAkEn InTo AfECt!!! DiSeGarD pLaYoFfS!!! idiots Ohtani is the real MVP.
He will win plenty of MVP awards when he plays in NY next year and actually has a winning team.
In that case, he’d play for the Astros with Yordan playing left field.
Latyrone thinks playoff stats aren’t taken into account for the mvp ….. because Yankee fans say so.
Lol I give up!
Vladdy Jr. didn’t win last year because he plays for a Canadian team.
This isn’t particularly controversial, and that’s not a knock on Ohtani. You can’t ignore 62 HRs and for that matter, his batting line is also extraordinary. They are clearly one and two, but for this season, Judge edges him out. That doesn’t mean I would trade Ohtani for Judge.
Remember when Yankees fans booed him for a three game cold streak in the playoffs? LOL
Aarron deserves the MVP twice over. However he did not break the HR record. But if someone is going to get 70 next year Aarron would be at the top of my list of those who would do it.
Props to Aarron, I hope you get there.. since you are in the AL and don’t play my pirates much… if you did… 80 would be a realistic number for you to reach.