New York Yankees: Aaron Judge deserved more MVP love
By Derek Dueker
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge deserved AL MVP
New York Yankees Aaron Judge, American League Rookie of the Year, deserved to also win the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award.
So did Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve.
I’m not arguing that fact at all. I found it an incredibly difficult award to decide and was not upset to hear Altuve won.
However, the voters apparently found it much easier:
Jose Altuve is your 2017 AL MVP. Here is how the voting broke down. pic.twitter.com/MZvnghuzTr
— Ollie James (@OllieNYankees) November 16, 2017
I can’t reiterate this enough: Jose Altuve, who led the majors with a .349 batting average and led the AL with 204 hits (his fourth season in a row, by the way, with over 200 hits), was worthy of the award.
How, though, did Judge get steamrolled by the Silver-Slugger shortstop?
Judge deposited 52 balls in the bleachers this year. Or over them:
OK, so home runs aren’t everything.
How about this then: He finished with more runs (second in the league, with 128), more walks (led the league with 127), more RBI, slugging, total bases, a better OBP and OPS.
The only other stats other than hits and average Altuve bests Judge in is stolen bases, doubles and triples.
Judge’s second-half slump for the New York Yankees likely loomed large in voters’ minds.
However, MVP doesn’t stand for Most Consistent Player (it’s not even the correct letters for the acronym, idiot).
Whether it was caused by the rookie wall or a shoulder injury or umpires adjusting to his size, his slump was surely a turn-off for MVP voters.
Why should that matter? He still managed to lead his team to the playoffs and, while his home run rate trailed off in the second-half the split was 30-22.
Altuve’s consistency is incredible — he never had more than three-straight games without a hit — but that obviously didn’t add up to better stats across the board.
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I simply hold out hope that many voters narrowly had Jose Altuve edging Aaron Judge and, in the end, it’s not a percentage question. It’s one or the other.
And Altuve is the No. 1.