Who would be YOUR American League MVP?

[LafayetteBear]

Aaron Judge won it handily, but Shohei Ohtani's numbers are pretty damn impressive as well. (A 2.33 ERA and an .875 OPS, for Chrissake!) A really tough choice, IMHO. I would go with Judge in part because Ohtani won it just last year, and the Yankees won the AL East while the Angels finished 3rd in the AL West. Check it out:

The tallest MVP in major league history, Judge also led the majors in runs (133), on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.686), OPS (1.111), extra-base hits (90) and total bases (391) to help the Yankees win the AL East. He tied for the big league lead with 131 RBIs and was second in the AL with a .311 batting average.

Ohtani put together perhaps the greatest two-way season in baseball history for a third-place Angels team that finished 73-89.

The superstar from Japan went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 28 starts on the mound covering 166 innings. At the plate, he batted .273 with 34 homers, 95 RBIs and an .875 OPS.

Who would YOU have voted for?

 

[FrontierLion]

Aaron Judge won it handily, but Shohei Ohtani's numbers are pretty damn impressive as well. (A 2.33 ERA and an .875 OPS, for Chrissake!) A really tough choice, IMHO. I would go with Judge in part because Ohtani won it just last year, and the Yankees won the AL East while the Angels finished 3rd in the AL West. Check it out:

The tallest MVP in major league history, Judge also led the majors in runs (133), on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.686), OPS (1.111), extra-base hits (90) and total bases (391) to help the Yankees win the AL East. He tied for the big league lead with 131 RBIs and was second in the AL with a .311 batting average.

Ohtani put together perhaps the greatest two-way season in baseball history for a third-place Angels team that finished 73-89.

The superstar from Japan went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 28 starts on the mound covering 166 innings. At the plate, he batted .273 with 34 homers, 95 RBIs and an .875 OPS.

Who would YOU have voted for?

I think they got it right with Judge. What's really impressive to me is that he hit .311 and had 62 home runs. Don't see that combination very much anymore.

 

[razpsu]

Judge 100%.

 

[Bison13]

The best two players are Ohtani and Trout but Judge definitely deserved the MVP as he carried the Yankees for most of the year. Cant wait to see where he ends up.

 

[BrucePa]

Judge. Not even close.

Ohtani is a good pitcher, not great, and a good hitter, not great, and a poor fielder. The definition of "valuable" doesn't include anyone on the Angels, who play meaningless games after the All-Star Break.

Without Judge, the Yankees would have been the Angels. That's what "valuable" means.

 

[FrontierLion]

Judge. Not even close.

Ohtani is a good pitcher, not great, and a good hitter, not great, and a poor fielder. The definition of "valuable" doesn't include anyone on the Angels, who play meaningless games after the All-Star Break.

Without Judge, the Yankees would have been the Angels. That's what "valuable" means.

I'll just point out that Trout is a three-time MVP. The Angels records in those years:

2014: 98-64 (Won Division)
2016: 74-88
2019: 72-90

Without Trout on the '16 and '19 teams, who would they be, the Pirates??

MVP takes a different meaning each year. In '16 and '19, I think the voters went strictly for the best player in baseball, regardless of "value."

 

[BrucePa]

I'll just point out that Trout is a three-time MVP. The Angels records in those years:

2014: 98-64 (Won Division)
2016: 74-88
2019: 72-90

Without Trout on the '16 and '19 teams, who would they be, the Pirates??

MVP takes a different meaning each year. In '16 and '19, I think the voters went strictly for the best player in baseball, regardless of "value."

Point well taken. In years where someone's "value" doesn't stand out, unlike this year, then the voters are inclined to go with the guy who put together a great season. Ohtani is a unicorn and will destroy the market in two years when he becomes a free agent -- maybe the first $500 million baseball contract -- but unless he's playing meaningful games in the 2nd half of the season, his value will only be so high.

 

[Moogy]

Aaron Judge WAR: 11.4
Shohei Ohtani WAR: 3.8 (hitting/defense) + 5.6 (pitching) = 9.4

Hard to believe that an average defensive outfielder could provide more value to his squad than a guy who is, at the same time, a great pitcher and a very good hitter, but Judge's season at the plate was that good.

 

[Moogy]

Judge. Not even close.

Ohtani is a good pitcher, not great, and a good hitter, not great, and a poor fielder. The definition of "valuable" doesn't include anyone on the Angels, who play meaningless games after the All-Star Break.

Without Judge, the Yankees would have been the Angels. That's what "valuable" means.

Nope. If you switched Judge to the Angels and Ohtani to the Yankees, other than scrambling to figure out other roster spots (like the Angels getting a pitcher and the Yanks not needing an SP and figuring out where to put their current DHs in the field), both teams would have been roughly equivalent to what they currently are. The Angels a little better ... the Yanks a little worse. That's what "valuable" means.

 

[FrontierLion]

Point well taken. In years where someone's "value" doesn't stand out, unlike this year, then the voters are inclined to go with the guy who put together a great season.

I agree. Prime example is in 2012 when Cutch was (my opinion) the best player in baseball. He had a great year - his best statistically - but finished third in MVP voting, probably because the Pirates finished under .500 and missed the playoffs. But, in 2013 when he did win MVP, I think the voters realized that if you take Cutch off that team, they definitely don't win 94 games.

 

[psuno1]

Judge, he was hitting lead off- how did he get those numbers hitting lead off?

 

[Moogy]

I agree. Prime example is in 2012 when Cutch was (my opinion) the best player in baseball. He had a great year - his best statistically - but finished third in MVP voting, probably because the Pirates finished under .500 and missed the playoffs. But, in 2013 when he did win MVP, I think the voters realized that if you take Cutch off that team, they definitely don't win 94 games.

That's why voting for things like this is typically a joke. It has gotten somewhat better as they've modernized their thinking a little, though.

If I'm on a hoops team full of invalids, and I'm putting up 50 every night, and double digit boards/assists, but we're still losing more than we win ... but there's some dude on a stacked team leading that squad with something like 20/6/5, and they win nearly every game (because they're filled with other similar, if slightly weaker, contributors), I'm still the most valuable.

This prereq that you need to be on a winning/playoff squad to be deemed the "most valuable" ... silly. You're not the most valuable ... you're just the best player on the best team (or a better team). That's an indication that your teammates provide more value, not that you do.

 

[Moogy]

Judge, he was hitting lead off- how did he get those numbers hitting lead off?

To be fair, the great majority of his PAs were in the 2 hole. He did hit some leadoff ... mainly to get him more PAs so he had a better shot at the HR record.

 

[Ceasar]

Like others in this thread I definitely think Judge was the MVP and I don't consider it to even be debatable. The writers obviously agreed as Ohtani only got 2 first place votes.
To me, the bigger issue is how people view Ohtani's unique skill set as both an elite hitter and pitcher. I think there are some writers and pundits who cite Ohtani as a top 5-10 hitter and top 5-10 pitcher and, since nobody other than Ruth has ever done this, they extrapolate that to the conclusion he is the best player and the MVP. They may be right about that but... if that is the point of view, then as long as he is in his prime, Ohtani will be MVP every year since nobody else will do what he does.
I will be curious to see if this perception changes. I am also curious to see if other players will begin to get an opportunity to be both a pitcher and a position player/DH. To his credit, Ohtani has proven it can be done. So I would expect others will get a shot as well. That said, I would not expect there are a lot of guys out there who have the talent to do both.

 

[LionJim]

Like others in this thread I definitely think Judge was the MVP and I don't consider it to even be debatable. The writers obviously agreed as Ohtani only got 2 first place votes.
To me, the bigger issue is how people view Ohtani's unique skill set as both an elite hitter and pitcher. I think there are some writers and pundits who cite Ohtani as a top 5-10 hitter and top 5-10 pitcher and, since nobody other than Ruth has ever done this, they extrapolate that to the conclusion he is the best player and the MVP. They may be right about that but... if that is the point of view, then as long as he is in his prime, Ohtani will be MVP every year since nobody else will do what he does.
I will be curious to see if this perception changes. I am also curious to see if other players will begin to get an opportunity to be both a pitcher and a position player/DH. To his credit, Ohtani has proven it can be done. So I would expect others will get a shot as well. That said, I would not expect there are a lot of guys out there who have the talent to do both.

Ken Brett had the talent to do both.

 

[Moogy]

Like others in this thread I definitely think Judge was the MVP and I don't consider it to even be debatable. The writers obviously agreed as Ohtani only got 2 first place votes.
To me, the bigger issue is how people view Ohtani's unique skill set as both an elite hitter and pitcher. I think there are some writers and pundits who cite Ohtani as a top 5-10 hitter and top 5-10 pitcher and, since nobody other than Ruth has ever done this, they extrapolate that to the conclusion he is the best player and the MVP. They may be right about that but... if that is the point of view, then as long as he is in his prime, Ohtani will be MVP every year since nobody else will do what he does.
I will be curious to see if this perception changes. I am also curious to see if other players will begin to get an opportunity to be both a pitcher and a position player/DH. To his credit, Ohtani has proven it can be done. So I would expect others will get a shot as well. That said, I would not expect there are a lot of guys out there who have the talent to do both.

Given that kids are being pushed to be POs by 9th grade in this country, any shift will take awhile to implement, if it happens at all.

 

[Nitt1300]

Who is Houston's best player? Give it to him.

 

[dcf4psu]

Who is Houston's best player? Give it to him.

Exactly! My family has been Yankee fans for generations. Ruth hit 60 in '27, Maris 61 in '61 and the Yankees won the WS both years. Judge hit 62 this year, but the Yankees were no match for Houston. To me Altuve is their MVP.

 

[Ceasar]

Ken Brett had the talent to do both.

Great job Jim! I completely forgot about Kenny Brett! You are right, the guy could hit!

 

[Ceasar]

Given that kids are being pushed to be POs by 9th grade in this country, any shift will take awhile to implement, if it happens at all.

So true. It amazes me that a high school kid would be okay with being PO but some are.

 

[LionJim]

Given that kids are being pushed to be POs by 9th grade in this country, any shift will take awhile to implement, if it happens at all.

So true. It amazes me that a high school kid would be okay with being PO but some are.

PO = Pitcher Only, it’s an official abbreviation.

 

[Moogy]

So true. It amazes me that a high school kid would be okay with being PO but some are.

Ton of pressure on kids to be on the best, highest profile travel squad ... so when you're a stud pitcher, and a decent bat/glove (but with potential that you may or may not realize), and you're offered the top squad as a PO, or you can play the lower team and play the field ... it's a tough choice. Even knew of a kid that was a frosh and the HS head coach was going to put him on JV as a PO ... but his assistant convinced him to leave him down as a frosh to field and hit.

 

[NittanyBuff]

Aaron Judge won it handily, but Shohei Ohtani's numbers are pretty damn impressive as well. (A 2.33 ERA and an .875 OPS, for Chrissake!) A really tough choice, IMHO. I would go with Judge in part because Ohtani won it just last year, and the Yankees won the AL East while the Angels finished 3rd in the AL West. Check it out:

The tallest MVP in major league history, Judge also led the majors in runs (133), on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.686), OPS (1.111), extra-base hits (90) and total bases (391) to help the Yankees win the AL East. He tied for the big league lead with 131 RBIs and was second in the AL with a .311 batting average.

Ohtani put together perhaps the greatest two-way season in baseball history for a third-place Angels team that finished 73-89.

The superstar from Japan went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 28 starts on the mound covering 166 innings. At the plate, he batted .273 with 34 homers, 95 RBIs and an .875 OPS.

Who would YOU have voted for?

Judge, Ohtani is the best all around player in the game and probably wins it had the Angels made the playoffs.