Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was the clear favorite among Baseball Writers’ Association of America voters for the American League Most Valuable Player award, as he took 27 of 30 first-place votes en route to his first MVP nod.
Altuve, a diminutive but dominating figure, led the American League in hits for the fourth-straight season and finished with a .346/.410/.547 slash with 24 home runs and 32 steals. While the Astros’ postseason success did not weigh in the balloting, the team’s 101-win regular season campaign surely did not hurt Altuve’s candidacy.
Some thought it would be a tighter race between Altuve and the towering Aaron Judge, who was an easy choice for the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Judge topped fifty homers while also pacing the A.L. in walks (as well as strikeouts). While he rebounded from a late-summer swoon to post a monster month of September, finishing with an excellent .284/.422/.627 campaign at the plate, Altuve’s steady excellence earned him the award.
Third and fourth place went to Jose Ramirez of the Indians and Mike Trout of the Angels, respectively. Ramirez doubled down on his breakout 2016 season, delivering a .318/.374/.583 batting line and stellar defense to the team with the American League’s best record. All of the three finalists — worthy though they were — have Trout’s torn thumb ligament to thank for opening the award to other contenders. He racked up nearly seven wins above replacement in just 114 games and could well have been an easy choice in his own right in a full season of action.
batting average is still what matters most to voters in 2017 lol what a joke
Yeah that’s right, he didn’t do anything but have a high batting average. Silly writers.
Altuve was easily one of the worst players in the AL this past season.
One of the worst? He was the singular worst player in all of organized sports this past season.
Won the series in spite of him
And you’re easily one of the biggest idiots on here. Congrats!!!
Hahaha you really don’t know what a joke is, do you
LOL. What the hell are you smoking with this comment?
probably you are a fan of strikeouts
I think too much is being made of Judge’s strikeouts. Personally I prefer a player who strikes out a lot versus a player who swings at the first pitch. One thing that Judge’s strike outs also did was make pitchers work. He in fact lead the AL in pitches per plate appearances.
I don’t prefer guys who strike out a lot. In the context of just baseball in general, when a guy strikes out, there’s not much tension, but when he makes contact, for an ever so brief moment, you don’t know what’s going to happen, and that’s exciting. But when the camera doesn’t even have to switch… I’m all for working the count, but what’s exciting about guys like Chris Davis?
Way too much is made of high strikeouts as it can be a by product of working deep into counts. With that being said automatically taking the first pitch all the time is stupid as often it’s the best pitch to hit especially and if you do it Everytime they will just Grove it for a strike Everytime and now you are 0-1
Please think before commenting.
They definitely picked the right guy. What a clutch performer and his defense is nice too.
I love a guy who hits home runs, but Altuve carries more value as he gives his teammates a chance to cash in with an OBP like that. And he had a little power and speed to go with it? Congrats Jose.
Judge had a higher OBP though…
I guess you weren’t swayed by the. 410 on base percentage?
Yea, his 24 homeruns, 32 stolen bases, amazing on-base and slugging %, and above average defense didn’t factor into any of the voters choices. Just the 346 average.
well deserved. Congrats Altuve
I’d have his babies.
who wouldn’t, they’d come out batting champs
And considering I’m 5’7 the kids can keep coming out short! Hooray!
So those 27 first place votes more than likely all belonged to Joe Buck
Joe Bucks announcing is a felony, so therefore he’s sacrificed his right to vote. Somehow I see him writing Albert Pujols as a write-in for BOTH leagues into perpetuity.
Did you not hear his Judgegasms during the ALCS?
The voting is a joke. No way should it have been that much of a blow out between altuve and judge. You take judge off the yankees and they don’t make the playoffs. You take altuve off the astros and they cruise into the playoffs. So who is the more valuable player?
Exactly.
I just made this same argument on the Stanton thread.. I completely agree with you how the MVP award no longer goes to the “Most Valuable Player”.. They either need to make a new category for the best player in each league or change the name of this one.. Altuve is very deserving though..
I wonder if you have any bias
That’s not how voting works. That punishes players on good teams. It should be the best player. Votto probably was the best player in the NL and by this criteria he shouldn’t even be considered for mvp
Then change the name of the award, it’s most VALUABLE player not best player. Aaron Jude was the most valuable, Altuve was the best player.
Wouldn’t the best player in the league be the most valuable by default? By definition, the player with the most value should be the best all-around player
More valuable??
From July 15th through August 19th, Judge had a 34 game slump that he hit .179. He struck out 56 times in those 117 ABs.
Meanwhile, during that Judge slump, the Yanks had a record of 20-14. That’s a .588 winning percentage, a higher percentage than they finished the season with.
Nowhere in the description does it say the players team has to be good
JDGoat… yes!!
triumph13, best comment on this article. You the real MVP.
We’re you crying when trout won’t it on a last place team?
I agree the voting probably shouldn’t have been that big of a difference, but I wouldn’t say the Astros cruise into the playoffs without Altuve. Maybe the Yankees don’t end up making the playoffs because the East was better than the West, but I think it would be bold to say that if Altuve was replaced by a replacement-level player, the Astros still would’ve played as well as they did. What hurt Judge the most was that he went about a month on a really bad slump while Altuve was relatively consistent all year. Both had really good years, Altuve’s overall offensive numbers are really good while Judge’s home run numbers is the one stat that jumps off the page and makes everyone assume that he should be the MVP.
Just because without him they wouldn’t have made the playoffs doesn’t make him the “most valuable”. Imagine if instead of Judge, the Yankees had Altuve. They still would have made the playoffs. And without Altuve in that world, they wouldn’t have made the playoffs. By that logic, a player is more valuable on borderline playoff teams than on teams that dominate. Terrible argument.
Agree 100% with Papasmurph here.
Very eloquently put.
Sorry your comment is too stupid, correa didn’t play for over a month, and they went under .500 in that time. Take Altuve off same thing happens. But of course they would cruise dumbass, the AL West was a joke this year, literally every team was bad except the Astros , the Yankees hardly made it because the Red Sox and rays held them back.
Altuve!
Your commenting is a joke. Being bias for your team is a joke. The fact that Judge got even 3 votes is a joke and an insult to Altuve. Anybody not a fan of the Yankees knows Altuve was the clear MVP. Judge was clear rookie of the year and had a fantastic season but not deserving of a single MVP vote over Altuve.
Judge getting 3 first place votes is definitely not a joke. Please get real. You had two very different player this year. They had different capabilities. Each player brought high value to their respective teams. I am a life long Yankee fan but have no problem seeing Altuve getting this award. By the way try to remember that baseball is a team game. The fact that they had quality major league players around them contributed mightily to their success. If Trout were on the Astros or the Yankees he could very well have won.
Didn’t Judge go missing in July and August? Only really came back thanks to expanded rosters in September where he could best up on scrub pitchers? Didn’t fangraphs say he was the least clutch player in mlb thus year? Pads his stats in blow outs against long relievers.
@ Death (which was very weird to write) and to your point…..Altuve was excellent all season. Judge not only set the all-time record by striking out in 37 consecutive game he also stunk from the AS break until the end of August. 44 games, 191 PA of 179/346/344, 67 K ball. Consistency matters. The Yankees made the playoff despite Judge.
To say the Yankees made the playoffs “despite” Judge is absolutely ridiculous.
@RoboUmp…in the context of a sentence “Despite the fact that their RoY had such a bad 44 game stretch, the Yankees team still won and made the playoffs”. That is a factual statement, is it not?
You could say the same thing about some random bench player who hits a couple of walk off singles during the year
Actually, the Yankees had an 11 game lead over the closest wildcard contender, thus they would have made the playoffs even without Judge. So not only is your argument completely absurd, it’s also wrong.
Judge’s plate discipline is a joke.
Both are very deserving players.. I think Alltuve putting up those numbers while playing a much tougher position in 2nd base makes him the clear choice.. Both were the best players on playoff teams so either would have been a solid pick..
so proud Altuve he deserved to win
Anybody but a Yankme.
Here is my analysis. AL MVP should have been closer race IMO.
Case for Aaron Judge:
Led AL In: OPS (1.049 minimum. 500 at bats) Home Runs (52) Runs (128) BB (127)
Second in RBI (114) SLG (.627)
Case for Altuve:
Led the AL in: AVG (.346) Hits (204)
Led Judge in Hits, 2B’s, 3B’s, AVG, Steals, Less K (84 to 208) Def (-0.1 to -1.3)
Second in: SB (32) Runs (112)
Judge Vs. Altuve
Judge leads Altuve in OBP, SLG, OPS, WRC+
Judge more than doubled Altuve in: HR (52 to 24) BB (58 to 127)
Judge beat Altuve by a wide margin in UZR (+6.1 to -1.9) DRS: (9 to 3)
Why Judge lost:
Hitting .226 the 2nd half of the season.
Ended the season with 208K.
Astros won 101 games. Yankees won 91 games.
WAR (Tie)
Judge’s Fangraphs WAR is better than Altuve. Altuve’s baseball reference WAR is higher.
There are two different sites that calculate WAR. One’s not really better than the other.
Judge leads Altuve in FanGraphs WAR (8.2 to 7.5) Altuve leads Baseball-Reference WAR (8.3 to 8.1)
Nice analysis, but you left off the fact that Altuve plays a much harder defensive position.. That plus the fact the Astros won the World Series is probably what made it such a blowout in vote totals.. Plus, for some reason the voters still hold batting average in a much higher esteem than OBP and OPS..
Voting is done before the playoffs. Nobody knew the astros won the world series
This vote occurred before the playoffs.
The votes are done before the playoffs.
Ramirez played the same position, plus was an All-Star starter at 3B. He can also play the OF.
Voting occurred before the playoffs genius
Just so you know, Mike Trout had a higher OPS than Judge. So if your argument is that Judge should’ve won over Altuve partly because he had a higher OBP (a number that was only 12 points higher than Altuve’s; significant but evened out by Altuve’s 60 point batting average advantage) and OPS, then why not Trout?
Plate appearances. That’s why.
Minimum 500 at bats.
Trout would have had a heck of a case, had he not gotten injured.
A fair argument, and definitely why the MVP race was a two-man race. But OPS shouldn’t be-all-end-all for determining a MVP race.
Regardless, I clearly put “minimum 500 at bats” in Parenthesis next to my statement- Judge led AL in OPS.
It was a Nice try JT19
OPS is not the be all end all, you’re making it out to be. OPS is a piece of a much bigger picture. And Judge led AL in it (Min. 500AB)
Don’t put words in my mouth.
Try and give credit, not discredit, JT.
The whole point of my analysis, was it should’ve been closer. Have I said anything wrong? I’ve given you nothing but facts.
My initial comment was in reply to @thecoffinnail who, based on his last sentence, is vaguely implying Judge should’ve gotten an edge (or at least have his batting average deficit evened out) thanks to his higher OBP and OPS. By the time I made that second comment, I hadn’t refreshed the page so your comment didn’t appear and I was replying to @TheWestCoastRyan.
He SHOULD have gotten an edge because of his higher OBP and OPS
It’s minimum 502 plate appearances, not at bats, and Trout qualified.
Ok. But I clearly stated “minimum 500 at bats”
Allow me to quote my source: USA Today
“There’s a reason why Fred Lynn and Ichiro Suzuki are the lone rookies to win MVP honors: It takes a unique talent and a very special season to pull it off. Judge’s certainly merits a spot in the conversation. In a year more home runs than ever were hit, nobody in the AL hit more than Judge’s 52. He led the AL in OPS (1.049) among players with at least 500 at-bats.”
usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/11/16/al-mvp-jo…
Please stop trying to nitpick. My statement was 100% fact.
Unless you were responding to TheWestCoastRyan, and not me
Then pay me no attention ^^^ and for that I apologize, davbee.
I thought you were calling out my post., 100% of my post is facts^
no. not 100%. you cite facts, but your analysis is not facts – it is your conclusion based on an interpretation of facts. unless you know why each person cast their votes, you don’t know the facts. and if you do know that, you didn’t include it in your post.
Dude. Relax.
Did I expect Altuve to win? Yeah.
I just thought the voting should’ve been closer.
It doesn’t do Judge justice xD
The decision should have been easy, as it seemed.
These two players have changed the game in their own unique ways.
we’re good. I’m ultra chill. I just enjoy solid argumentation and sound discourse. you’ll note I didn’t argue with your analysis, just the statement about facts. I’m a researcher, and in this current cultural climate, it is more important than ever that we all try to maintain a high standard that we mean what we say, and that we back our assertions up with evidence. I’d expect the same treatment from you about a post of mine (and likely thank you for keeping me on my toes).
I’d love to see if Judge can make adjustments next year. He’s on a very large stage and all eyes are on him, so his weaknesses will be found. What separates a great player from a good one is the ability to adjust from the scouting reports. If you can be nimble and recreate yourself on demand in the era of analytics, then they can’t use your own tendencies against you.
No worries, JT19. ^^^
One can imagine how hectic this thead was in the beginning.
I can’t argue with that logic, xtraflamy.
I enjoy your writing style. You are a very eloquent writer. It seems like I could learn a thing or two from you. I apologize for the misunderstanding.
As for your second point on Judge I agree 100%. I’m curious to see what adjustments he’ll make, as well. This was an epic Rookie year. How’ll he follow it up?
nice analysis
Thank you. Much Appreciated.
edit: Judge hit .228 the second half of the season, not .226.
Rizzuto 2.0.
I’m happy that he won, but honestly, it’s about the World Series. That’s all that really matters to me.
He won that too
This is just icing on the cake.
Does that make it a shortcake?
I still don’t see what he did better than Judge. Judge’s detractors will say he is an all-or-nothing hitter but he had a higher OBP than Altuve and a higher WAR.
If I’m not mistaken, and I could be so my bad if I am, I thought I remember reading that different websites had different WARs for Altuve and Judge, with some favoring Judge and some favoring Altuve. The OBP argument doesn’t hold much weight considering Judge’s OBP is only 12 points higher than Altuve’s (and it’s an argument that is easily matched by Altuve having roughly 60 points on Judge in terms of batting average).
Judge’s Fangraphs WAR is higher.
Altuve’s Baseball-Reference WAR is higher.
Judge leads Altuve in FanGraphs WAR (8.2 to 7.5)
Altuve leads Baseball-Reference WAR (8.3 to 8.1)
Exactly. The WARs wash out. If we are talking about them being less than 1.0 apart it’s pretty safe to say they had essentially equal value seasons. So, to settle it we have to look elsewhere, and that’s exactly what the writers did.
You aren’t mistaken on the WAR thing. I was. Judge wins in Fangraphs WAR while Altuve leads in BR WAR. But Judge wins in cumulative WAR. Where you are mistaken is in saying the OBP argument doesn’t hold much weight. Despite the main knock on Judge (the strikeouts) his plate appearances still managed to result in an out less frequently than Altuve’s.
Judge had a higher WAR on Fangraphs, but Altuve had a higher WAR on BB Ref. In fact, BB Ref had Altuve first in the MLB in overall WAR, Position Player WAR, and Offensive WAR. Also, Judge was first in all MLB in SOs.
And Altuve’s plate appearances STILL resulted in an out more frequently than Judge’s!
Probably because he actually put the ball in play more than Judge. And there’s two sides to that argument. Judge got on base more (thanks in large part to his 69 more walks) but Altuve also had 60 more hits than Judge.
A SO is a worse result than an out any other way (except maybe a pop up). Non-SO outs can be productive. There’s nothing productive about a SO except that it isn’t a DP (Altuve had 4 more GiDPs in 48 more ABs than Judge).
Doesn’t matter
A hit is better than a walk unless no one is on base and it is only a single.
That’s a pretty archaic view of things to be honest with you if I have if I have nobody on base in the bottom of the first inning I would take a six pitch strike out over a first pitch strike out than a one pitch ground out
Neither player is a lead-off hitter, so what are you even getting at with that? lol. You’re right, but it’s very rare that that would be the case.
How tf do you strike out on the first pitch?
Kept his team in 1st place?
And if Altuve had an acceptance speech is should start “I would like to thank Mike Trout’s thumb”
I’m not surprised Altuve won, I did think it would be closer.
Meh
Congrats to Altuve, but Judge should have received the award almost unanimously and for one reason alone; he made baseball relevant again. It’s no secret sports in general are sagging in ratings and baseball doesn’t have powerful faces like other sports. I have to question the writers who submits their votes. What Judge did this season not only for the Yankees, but baseball in general is immeasurable. I know people that were tuning in for Yankee games, sports highlights, etc, that know nothing of baseball. People that had no interest; you know the types, too slow, too boring. People glued to their screens. Comments flooded the social sphere. A phenom in every sense. Thus, I don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong, super happy for Altuve as he is such a great, great, special player. But moments like this, I’m just bla..I wanted the special story and was denied.
And these same writers still owe Sanchez his ROY award too. Sigh…
Oh please, Gary Sanchez played about a third of the regular season last year. Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw didn’t win this year mainly because injuries prevented them from playing full seasons, but I don’t see you making a case for them (when both would’ve arguably had a better season, or just as good of a season, than the winners in their respective league for their respective awards).
The only award Judge would have received unanimously is for King of Strikeouts. He’s a very good player but has a serious hole in his game.
That’s because people only want to see home runs. Home runs are great, but are we really going to give out an award because a guy hits a lot of homeruns? If that’s the case, then are you ready to say that Khris Davis and Joey Gallo (both finished in the top 5 in the ML in homeruns) are two of the top players in the league? No, of course not. Aaron Judge did not make baseball suddenly relevant again. It’s not like baseball fell into a black hole of relevancy and only climbed out because of Judge. If theres any two specific players/teams that made baseball relevant again, it was/is Mike Trout and the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs for obvious reasons and Mike Trout because his “coming-out-party” was light years more exciting to watch than Judge’s “coming-out-party”.
Power should mean less in a record setting power year. The term “most valuable” is what always leaves us open to interpretation.
One franchise breaking IT’S inexcusably long drought, not the SPORT’S, is not a case of “making baseball relevant again.” Please.
I would normally agree, but we’re also talking a 100 year drought (as you said, not the sport’s fault but the Cubs fault, and some bad luck) and probably one of the more popular teams in the league. The fact that the Cubs had a real shot at ending the drought made baseball relevant to some people as they wanted to see if history could be made. I’m a baseball fan, but I can say that I was slightly more interested in last year’s World Series than normally because you were talking about a team ending a 100 year drought or a team from a city who had only won like 1 championship in the past 50 years (and it had happened only a few months prior). The storylines associated with both the Cubs and Indians both made the World Series just slightly more interesting to watch/keep track of.
That’s fair.
That’s exactly what makes the insufferable new Cubs fan insufferable. Sorry, but the Red Sox beat them to it after 2004.
Judge made baseball relevant again? Maybe to Yankee fans that thought they had no hope to see the playoffs at the beginning of the year.
I’m pretty sure baseball has been very relevant for a long time. If that’s your argument, I would say if there was a time it wasn’t relevant, that changed during the years guys like Correa, Seager, Bryant, Arrenado, Lindor, etc. started coming into the league. It was the influx of young, very talented players that made it relevant again. Not Aaron Judge.
If ever there was a time it “became relevant” again, I would say that happened with the super prospects of Strasburg and Harper coming into the league, followed by all of the guys I just mentioned.
The Chicago Cubs last year were a pretty big story that made baseball relevant again. Also the large amount of young players that have taken over the game not just Judge have made the game relevant again.
And I don’t even like that term relevant because it’s been relevant for quite some time. Maybe relevant as in bringing in a younger audience.
Its decidedly not bringing in a younger demographic. That’s the MLB marketing strategy, though. The fan base is actually aging rapidly, and increasingly upper-middle class….has been since the McGuire-Sosa chase basically…post strike and new ballparks. Not a great omen for becoming the National Pastime again in the mold of maybe where the various football leagues are. MLB needs to watch out they aren’t on the tennis/golf trajectory.
“…he made baseball relevant again.”
Well, maybe he made baseball relevant again in NY, and shame on that fan base if he did. But he in no way made baseball relevant again for the rest of the country. Both JDM and Stanton hit more HRs per AB than Judge. Yankee fans are understandably excited by Judge, but let’s not get carried away with the hyperbole. .
As a New Yorker, I can say that New York fans (for all sports) are pretty fickle with their loyalty and interest in their team. If they’re winning, everyone’s suddenly a fan. If they’re losing, they couldn’t care less. Judge definitely helped make baseball more relevant in NY, but that speaks more to the fan base than the actual sport.
MLB attendance:
2010 – 73,171,239
2011 – 73,451,522
2012 – 73,951,759
2013 – 74,026,895
2014 – 73,739,622
2015 – 73,760,032
2016 – 72,976,074
2017 – 72,670,423
Dodgers had the highest attendance in 2017, as they did the 4 previous years. The NYYs drew 619,384 fewer fans in 2017 than in 2010 when they led MLB in attendance.
Not only do those numbers contradict the idea that Judge made baseball relevant again, but it would also mean he didn’t even do that in NY.
People watch on tv too
“People watch on tv too.”
Fair enough, but then show me some other statistics that support the assertion that Judge made baseball relevant again.
Just as a side note. Quite a bit of that half million drop in Yankee attendance is likely due to a drop in season ticket sales that are carried out prior to the season. Happens with any team…if they win the previous year…it will increase attendance before the first pitch of Opening Day has been thrown. Highly likely that these are corporate ticket sales. Itll be interesting to see what happens with Yankee ticket sales coming up. Id imagine they might press that 2010 #…some will want in on this young team. Its a better perk for companies now.
You’re definitely Over-exaggerating. I was excited off the start for Judge, but to be honest, the constant talk about him became pretty annoying. I’m sure I’m not the only person like this, and he didn’t do as much for baseball as you think. If anything Stanton’s chase for 60 is what would have. And I doubt it turned that many non-baseball fans on either
They obviously didn’t want to give it to a rookie.
Ichiro Suzuki and Fred Lynn both won ROY and MVP in the same year. The issue wasn’t Judge being a rookie. The basically question for a lot of the voters came down to was Altuve better overall.
Rookie had nothing to do with it. Not only was Altuve better, but those 208 SOs, most in MLB, are a major negative.
I see; down vote, not because it isn’t true, but you don’t like what the truth is.
Altuve won due to being a great player in all aspects of the game – he does not have a weakness. Other than being 5’6″, 160 lbs!
Being small is a weakness?
Coming from a guy who’s 5’7″ and considerably smaller weight wise:
Yes
Altuve was the player of the year which there should be an award for and judge was the mvp
There is an award for that. Altuve won that and the MVP. Also how can you say that the player of the year isn’t the most valuable?
In my opinion, it is super hard for a rookie to win the award because the writers and fans want to see people with a longer a resume take home the hardware. Baseball has so much to do with legacies and we don’t want to give our precious awards away to someone who might be a flash in the pan. Not to say that Judge won’t have a great career but he struck out 200 plus times before anyone had enough data to build advanced scouting reports on how to strike him out. And I don’t want my baseball history to include a story of the 2017 MVP going to a rookie who ended up turning into an abysmal strike out machine.
As someone pointed out above, Ichiro and Fred Lynn won MVP and RoY. If anything, Ichiro would’ve had a harder case (based on your argument) since I doubt some voters were eager to give the MVP award to a international rookie.
The RoY and MVP awards earned by Ichiro and Lynn represent outliers that don’t compare neatly to this year. In Ichiro’s case, he was the best player on the team that won the most regular season games ever. In Lynn’s case, he had a great year for a team that won first and in a year without a strong MVP candidate pool.
I am curious if voters look at players recent successful years and if that has any impact on their final vote.
It shouldn’t. When comparing Player A to Player B, Player A’s success in previous years shouldn’t come into play. But I’m sure some writers will take into consideration whether or not Player A’s stats this year are better than a previous year where he might have/might have not won the award. For example, in basketball, LeBron James hasn’t been seriously considered for an MVP in a couple of years because even though his stats jump off the page, they’re only slightly better (or very similar) to his previous MVP years.
No, they don’t.
As a Yankee fan, can’t say I’m happy… not taking anything away from Altuve, good for him and hope they have many years of competing against each other.
The right guy won, Judge hits in a bandbox and his home/road stats are skewed.
Judge’s average HR distance was 415 feet. I’m pretty sure that plays in just about any ballpark.
That plays in Yellowstone Park, my man!
I’m surprised the votes were that far apart. Not surprised Altuve won though
Jose Altuve is the clear winner here, he can do it all, and for his size he has crazy power and plays in a bigger stadium then Judges. His stats speak for themselves, his World Series ring speaks for itself. He is MVP 1000%
Better numbers for sure, but without him, the Astros still make the playoffs. Yankees don’t sniff the postseason without Judge.
Fine, sure. We make the playoffs. But do we win a World Series? Probably not. I know that the playoffs don’t mean anything for MVP voting, but come on. You guys act like Altuve means nothing to this team and that just isn’t true. He is the heart and soul of this club. The point is, value can be measured in different ways, but either ways both teams would be drastically different without either of those two guys. The Astros might sneak into the playoffs rather than dominating the division, the Yankees might miss out altogether. The Astros won the whole freaking thing, and I’d say that means their best player is pretty valuable.
That’s the dumbest argument ever. Your value doesn’t change based on your team. Plus, the Yankees still would have made the playoffs. Judge’s WAR is less than the Yankees’ WC game lead.
I don’t have a vote but without 2 months of Verlander they would not be World Champs.
verlander did get some Cy young votes, if that count for anything
And we all know that and are very thankful for that, including Jose Altuve.
@chartes stevens
And the Yankees don’t come close to the ALCS, maybe not even making the playoffs without acquiring Sonny Gray, Todd Frazier, Tommy Kahnle, and David Robertson.
Altuve’s worst month in terms of batting avg (I know there are other ways to evaluate a hitter’s success) was .296. His best month was almost .500… the dude was an animal from start to finish. Judge was phenomenal, but that torrid stretch he had is enough for me to say go Altuve. One argument that I hear from this in favor of Judge is “everyone goes through ups and downs over the course of a season.” However, Altuve only had ups and way ups. Easy choice, I think.
Judge’s one bad month sunk him. Had even hit .260 that stretch this might have been a lot closer, if not a different outcome. He was downright awful for a long stretch, and that did him in when it came to the MVP discussion.
1 month? It was over 2 months
If Altuve had played in an easier hitters park like Yankee stadium (or all his games on the road) his stats would have been much better.
Road numbers:
.391 BA
.449 OBP
1.081 OPS
63% of his HR’s
59% of his doubles
75% of his triples
Altuve didn’t disappear for a month and didn’t have every ESPN hack talking about him daily. Clearly Altuve the MVP and Judge Rookie of the Year. They got it correct
Not bad for a guy who probably still needs the booster seat when he’s getting a haircut.
The Altuve/Judge arguments are good for a hot take or two, but how impressive is Mike Trout continuing his domination? In every full season now of his career, he’s finished in the Top 4 of the MVP voting (Top 2 every season before this one). If he played a full season in 2017, he wins unanimously, so while Altuve had a nice season, he won SOLELY because Trout was injured as evidenced by the fact Trout still finished an unbelievable 4th place in the voting, despite missing 30% of the season (48 games). If Trout played 155 games in 2017, Altuve gets 27 of 30 second-place votes.
Unbelievable. Altuve and Judge will never come close to that level of domination.
Okay, so if you read my name you’ll know I’m biased. Still, Altuve deserved this. People always seem to look the other way when it comes to him, but since we had a special team this year he finally got the recognition he deserved. Judge was an amazing player for most of the season, but there were also plenty of times that he looked very one-dimensional in that he’d either strike out or hit a home run. A strike out is better than hitting into a double play, I’ll give you that, but other than that it’s never better than putting the ball in play. People say that if you take Judge off of the Yankees they wouldn’t even make the playoffs but that the Astros still would. Who knows? You may be right, but we can’t know that. Hard to measure “value” in that sense. If Judge continues to perform the way he did this year, he will win an MVP soon enough.
While Altuve deserved it, he won it ONLY because Mike Trout was injured and missed 48 games. The fact that Trout STILL finished 4th is clear that if he played his usual full season, Altuve would be a deserving 2nd-place finisher (where he’ll likely continue in the future). Great job to Altuve, but let’s hope he can compete with a full season of Mike Trout in 2018 rather than a partial season.
Okay, sure. But you do realize you can come up with these scenarios almost every season right, for all kinds of things? I don’t get why people have to say stuff like that. “Well this only happened because this happened” blah blah blah. I can sit there and dissect almost any event in any sport, lol, but people only do it when it fits their criteria or agenda or whatever. Mike Trout is an unbelievable player, but it’s not fair to Altuve to say he only won because of that. Who cares? He still won it fair and square.
And if Teddy Ballgame didn’t lose those years to military service, he’d be considered the best player of all time….
If Griffey stayed healthy the second half of his career, he’d own the HR record…
Unless Josh Gibson was allowed to play.
The list goes on and on. Trout may be the best player of this generation… but bottom line he still has to earn any yearly awards, just like everyone else. JMO
Only 7 of Judges HR came against winning teams, and he had a 744 OPS against them (Altuve had a 901 OPS). He was in a deep slump most of the 2nd half costing his team a chance at the division, before a rash of games in September against the hapless Orioles and Jays pitching staffs. 21 of his 52 HR came against these two teams. Judge hit 33 of his 52 HR at home, so YS3 obviously helped him in some way beyond a typical HFA.
Still an awesome rookie season but Altuve was a clearcut MVP IMO
Yes, the YES cameras helped. They were fine for it.
Judge hit ball hard. Judge make home run. Home run make mvp. Judge make mvp. Teh homerz most important.
Succinct. Erudite. Compelling and rich. A beginning, middle and end that takes the reader on a real journey.
retire21, I don’t know why this made me laugh lol.
So the guy with the huge amount of homers beats the high average hitter for mvp in the NL. The opposite occurs in the AL…Judge had to compete against both Altuve and the anti-Yankee prejudice that taints postseason awards nearly every year.
It bears repeating that Judge had a higher OBP than Altuve. So not only did he hit more home runs but when he came up to bat, the odds of him making out were lower than the odds of Altuve making an out.
Only because he was batting in a much more hitter friendly park. Look at his home/aways pluts vs same for Altuve.
Yes, the mlb writers sure hate the Yankees…
They are two different types of players. Both are exciting to watch. Both give it all they can in the field and at the plate. Which one would you want to build a team around if you had to take one in a draft (talking about right now (age, etc))
You should’ve heard all the barking in 1984 after Willie Hernandez was “elected” MVP while either Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield or Cal Ripken should’ve been voted in. This year, I thought Jose Altuve deserved the MVP. Aaron Judge had one of the greatest rookie seasons ever but, I think Joe Girardi was the Yankees MV P.erson.
Maybe MLBTR should start a poll… if you could choose ONE of them to start your own team with, who would it be… Altuve or Judge? I would pick Altuve every time.
Plays in a loaded lineup, in a launching pad of a ballpark. Numbers are inflated the real mvp is and always will be Mike Trout. His war and number were almost all better than Altuve with two less months on a trash team. This is a joke
haha
EXACTLY! Agreed entirely. See my previous comment. The comment was so exceptional that I’ll repost it here since I agree with your assessment:
“The Altuve/Judge arguments are good for a hot take or two, but how impressive is Mike Trout continuing his domination? In every full season now of his career, he’s finished in the Top 4 of the MVP voting (Top 2 every season before this one). If he played a full season in 2017, he wins unanimously, so while Altuve had a nice season, he won SOLELY because Trout was injured as evidenced by the fact Trout still finished an unbelievable 4th place in the voting, despite missing 30% of the season (48 games). If Trout played 155 games in 2017, Altuve gets 27 of 30 second-place votes.
Unbelievable. Altuve and Judge will never come close to that level of domination.”
Thank you. Trout also got robbed against Miguel Cabrera. This is how you know sports are rigged. Mvp is the most value player in all aspects of the game, the angels wouldn’t be half as good without the engine they call mike trout! Astros would still be great without Altuve….trout is 5 tool steals bags, high average, homeruns, gold glove defense, arm. It’s a joke that a midget who hits high average and plays average defense wins. Runner up is an ogre who can only hit fast balls and plays with a short porch in right field. Judge is a bust, just look at his second half dude can’t hit off speed, bad in playoffs.
He’s awesome for sure, but you don’t have an argument for MVP this year. And Altuve didn’t have a “nice season”. He had an MVP caliber season. Altuve didn’t miss 48 games, you’re right. Funny that you mention that like it is yet another reason why Trout should get the award.
A fan so bitter and butthurt about a loss to the Astros that he has to talk up a player from his in-city rival baseball team. Oh, the humanity! By the way, his numbers actually were better on the road than at home but let me get a cup out to catch some of those tears. 🙂
1 championship in how many years? 50? I’d still rather live in la than a cow paddie of a City like Houston.
This is 2017. We aren’t still riding horses ya moron. You should probably get out more. Still, we don’t choose where we are born. I’ve been to 38 states in the US (including Cali) and have there been some I’d be interested in living in? Sure, but Houston is my home. It’s where my job is, it’s where my life is. Has nothing to do with sports, though, but you decided to bring it up. And you’re dang right. We have one championship in 56 years, but that 1 means a whole lot, and it’s more than you have had in the last 29 years, so I’ll take it. Good luck winning a World Series with a team whose only competition in the race of over-inflated egos is their fan base.
Really? Let’s see… We help each other in Houston in times a tragedy regardless of race, sex or creed. LA riots, CA in general is in colossal debt, people are moving to Texas (Houston especially) because we have a plethora of affordable housing and a booming job market and you have people in LA that are homeless even though they have a legit job… Not even going to touch the Hollywood mess. Which city is the cow paddie??
When Judge learns how to hit the curveball then he can get an MVP award.
He might as well fix that gap between his two front teeth as well. He can’t be the face of baseball with gap teeth.
He can’t be the face of baseball as long as Mike Trout is healthy. The only people crowning him the new face of baseball are New York fans/media. Any sane person who knows baseball knows that Mike Trout is far and away the best player in the league. He’s a true 5-tool player with no significant weakness in his game.
3 people should lose their vote. Should’ve been unanimous.
BBWAA is not reflective of all fans, and they individually have some of the strangest quirks, but they do it for a living, and all us “baseball experts” get to complain about how the got it wrong. I’ll take my cue from Aaron Judge, one of thee, if not thee, classiest players I’ve ever seen, and tip my hat, and say fine job Jose, you had one hell of a year.
Judge lost because of the following.
1. From June 13th thru September 12th (80 games), Judge hit .217 with 121Ks in 277AB (44%). Conversely, Altuve’s monthly splits were .326, .313, .354, .485, .304, .291.
2. Altuve led league with .346 average vs. Judge’s .284. Rightly or wrongly, voters still value average.
3. Astros won 101 games vs. Yankees 91.
4. Home and Road splits. If Rockies players are penalized because of playing in Colorado, Judge was penalized for playing in Yankee Stadium.
Altuve
Home: .311/.371/.463 with 9 HRs, , 26 XBH, 35 RBI, 47 Runs, 19 SB
Road: .381/.449/.633 with 15 HRs, 41 XBH, 46 RBI, 65 Runs, 13 SB
Judge
Home: .312/.440/.725 with 33 HRs, 44 XBH, 68 RBI, 73 Runs, 5 SB
Road: .256/.404/.531 with 19 HRs, 35 XBH, 46 RBI, 55 Runs, 4 SB
No, Judge lost because from Jul 14 to Sep 12 he hit .185BA with a .744OPS and the team went 32-23 during that span. That is a 94 win pace. The Yankees went 91-71. Was he really that valuable??
Maybe MVP means something I can’t see that anyone has mentioned. Which player would a Major League team want and be willing to pay top dollar for if they had their choice and unlimited funds? That establishes value in the truest sense.
So age should be a factor in MVP voting? It certainly is in contract negotiations.
You may be right, that establishes value. But it doesn’t work in determining an MVP.
Think about it… if the MVP of the league was decided simply using that criteria, then wouldn’t it be possible for a player to miss an entire season and still be determined to be worth more than a guy who led his team all season??
Just wondering, outside of Mike trout, has there been a player to finish in the top 5 of MVP voting for their first 6 seasons of there career?
Pujols is the only one I could find. He finished 4th, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, 9th, 1st, 1st, 2nd in his ten seasons. Mantle, DiMaggio, Williams, Mays, A-Rod, Musial, Robinson, Bonds did not.
Judge will become the guy that has the massive contract that the Yankees can’t dump that once hit 52 home runs that rides the glory of the one year he did good before everyone figured out how to pitch to him… plain and simple he’s a one year wonder
Well deserved these comments don’t think before they type like saying “he didn’t do anything to deserve this”