New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge left no doubt in the AL MVP voting, beating out Shohei Ohtani for the historic honor.
It felt like a foregone conclusion that Aaron Judge would win the AL MVP award after breaking the record for most home runs in American League history this year. Still, there was always the chance Shohei Ohtani and his multi-factor excellence could sweep in and steal the show.
Now it’s official. Judge is the AL MVP. And it wasn’t close.
Voters gave the Yankees outfielder 28 out of 30 first-place votes. The two voters who gave their nod to Ohtani in first had Judge second. It wasn’t a sweep, but it was close.
Here’s what Twitter had to say about Judge’s incredible season and deserved award.
Best memes and tweets after Aaron Judge won the AL MVP Award
Judge led the majors with 62 home runs, 131 RBI, an on-base percentage of .425, a slugging percentage of .685 and an OPS of 1.111. His power numbers were incredible and put him in the pantheon of Yankees legends.
If there was an MLB MVP Award, it’s safe to say Judge would have taken it home as well.
Now that the MVP has been decided, the only thing for Judge to figure out this offseason is where he’ll play in 2023. He’s a free agent with an absolutely massive contract coming down the line from whoever decides to give it to him.
The Yankees will obviously want to secure his services but there are plenty of other teams lurking who will want to make the biggest free agency splash in ages.
On Thursday night Brian Cashman confirmed New York has extended an offer to Judge but it doesn’t sound like there will be a quick resolution to the Judge free agency saga.