The Stolen MVP

The 2017 MLB Season brought a lot of excitement and surprise to baseball fans all across the nation. However, the most exhilarating moments of 2017 can debatabley be drawn from that of amazing seasons from some of the games breakout players and rising stars. Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, and Rafael Devers were rising young stars who broke out and electrified the league in some of the most amazing situations, but the most shocking campaign came from then Yankees’ rookie sensation Aaron Judge. Judge tore up the league in his first season winning “Rookie of the Year” honors while also finishing second in MVP voting to Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros. Despite the outcome, there is still a heavy following and support from fans who believe that Aaron Judge still deserved MVP honors, and there is a lot of evidence that supports that claim.

Jose Altuve’s 2017 Season was nothing short of impressive, but Aaron Judge ultimately and incredibly stuffed the stat sheet in a more fulfilling way than Jose. In accordance with records from baseball reference , Altuve’s most impressive stat was undeniably his .346 batting average, obliterating that of Judge’s respectable .284 average. However, what many people don’t realize is that Judge had an OBP of .422 compared to Altuve’s .410 on base percentage. This means that even though Altuve hit the ball a lot more than the Yankee Rookie, Judge was still able to get on base more and produce for his team which nullifies Altuve’s batting achievement. Also, Aaron Judge is a power hitter, which makes his .284 average even more incredible to go along with his 52 home runs, double that of Altuve’s 24 homers. Judge also accounted for 114 RBIs, besting Jose’s measly 81. Some of Judge’s other stats include: a 1.049 OPS, .627 Slugging Percentage, and a higher fielding WAR at 8.3. All of these statistics from Judge are significantly higher than what Altuve presented, showing that Aaron Judge bested Jose Altuve in basically every important Baseball Statistic.

The 2017 New York Yankees were a big surprise to the baseball world, winning 91 games on route to an ALCS appearance. What made the Yankees so surprising in 2017 was that they were still rebuilding after multiple down seasons. No one expected them to make such a large leap in one season, but the key factor to their success was of course a strong core led by none other than rookie Aaron Judge. As mentioned previously, Judge’s monster season led to an onslaught of incredible Yankee wins and a Wild Card berth. Judge continued to lead in the playoffs as the Yankees came back after being down significantly in both the Wild Card game and the ALDS. After trying his best to help the Yankees complete another comeback, Judge and the Yankees eventually fell to the Astros in Game 7 of the ALCS. Many can argue that Altuve was a better leader in 2017, as he led the Astros to a championship, but Judge’s heroics were arguably more impressive. Judge led a relatively weaker Yankees team in his first full season while Altuve contributed to a stronger Houston Astros team in his seventh season in the majors.

No matter how you view the stats and leadership qualities between the two players there is one major reason as to why Jose Altuve did not deserve the MVP. It’s not his fielding, it’s not his attitude, and it’s not his occasional slump. Jose Altuve and the Houston Astros are cheaters. If you didn’t know already, recently in 2019 Altuve and the Astros were busted for using technology to steal signs from other teams. This allows anybody on the Astros to easily know what pitch is going to be thrown which gives them an extreme advantage. Not only is this a disgusting act by the Astros but it is also a violation and disgrace to the great game of baseball. Knowing what pitch will be thrown padded Altuve’s stats and therefore his season and the Astros’ championship should be nullified. Aaron Judge, the Yankees, and every other MLB team didn’t cheat like Houston, so why should Jose Altuve get an MVP he didn’t even deserve in the first place?

Aaron Judge’s 2017 rookie campaign was nothing short of truly incredible. Judge spent his whole season smashing rookie records while also smashing MLB records as a whole. Judge’s ability to produce amazing stats and leadership qualities, while also doing it all as a rookie is something baseball has never seen and is why he should have been awarded the American League MVP in 2017 over the disgrace to baseball that is Jose Altuve down in Texas.