Aaron Judge took the baseball world by storm in 2017. He went into Spring Training hoping to secure a starting job. By the All*Star break, he was all anybody wanted to see or talk about. Then in September, he went on an absolute tear, as the Yankees cruised to a wild card spot and ultimately Game 7 of the ALCS. All of it amounted to a rookie home run record and a unanimous Rookie of the Year nod.
But it was a six-week swoon that cost Judge the chance at joining Fred Lynn and Ichiro as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Even with that six-week slump, Judge's numbers would still probably be enough to warrant MVP honors in any other year. Except this year it likely won't. Because of that tiny guy playing second base in Houston.
Perhaps more than any other player on the Astros' roster, Jose Altuve deserved to be part of a World Series winner this season. He's been the face of that franchise for a long time. He's the one who endured all the losing, only to now enjoy the spoils of that rebuild. Altuve's also been one of the best players in the American League pretty much since the Astros came over to the AL. Which is why it's fitting he'll get a long-overdue MVP award the same year he gets a World Series ring. He led the AL in batting average and hits and ranked second in runs while playing an outstanding second base for a team that won 101 games. He even stole bases, finishing third in the AL with 32!
Cleveland's Jose Ramirez was the third-place finisher in the American League, and deservedly so. Because if not for Altuve and Judge, we'd be seriously talking about Ramirez and the season he put together. In fact, he's not the only Indian who'll be in the top five of MVP voting. Because Edwin Encarnacion was one of the main reasons why the 2017 edition of the Indians was better than 2016 version in a lot of ways.
It's also a Major League rule that Mike Trout must finish in the top 10 of MVP voting...even though he missed 50 games with a broken thumb. I kid (only slightly), but there are still plenty of names worthy of a place on that 10-man ballot. Like Nelson Cruz of the Mariners, Brian Dozier of the Twins, Justin Smoak of the Blue Jays, Eric Hosmer of the Royals. Even World Series MVP George Springer, who had an awesome regular season, too. And, even though Baltimore struggled, Jonathan Schoop had a pretty spectacular year. You could make an argument for Chris Sale, too.
The top three are pretty clear. As for the rest of my AL MVP ballot, it looks like this: 1. Altuve, 2. Judge, 3. Ramirez, 4. Encarnacion, 5. Cruz, 6. Springer, 7. Dozier, 8. Sale, 9. Hosmer, 10. Smoak.
Meanwhile, in the National League, the question facing the voters is how much value to place on the numbers put up in September by a guy whose team was out of it. But those numbers were hard to ignore. Giancarlo Stanton was hitting home runs at a ridiculous rate despite the fact that other teams' sole purpose when playing the Marlins was trying to stop him. And they still couldn't do it! He was a man on an island. And he thrived. It wasn't just the 59 homers or 132 RBIs either. It was the 32 doubles and 123 runs while missing just three games.
Now there's the once-again ongoing debate about whether or not Stanton's going to still be in Miami next season. None of that matters right now. What does matter is that he was the best player in the National League this season. And, in the absence of a close challenger on a contending team, the Marlins' record is easy to overlook. Because Stanton put up MVP-type numbers that deserve to be rewarded.
I'm sure that probably angers some Diamondbacks fans, who are still waiting for the perennially underrated Paul Goldschmidt to get his due. Sorry, but I don't think it's this year. In fact, I've got him fourth on my ballot (more on that later). Which is to take nothing away from the solid numbers he once again put up in the desert.
So who do I have above Goldschmidt? Well, how about a pair of Colorado Rockies? Like Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado usually falls into that criminally unheralded territory. Well, this year he finally broke out. The World Baseball Classic certainly helped, and he followed it up with his first career All*Star start. And why not? He ended the season with a .309 average, 37 homers and 124 RBIs. Meanwhile, his teammate Charlie Blackmon was my midseason MVP for the numbers he put up in the first half. He cooled off a little bit in the second half, but still finished as the NL leader in hits (213), runs (137) and triples (14). Blackmon also had 37 home runs and 104 RBIs...out of the leadoff spot.
And let's not forget the pitchers. Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw receive MVP votes every year (including Kershaw's well-deserved win in 2014). This year I think Kenley Jansen deserves a bunch, too. (It's funny how closers have a better chance of getting MVP votes than Cy Young votes.) And for good measure, let's throw in their Dodgers buddy Justin Turner, who'd probably garner a lot more support had he played more than 130 games.
At midseason, I was really feeling the Daniel Murphy MVP love, but, like Blackmon, he also cooled off considerably. Still, 43 doubles and a .322 average are nothing to sneeze at. And, let's not forget the fact that he's been mired in mediocrity in Cincinnati for all these years take anything away from Joey Votto. Had the Reds been any better, his .320/36/100 would look a lot better. And they still look pretty good.
While I don't think it's a lock, I think it's pretty clear at the top. Stanton's the MVP. Spots 2-10 are where you'll definitely see some variation, though. Because there were a lot of names worth discussing in the National League. For what it's worth, here's my top 10: 1. Stanton, 2. Arenado, 3. Blackmon, 4. Goldschmidt, 5. Votto, 6. Jansen, 7. Turner, 8. Kershaw, 9. Scherzer, 10. Murphy.
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