How badly does Aaron Judge want to win?
That’s the question.
If he really cared about a World Series ring, Judge, who was named the unanimous 2024 AL MVP on Thursday, would sell his fancy new trophy on eBay and give the proceeds to Yankees GM Brian Cashman so the club can sign another bullpen arm for 2025. That’s what a real captain would do. Derek Jeter, the perfect example of Yankees leadership, had the perspective and wherewithal to never play well enough to warrant winning such a selfish award.
Look, I’m not saying that Judge should play worse during the regular season next year; that’s preposterous. But if he melted the AL MVP trophy down and had it remade into a sculpture of the 2024 Dodgers celebrating their world championship and then put that sculpture on his bedside table so he could wake up every morning properly motivated, it wouldn’t be the most inappropriate thing.
It’s tradition for MVP winners to accept their awards at the annual BBWAA New York Chapter dinner in January. And while I’m sure fans would love to see Judge there, he should honestly be spending that time in the gym or the batting cage GRINDING for the 2025 season. A night in a tuxedo with boring writers like me isn’t working toward the ultimate goal of a Yankees parade. As they say, if you aren’t getting better, you’re getting worse.
Shohei Ohtani, the presumptive 2024 NL MVP, is a different story, his own overlooked postseason struggles aside. Sure, the Dodgers dynamo’s October OPS was only 15 points higher than Judge’s, but Ohtani is a winner who won. With Judge, that’s clearly not the case. And don’t forget: The last time Judge won this award, back in 2022, the Yankees were a trainwreck the following season, missing out on the playoffs. Does the Yankees captain really want to tempt fate again? Might be best to let Bobby Witt Jr., who finished second in AL MVP voting, take the award.
People speak volumes about Judge’s steadiness and consistency during the marathon of a 162-game season. That’s pretty cool, I guess, but I’d rather have a totally erratic teammate who wakes up hungover on Oct. 1 and clobbers 15 playoff bombs. Not somebody like Judge, who finished this past postseason with a … .752 OPS, which … actually isn’t that bad?
Huh. How ‘bout that?
You know what? Maybe it’s best to hold multiple thoughts in our heads at the same time. Yes, Judge underwhelmed by his lofty standards in a 14-game postseason sample, but maybe, just maybe, that doesn’t invalidate what was an all-time magnificent offensive performance in the regular season.
Judge’s 2024 was, by OPS+, the best season by a hitter since Barry Bonds put up a 263 OPS+ in 2004. The titanic Yankees outfielder finished the season with a comical stat line: 58 home runs, a .322 batting average, an 1.159 OPS and an adjusted OPS 123% better than league average. Only three players in MLB history have ever posted an OPS+ higher than Judge’s 223 mark this year: Bonds, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.
Not too shabby.
And sure, as my idiotic ramblings above alluded to, Judge’s struggles on the big stage leave an unfortunate haze over our collective memory of his season. It’s a fact, one he knows and one he has owned: When the games mattered most, Judge was not at his best. Whether that’s because he can’t handle the spotlight or because baseball is difficult and random is up to the eye of the beholder. Just remember that the Yankees’ World Series Game 5 capitulation was so total and complete that it’s impossible to pin on any one soul.
Maybe I’m being the “Steph Curry arguing against nobody” meme, but whatever. Judge’s outstanding 162 cannot simply wipe away his autumnal stumble. Yet at the same time, his substandard October shouldn’t completely overshadow six months of downright dominance. Both are true, both are important, and both tell the story of Aaron Judge’s 2024, a season that we’ll remember for a long, long time.
Hopefully, for all the right reasons.
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