Judge, Ohtani should be automatic MVPs

November 18, 2024

Key points from this story:

• Postseason performance not considered for MVP voting
• Judge's regular season: 10.8 WAR, 58 HRs
• Ohtani: 54 HRs, 130 RBIs, 59 stolen bases
• Both players likely to win respective league MVPs
• Judge struggled in postseason, Ohtani restricted to hitting
• Era features two of baseball's all-time greats

Despite average or sub-par performances in the World Series, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees are almost guaranteed this week to be announced as their leagues' respective Most Valuable Players. Voting for all baseball awards takes place immediately following the end of the regular season, so performance in the post-season is not a factor. For Judge, that was important, because the Yankees' centerfielder had a horrendous post-season at the plate and then made one of the most important errors in the decisive World Series game that led to a Dodgers' win and the Series' title in five games.