MLB Awards 2024: Yankees Aaron Judge wins second AL MVP honor in 3 seasons
One league was simply not big enough for Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.
For three years, Major League Baseball’s two biggest stars traded off winning the American League Most Valuable Player award, with Judge had to hit an AL-record 62 home runs to take the crown in 2022.
Yankee Judge’s greatest season ever resulted in his second AL MVP awarded by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, While Ohtani won his first NL MVP and third overall on the strength of the first 50-homer, 50-steal season in major league history.
The New York Yankees captain hit 58 home runs, for a moment stirring thoughts of a run at his ’22 record 62 longballs and led the majors in nine other significant offensive statistics, including career bests in WAR (10.8) and OPS (1.159, 223 adjusted).
On Thursday night, we were reminded that Aaron Judge remains the baddest man in pinstripes – and the American League.
Judge won his second AL Most Valuable Player award, earning unanimous support from the Baseball Writers Association of America, and became the seventh New York Yankee to earn multiple MVP awards.
His first came in 2022, when Judge broke the AL record for home runs set by one of those two-time winners – Roger Maris – and then hit the free agent market. Not only did the Yankees retain him with a nine-year, $360 million contract, they also named him captain.
Two years later, the captain is again king: Judge hit a major-league best 58 home runs and exceeded his career highs in several categories, most notably with a 1.159 OPS and 10.8 WAR. And he formed a beautiful medley with lefty slugger Juan Soto, who finished third in MVP voting after hitting a career-high 41 home runs himself.
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