Ohtani, Judge capture unanimous MVP honors

Aaron Judge was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player unanimously on Thursday, capturing all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Judge’s second MVP — two years after his first, when he beat out current National League MVP favorite Shohei Ohtani in 2022 — came on the heels of one of the greatest offensive seasons in baseball history.

Judge led the majors in homers (58), RBIs (144), OPS (1.159) and FanGraphs wins above replacement (11.2) in a 2024 season that saw the 6-foot-7, 282-pound slugger spend most of his time in center field and lead the New York Yankees to a pennant. Judge’s 223 adjusted OPS was the highest among right-handed hitters since 1900, according to ESPN Research. He became the third player ever with at least 50 homers and an adjusted OPS of 200 or more, joining Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds.

Bobby Witt Jr., the Kansas City Royals’ young superstar shortstop, received all 30 second-place votes. Judge’s Yankee counterpart, current free agent Juan Soto, finished third. Judge is the seventh Yankee to win multiple MVPs, joining Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Alex Rodriguez and Roger Maris. Before Judge, Mantle’s 1956 season was the only one in Yankees history to yield a unanimous MVP.

Since his first full season in 2017, when he was named AL Rookie of the Year and finished second in MVP voting, Judge leads the majors in FanGraphs wins above replacement (51.4), weighted runs created plus (176), slugging percentage (.611) and home runs (311) despite missing significant time in three of those eight seasons. He broke the AL home run record in 2022, going deep 62 times, but he was better in practically every other offensive category in 2024, slashing .322/.458/.701 while hitting behind Soto.

Of Judge’s 58 home runs, a whopping 23 gave his team the lead. But his season ended in bitter disappointment. The Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, with Judge going 4-for-18 and making a key error in the decisive Game 5. A rough October aside, Judge’s MVP victory had long seemed obvious. So obvious, perhaps, that the other two finalists, Witt and Soto, didn’t even appear on MLB Network’s award presentation.

Yankees legend Derek Jeter was called on to announce Judge as the winner.