Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' Aaron Judge Wins AL Most Valuable Player Award

Aaron Judge is the 14th player in Yankees history to win a Most Valuable Player Award.

Max Goodman

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New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has been voted the American League Most Valuable Player for the 2022 season, beating out Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

Judge received 28 first-place votes. Ohtani got two first-place votes while Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez came in third place. José Ramírez of the Guardians and Jose Altuve of the Astros finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Carrying the Yankees through the highs and lows of their 99-win season, Judge captured the baseball world with his historic performance, swatting 62 home runs to set the new single-season record in the American League. 

He did much more than hit homers, though. Judge led the league in fWAR (11.4), runs scored (133), RBI (131), OPS (1.111) and wRC+ (207), flirting with a Triple Crown with his .311 batting average. It will go down as one of the best offensive performances in Major League Baseball history. 

Judge stayed healthy all year long, appearing in 157 games. He played elite defense, often swapping over from right field to center field. Down the stretch, while his teammates struggled immensely, Judge continued to produce, making sure New York avoided a historic collapse to still win their division.

Now, the focus transitions back from Judge's remarkable performance to what uniform he'll wear in 2023 and beyond. Judge was in the final year of his contract with the Yankees, betting on himself by turning down a lucrative extension offer from New York before Opening Day. The Yankees are in position to re-sign the superstar and keep him in pinstripes, but other teams will be interested, looking to pry him away from the club that drafted him.

With his first career MVP Award, Judge joins Thurman Munson as the only Yankee to ever win both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player, as noted by Sarah Langs of MLB.com. The slugger hit 52 home runs during his record-setting rookie season in 2017, finishing in second for MVP behind Altuve.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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