Is Ohtani the most amazing baseball player we’ve ever seen? Very likely. Is he the most versatile player? Most definitely. But is he more valuable? Logic, priority and common sense say no. Not this year. No way, no how. Is he the best player this year? And the numbers tell us no. If anyone has an obvious bias, it’s the surfer dudes, soap opera buffs, and space cowboys out there. As I look, try as I might, I can’t find any excuse to vote for anyone but Aaron Judge for MVP. I can freely express my opinion on this topic as I was relegated to the NL Rookie of the Year voting this year. I’m not complaining. That’s the way it should be. That’s because there is no bias on the East Coast — at least not in the electoral system. Personally, I may have some very small, almost subtle bias, though I once backed Ohtani over Miguel Andujar in a close Rookie of the Year race, and last year I edged out Ohtani for MVP. But the electoral bloc as an entity and the electoral system are certainly not biased. If it is biased, history tells us that it is towards the West. Aaron Judge is the clear choice for MVP.Getty Images Each team’s city receives two votes for each award. This includes New York, the greatest city in the world (sorry, couldn’t resist), as well as Anaheim, which isn’t even a city, but an endless playground of amusement parks and silly themed motels. If the Californians are off base suggesting Ohtani should win again, they aren’t even on the field arguing that there is an East Coast bias in the voting system. The Angels win way more MVP awards than actual playoff games. Over a decade he is 4-0 for personal stuff. Meanwhile, the Yankees have to cheat like crazy to win the MVP. Alex Rodriguez is their only MVP since Don Mattingly legitimately won the award in 1985. None of the Core Four has ever won. The Mets? In 60 years they have never had an MVP. Back in 1988, the Mets had two guys in the hunt, but the award went to Kirk Gibson, who hit a memorable home run, pumped his fists a few times as he limped around the bases, and made room on his mantle for the prestigious honor . . The West Coast is awards central. Half the Dodgers roster seems to have won the award. And remember when the Dodgers won the Rookie of the Year award for multiple years? If anything, there is a case of bias in California. But we’re not complaining. As we east coasters say, it is what it is. Sure, players on non-contending teams can win some years, and so Angels starter Mike Trout is rightfully the MVP, and how Ohtani rightfully won last year. But this only happens when there are no players even close to the competing teams. In this case, there is not only one player who is close, but there is also one player who surpasses everyone. The judge’s year is one of the best ever. I have covered this game long enough that as a beat guy I covered Bob Boone as a player… in California. I’ve seen a ton. But I’ve never seen anything like it. Judge is having the season of Roger Maris, but he has 40 more points. Judge also does it without Mickey Mandle banging behind him. Judge has watched every other good Yankee go down with various injuries at one point or another, and he continues to improve. Everything you need to know about Aaron Judge and his pursuit of the home run record: Judge is a 9.1 WAR player, which puts him ahead of Ohtani and on pace to join Trout and Mookie Betts as the only active 10 WAR players. That 9.1 WAR means he’s responsible for 9-plus wins, which means without him the first-place Yankees would be in third place, or exactly what that evil East Coaster prognosticator predicted for them. Shohei Ohtani AP Without Ohtani, the Angels would still be playing for nothing as of June. He’s valuable, okay, valuable in the sense that owner Arte Moreno will get many more millions for his team when he sells it. Judge may not be as versatile as Ohtani, but he leads the league in RBIs (and every other major offensive category) from the No. 1 and No. 2 holes, which is no easy feat. And he plays excellent center field, which is the Yankees’ only position of defensive need. Mostly, he hits valuable home runs. He entered play Friday with 57, or 19 more than anyone else (or exactly 50 percent more). It’s also 57 more meaningful dingers than Ohtani, whose big two-way feats fit in Disneyland more for fun and show than real value, at least this year. Out in La-La Land, they claim that we voters may have Ohtani fatigue. The only thing that bugs us here is their claim of East Coast bias when they keep winning all the awards without winning meaningful games.
