Yep; that's the other component of this - Judge's season has been bananas and worthy of hype. Even with Altuve's recent surge and his slump, Judge is still leading the AL in OB% and SLG%, and all of baseball with a 1.081 OPS and 178 OPS+. If the season ended today, he'd be a worthy, if disappointing (locally), MVP. And his winning would not because of some make-believe Yankee bias; it'd be because he's having a MONSTER year.
Baseball writers are not objective. The attempt is to get enough from all over the place such that their biases cancel. While Jeter never won an MVP, he was never in the Top 2 in WAR either and generally ranked higher in MVP voting than WAR. That said, I am expecting Judge won't have a second half nearly as good as his first half. As long as Altuve doesn't have a prolonged slump, he should win WAR among position players and the MVP with or without NY bias.
I would agree that the writers are fairly objective when it comes to voting and awards, but the media frenzy over Judge during the All Star Weekend was so forced and in your face. It was like Judge weekend, asking players how it was to play with and watch him, that part drove me insane.
I didn't say they ARE objective; what I said was, "They are, generally speaking, fairly objective." Far from a blanket statement. The good ones - Joe Posnanski, Rob Neyer, Jayson Stark, etc., ARE, absolutely, as much as a human can be, objective and fair and let the numbers guide them. I would argue the majority of the BBWAA does, as well. And regardless of their objectivity, you can't find any of this perceived Yankee bias in their voting patterns. The most recent player you could categorically call a "Yankee" to go into the Hall of Fame was Goose Gossage in 2008; their last MVP was 2007 (ARod) & their last Cy Young winner was '01 (Clemens). ROY was Jeter in '96. Now, granted: a big chunk of that is due to unworthy candidates. But look at Robinson Cano: he never led the league in WAR - but he routinely finished behind guys in the MVP voting who had lower WARs during his Yankee prime. And that's the point: there's almost no evidence of Yankee bias among the BBWAA.
Did WAR even exist during Jeter's prime? And if it did, I can pretty much guarantee you it wasn't even on the radar of the vast, vast majority of the BBWAA.
I am pretty sure there were versions of it (or at least value over replacement) for most of his career, but not the current versions. I think the vast, vast majority of the BBWAA understood that different positions were much more valuable than others. If anything, 1B and LFs were overrated back then and the tougher defensive positions were not given enough credit. Without WAR being believed by the media in general, Jeter should have done even worse in voting.
That's because they know they have to give it to him, but they don't want to, lol. And I totally understand that. I get it. Which is why this is likely his only year to do it when they can give Judge the ROY and Correa/Trout are basically out of the picture. Altuve is still holding his heightened pace, though much more quietly now that we are losing. You barely hear his name. Now, if it is done this year. And once Jose wins one he'll actually have a better chance to win a second as he'll have a stronger image and more clout than before. But failing this year to get it will hurt him down the line as he just doesn't have the clout the others do.
As of 8/8....Vegas has him in the AL MVP betting line lead at: Altuve: -225 Judge: +200 Trout: +1000 Springer: +5000 Betts: +6600 Lindor: +500000 Mid July he was +500, so he moved significantly to snag the lead away from Judge in the last 30 days. Jose started the season at +1200.
With Judge hitting two HRs yesterday and today, thus becoming the first rookie to hit 50 HR in a season, is anyone else worried Altuve will not win the AL MVP many considered to already be his? Both players (along with Trout, Ramirez and others) are having terrific seasons but what worries me is the yankee biased national media. Hopefully another Houston athlete isn't robbed from an MVP award.
Pretty much everybody in the media in in unanimous agreement that Altuve is the MVP. If Judge goes on an absolute rampage this last week, and Altuve has a major slump and it creates a numbers disparity then maybe, but it's highly unlikely at this point. Altuve has been on the better team, has been consistent all year, and does it from a position with much greater defensive value. He's gonna win the MVP.
Baseball pundits don't tend to be as reactionary and hot-takey as basketball guys, so I don't think they're going to waver much from Altuve. They value the consistency, winning, and overall production from a player a hell of a lot more than the dumbasses doing NBA media.
Since 1987, the Yankees have had 2 MVPs, 1 Cy Young and 1 RoY winner. The Astros 2 Cy Young winners; 2 RoYs; 1 MVP. There is no New York bias. If Aaron Judge wins MVP, it'll be because a) he's had a terrific season; b) Altuve has been - by his own lofty standards - pedestrian since August (.299/.369/.503/.872 after slashing .368/.430/.577/1.007 April through July). Cool if Altuve wins. But I'd rather he win World Series MVP.
I would think your best argument would not be how many the Yankees have won in that time period, but how many did they lose by finishing 2nd or 3rd which would likely better demonstrate if true that there is no media bias... as the theory is untested if no yankee is in contention for the award. but if every time they are in contention they win it, maybe the bias is there.
Right now, it should be a coin toss based solely on contributions of Altuve and Judge assuming pitchers aren't considered players. Considering I'm hearing most people have Altuve as the clear MVP right now, I'm not sure NY bias is affecting the perception currently.
I don't think it's hard to make a case for either guy, and I don't think Judge winning is any more evidence of NY bias than Altuve winning would be of Houston bias. Altuve's argument: consistent all season, leads the league in WAR & AVG; 2nd in steals, team has a better record, plays a harder position Judge's argument: closing strong (1.200+ Sept OPS), leads the league in HR & Runs Scored; 2nd in OPS, RBI and WAR. Judge vs Altuve: Altuve has better WAR, BA, and steals. Judge has better OPS, SLG, OBP, HR, Runs, RBI.
