Aaron Judge could collect his third American League MVP in four years when the winner of this year’s award is announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Thursday night.
Even if Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh gets in the way and nabs the honor after his 60-homer breakout season, it hardly would take away from the fact that Judge has been among the biggest bargains in the sport — even since signing his record-breaking nine-year, $360 million deal with the Yankees nearly three years ago.
As much of the baseball world meets in Las Vegas this week at the GM meetings and teams willing to spend determine whether Kyle Tucker is worth more than $400 million, it’s fair to note the 28-year-old never has had a season approaching the production Judge put up in his 2022 walk year, or in 2024, or 2025 — not to mention his breakout performance in 2017.
The only thing that’s been able to slow Judge down was the toe injury that derailed his — and the Yankees’ — season in 2023, when they missed the playoffs for the only time in his career. Briefer was the detour Judge’s season took after suffering a flexor strain in his right elbow this past summer.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
