Former Fresno State Star Aaron Judge Wins AL MVP Award

Parker Ballantyne

November 18, 2022 at 10:41 AM·7 min read

Former Fresno State Star Aaron Judge Wins MLB’s MVP Award

Judge caps a big year with hardware

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Well deserved win

Aaron Judge, the former Fresno State Bulldog was just named MVP, completing a season so spectacular that the word “historic” might even be a bit of an understatement

With 28 first-place votes and two second-place votes, the near-unanimous MVP left little doubt about his value this season. But this wasn’t just any MVP year. Judge started the season by taking a high-stakes flyer on himself, then, facing one of the most formidable opponents baseball has ever seen, shattered records on his way to the MVP award.

Judge, a northern-California native, played three seasons for the Bulldogs. While there, he was a three-time first-team all-conference player and he helped guide Fresno State from the WAC into the Mountain West before being drafted by the New York Yankees with the 32nd pick of the 2013 draft.

His habit of collecting accolades began as a freshman. In his debut season, Judge was named a Freshman All-American, WAC Freshman of the Year, and made first-team All-WAC. From there, hardware became habit. Over the course of his next two campaigns, he participated in and won the College Home Run Derby, led his team to a WAC tournament championship, was named first-team All-WAC for a second time, then first-team All-WAC.

From the Valley to 𝐌𝐕𝐏 🏆
THAT’S AARON JUDGE. #GoDogs | #BulldogBornBulldogBred pic.twitter.com/uSTwOb96WP
— Fresno State Baseball (@FresnoStateBSB) November 18, 2022

He earned all that hardware by batting .385 as a freshman, .332 as a sophomore, and .369 as a junior, with a combined 18 home runs, 39 RBIs, 205 hits, 36 stolen bases, 130 runs, and 41 doubles.

Big numbers have always defined Judge’s career, but his career is about to be defined by the biggest number of all. This offseason, Judge is set to sign a contract that is projected to more than double his current salary. Judge is about to land the biggest number of his career.

Judge isn’t allowed to gamble on sports, but by way of salary negotiations, he placed a massive wager on himself. He is still waiting to cash out, but it appears he hit the jackpot.

Prior to his MVP season, Judge was offered a seven-year, $213.5 million contract extension by the Yankees. This would have given him the second-highest annual salary of any outfielder in the league. Judge didn’t think it was enough.

In an age of increasing player empowerment, it would not be hard to imagine a scenario in which a jaded all-star refuses to play for his current team on the basis of compensation disagreements and sits out for some or most of a contract year. Instead, Judge simply declined the offer and paused negotiations during the season. He didn’t stop there, though. Then, set out with vengeance, on a mission to show the Yankees, and the other 29 teams, why he is worth the cash.

Although the Yankees indicated that they would be willing to continue talks through the season, Judge refused. “This is the deadline,’’ Judge said at the time, according to USA TODAY. “I don’t want to be a distraction during the year. We got so many things to focus on. A lot of good things are happening here. I don’t want it to be a distraction for my teammates.’’ So, negotiations stopped, and the attention turned to Judge’s performance.

Aaron Judge’s 2022 season was magical.
(MLB x @MattressFirm) pic.twitter.com/bxZSsHgCrb
— MLB (@MLB) November 18, 2022

“Certainly, Judge is betting on himself.” USA TODAY noted. The bet by Judge wasn’t without risk, but it paid off. He put his fate in his own hands, then, with expert precision torched the entire league.

Judge’s merits ensured the gambit would have been successful even without an award, but after one of the best offensive seasons of all time, and an MVP trophy to show for it, Judge seems to be holding all the cards.

Part of what makes his MVP season so impressive is the competition. The runner-up, Shohei Ohtani, the recipient of the only two first-place MVP votes that Judge failed to secure, is unlike any baseball player the world has ever seen. Defeating Ohtani, who is one of the most prolific batters and simultaneously one of the dominant pitchers in the league, might end up being one of the more impressive feats of Judge’s career.

As a two-way player, Ohtani also had a sizable advantage for his MVP campaign, adding value to his team on both sides of the ball in a way that any outfielder simply cannot. Not only is Ohtani a two-way player, he is a fully-loaded two-way player who would be perfectly competitive playing only half his game either as just a pitcher or position player. Ohtani is so absurdly good that he is un-ironically compared to Babe Ruth on a routine basis.

Yet, Judge was still named MVP. How could Judge be considered more valuable than a once-in-a-generation two-way player? With a once-in-a-generation literal record-breaking performance at the plate. Anything less than the supernatural display of human athletic excellence that Judge performed simply wouldn’t have been enough to surpass Ohtani.

Judge had a batting average of .311, 62 home runs, 131 RBIs, 177 hits, 16 stolen bases, and 133 runs. He also had an OPS of .425, a SLG of .686, an OPS of 1.11, and a WAR of 10.6.

By smashing 62 home runs, Judge also smashed the all-time single-season American League home run record previously held by Roger Maris with 61 home runs in 1961. Judge also came up just short of the rare Triple Crown and led the league in nearly every offensive metric.

Had the fifth-highest batting average, led the league in home runs, tied with Pete Alonso for the most RBIs, and had the eight most hits. Judge also led the entire MLB in OPS, SLG, OPS, and WAR.

Judge’s performance measured against the rest of the AL shows why it’s his name on this year’s trophy.

His .311 batting average, well above the Mendoza line, was the only thing preventing him from winning the Triple Crown as Luis Arraez was the only American League player to top it with an average of .316.

His 62 home runs led the AL by a massive margin. The runner-up, Mike Trout, had only 40.

Without tying with Alonso from the National League, Judge stood alone atop the RBI leaderboard, with 131, followed by Jose Ramirez with 126. After Ramirez, Kyle Tucker, with just 107, makes up the top three.

Judge’s .425 OBP and .686 SLG were both followed by was followed by Yordan Alvarez with .406 and .613 respectively. Judge was one of only two players in the entire league with an OPS over 1.0, coming in at 1.111 followed, again, by Alvarez, with an OPS of 1.019. With a WAR of 10.6, Judge separated himself from the field and was followed by Andres Gimenez at only 7.2.

Current Mountain West teams have produced MLB legends such as Cecil Fielder, Mark Grace, and Tony Gwynn. Like them, Judge hopes to earn a place in baseball history. His career is young, but so far, he seems to be on pace to do just that. Adding an MVP award to his resume certainly elevates his chances of joining the likes of Fielder, Grace, and Gwynn.

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