Aaron Judge etched a permanent spot in the memories of baseball fans when he set the American League single-season home run record and chased a Triple Crown down the stretch for the New York Yankees. Now, he has a final accolade to top his historic 2022.
The slugger was crowned AL Most Valuable Player on Thursday night, beating out Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros. He is the first outfielder for the Yankees to win the award since Mickey Mantle in 1962.
Judge received 28 first-place votes and 410 points, edging Ohtani (280) by 130 points. Ohtani was the only other player to receive first-place votes, with two. Alvarez had 232 points to finish third.
“It’s tough to put in words,” Judge said on MLB Network. “It’s an incredible moment. A lot of hard work to get to this.”
Judge said he felt extremely nervous leading up to the announcement.
“You never want to assume anything,” he said.
Judge led the AL in a host of offensive categories, including home runs (62), RBIs (131), slugging percentage (.686), on-base percentage (.425), OPS+ (211) and total bases (391). He previously finished as a runner-up for AL MVP in 2017, when he was the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman released a statement after the announcement congratulating Judge.
“Aaron’s success was especially meaningful for our organization as we’ve been able to watch him grow throughout his professional career into the player and leader he has become — an offensive force in the batter’s box, a run preventer wherever we’ve put him on the field and someone who sets the tone in the clubhouse with his relentless commitment to winning,” Cashman said. “He has been our MVP for quite some time now.”
Judge became just the fourth major leaguer to hit more than 62 homers in a single season, joining Barry Bonds (73 in 2001), Mark McGwire (70 in 1998, 65 in 1999) and Sammy Sosa (66 in 1998, 63 in 1999). He fell just five points shy (.311) of Minnesota Twins infielder Luis Arraez for the batting title, which would have completed the Triple Crown.
“I’m grateful that I got to witness it first-hand and share in his magical year, especially given how much I respect I have for him as a player and as a person,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in a statement. “I hope he can reflect on his extraordinary individual accomplishments and the impact he had on his teammates every single day and use them as fuel for continued excellence in the years to come.”
The MVP honor caps a season that started with tumult around contract negotiations with the Yankees as he entered the final year of his deal. Judge set a self-imposed deadline of Opening Day to negotiate a potential extension, but the sides failed to come to an agreement. Cashman then took an unusual step in publicly revealing the terms of the contract the team offered Judge — an eight-year, $230.5 million extension. Judge turned down the offer, expecting greater things if he hit the free agent market after this season.
When asked about free agency, Judge said his top priority is winning.
“For me, I want to win,” Judge said. “I’ve come pretty close with the Yankees … My ultimate, most important thing is I want to be on a team with a winning culture and a commitment to winning. First and foremost, it’s a winning culture and a winning future.”
The season started relatively slowly for Judge, as he hit six homers in 75 at-bats in April. But once the calendar turned to May, Judge took off. The outfielder hit 12 homers that month, 11 in June, 13 in July, nine in August and 10 in September before hitting No. 62 on the final day of the regular season in October. The 157 games Judge played during 2022 were his most since his rookie season, the previous best year of his career by bWAR (8.1).
Judge’s consistency from month to month served as the backbone for a New York offense that at points struggled to stay healthy and produce around him. By the end of the season, it ranked second behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in baseball, scoring 807 runs.
As Judge approached Roger Maris’ AL record of 61 homers, each of his at-bats became an event. At games both at Yankee Stadium and on the road, fans stood up every time he stepped into the batter’s box and remained standing for every single pitch. Members of the Yankees jostled for spots on the top step of the dugout to get a spot to watch their teammate potentially make history.
Judge hit the record-tying 61st home run on Sept. 28, taking Toronto Blue Jays reliever Tim Mayza deep in the seventh inning in game No. 155 for the Yankees. The history-making homer ended a seven-game home run drought.
No. 62 did not come until Oct. 4, in the second-to-last game of the Yankees’ season. The record-breaker came off Texas Rangers pitcher Jesus Tinoco, a leadoff shot to left field.
While Judge put together a regular season for the record book, he came up short during the postseason, hitting his worst stretch of the season as the Yankees played the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Division Series and the Astros in the AL Championship Series. In nine games, Judge hit .139/.184/.306 with two homers among five hits in nine games. The eventual World Series champion Astros ended the Yankees’ season with a four-game sweep in the ALCS.
Judge now hits the free agent market prepared to get one of the biggest contracts of the offseason. Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner has said publicly that he wants Judge to be in pinstripes for the rest of his career.
HOUSTON — Jose Altuve asked manager Joe Espada to move him out of the leadoff spot and into the second hole for the Houston Astros. The reason? He wanted more time to get to the dugout from left field.
Altuve is playing left for the first time in his career after spending his first 14 MLB seasons at second base. “I just need like 10 more seconds,” he said.
The 34-year-old Altuve made the transition to the outfield this season after the trade of Kyle Tucker and the departure of Alex Bregman shook up Houston’s lineup.
Jeremy Peña was in the leadoff spot for Monday night’s game against Detroit. Altuve didn’t suggest that Peña be the one to take his leadoff spot.
“I just told Joe that maybe he can hit me second some games at some point, and he did it today,” Altuve said. “I just need like that little extra time to come from left field, and he decided to put Jeremy [there].”
Peña entered Monday hitting .255 with three homers and 11 RBIs. He hit first in Sunday’s 7-3 win over Kansas City — with Altuve getting a day off — and had two hits and three RBIs.
Along with giving him a little extra time to get ready to bat, Altuve thinks the athletic Peña batting leadoff could boost a lineup that has struggled at times this season.
“Jeremy is one of those guys that has been playing really good for our team,” Altuve said. “He’s taking really good at-bats. He’s very explosive and dynamic on the bases, so when he gets on base a lot of things can happen. Maybe I can bunt him over so Yordan [Alvarez] can drive him in.”
Altuve is a nine-time All-Star. The 2017 AL MVP is hitting .274 with three homers and nine RBIs this season.
Espada said he and Altuve often share different ideas about the team and that they had been talking about this as a possibility for a while before he made the move.
“He’s always looking for ways to get everyone involved and he’s playing left field, comes in, maybe give him a little bit more time to get ready between at-bats, just a lot of things that went into this decision,” Espada said. “He’s been around, he knows himself better than anyone else here, so hopefully this could create some opportunities for everyone here and we can score some runs.”
NEW YORK — Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said he discussed Pete Rose with President Donald Trump at a meeting two weeks ago and he plans to rule on a request to end the sport’s permanent ban of the career hits leader, who died in September.
Speaking Monday at a meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors, Manfred said he and Trump discussed several issues, including concerns over how immigration policies could impact players from Cuba, Venezuela and other foreign countries.
Manfred is considering a petition to have Rose posthumously removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list. The petition was filed in January by Jeffrey Lenkov, a Southern California lawyer who represented Rose prior to the 17-time All-Star’s death at age 83.
“I met with President Trump two weeks ago … and one of the topics was Pete Rose, but I’m not going beyond that,” Manfred said. “He’s said what he said publicly. I’m not going beyond that in terms of what the back and forth was.”
Trump posted on social media Feb. 28 that he plans to issue “a complete PARDON of Pete Rose.” Trump posted on Truth Social that Rose “shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING.”
It’s unclear what a presidential pardon might include. Trump did not specifically mention a tax case in which Rose pleaded guilty in 1990 to two counts of filing false tax returns and served a five-month prison sentence.
The president said he would sign a pardon for Rose “over the next few weeks” but has not addressed the matter since.
Rose had 4,256 hits and also holds records for games (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). He was the 1973 National League MVP and played on three World Series winners.
An investigation for MLB by lawyer John M. Dowd found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. Rose agreed with MLB on a permanent ban in 1989.
Lenkov is seeking Rose’s reinstatement so that he can be considered for the Hall of Fame. Under a rule adopted by the Hall’s board of directors in 1991, anyone on the permanently ineligible list can’t be considered for election to the Hall. Rose applied for reinstatement in 1997 and met with Commissioner Bud Selig in November 2002, but Selig never ruled on Rose’s request. Manfred in 2015 denied Rose’s application for reinstatement.
Manfred said reinstating Rose now was “a little more complicated than it might appear on the outside” and did not commit to a timeline except that “I want to get it done promptly as soon as we get the work done.”
“I’m not going to give this the pocket veto,” Manfred said. “I will in fact issue a ruling.”
Rose’s reinstatement doesn’t mean he would automatically appear on a Hall of Fame ballot. He would first have to be nominated by the Hall’s Historical Overview Committee, which is picked by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and approved by the Hall’s board.
Manfred said he has been in regular contact with chairman Jane Forbes Clark.
“I mean, believe me, a lot of Hall of Fame dialogue on this one,” Manfred said.
If reinstated, Rose potentially would be eligible for consideration to be placed on a ballot to be considered by the 16-member Classic Baseball Era committee in December 2027.
Manfred said he doesn’t think baseball’s current ties to legal sports betting should color views on Rose’s case.
“There is and always has been a clear demarcation between what Rob Manfred, ordinary citizen, can do on the one hand, and what someone who has the privilege to play or work in Major League Baseball can do on the other in respect to gambling,” Manfred said. “The fact that the law changed, and we sell data and/or sponsorships, which is essentially all we do, to sports betting enterprises, I don’t think changes that.
“It’s a privilege to play Major League Baseball. As with every privilege, there comes responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is that they not bet on the game.”
Manfred did not go into details on his discussion with Trump over foreign-born players other than to say he expressed worry.
“Given the number of foreign-born players we have, we’re always concerned about ingress and egress,” Manfred said. “We have had dialogue with the administration about this topic. And, you know, they’re very interested in sports. They understand the unique need to be able to go back and forth, and I’m going to leave it at that.”
It was old faces in familiar places for the Atlanta Braves on Monday after they activated right-hander Ian Anderson to the active roster and signed outfielder Eddie Rosario to a major league contract.
In corresponding moves, outfielder Jarred Kelenic was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, while right-hander Davis Daniel was optioned to Triple-A after Sunday’s game.
Both Anderson and Rosario emerged as 2021 postseason heroes in Atlanta as the Braves went on to win the World Series.
Anderson, who was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, went 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA in eight postseason starts for the Braves over the 2020 and 2021 postseasons.
In the 2021 World Series, Anderson famously pitched five no-hit innings in Game 3 to lead Atlanta to a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros. The Braves defeated the Astros in six games.
Anderson, who turns 27 Friday, was traded by the Braves to the Angels on March 23 for left-hander Jose Suarez. He struggled badly with his new club, going 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA in seven relief appearances. He allowed 17 hits and seven walks in just 9⅓ innings.
Rosario, 33, signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in February and played in two games with the club, going 1-for-4. He was designated for assignment and became a free agent when Shohei Ohtani returned from the paternity list just over a week ago.
Rosario was the 2021 National League Championship Series MVP, when he powered the Braves past the Dodgers with three home runs, nine RBIs and a 1.647 OPS in six games.
Over parts of 11 seasons, Rosario is a career .261 hitter with 169 home runs and 583 RBIs in 1,123 games with five different clubs, including five seasons with the Minnesota Twins (2015-20) and four with the Braves (2021-24).
Kelenic, 25, was batting .167 with two home runs in 23 games and is a career .211 hitter with 49 home runs and 156 RBIs in 406 games with the Seattle Mariners (2021-23) and Braves.
Daniel, 27, made his only appearance for the Braves on Sunday with a scoreless inning and has appeared in 10 games (six starts) over the past three seasons with a 4.95 ERA.
