Aaron Judge wins AL MVP: Yankees slugger beats out Shohei Ohtani for first MVP award of career

New York Yankees OF Aaron Judge won the AL Most Valuable Player Award for the 2022 MLB season on Thursday.

AL Most Valuable Player winner

Judge turned down a long-term offer that exceeded $200 million from the Yankees on Opening Day of this season. He thought he was worth more and wanted to prove it in his contract year. And prove it he did. Judge simply dominated at the plate all year long, leading MLB in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs, RBI, total bases and wRC+. His 11.4 FanGraphs WAR was a full four wins better than the next player on the list. And of course, his year was headlined by his 62 home runs, an American League record. Judge is the first Yankee to win MVP honors since Alex Rodriguez in 2007 and will likely garner a $300+ million deal as a free agent this winter.

AL Most Valuable Player odds

Judge (-10000) closed as the AL Most Valuable Player favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, ahead of Shohei Ohtani (+2000). Back on Opening Day, the roles were reversed as Ohtani, the 2021 AL MVP winner, led all players with +350 odds to repeat. Judge had the fifth-best odds to win the award (+1800).

  
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