AL MVP and ROY

Last night, Michael Kay said “Unequivocably”.

I needed to get that off my chest.

With regards to the American League MVP:

I believe it’s Mike Trout.  He’s better offensively than Mookie Betts and he plays an above average center field.  WAR is close enough it’ll be a wash at season’s end.  To me, it isn’t more complicated than that.

That being said, if you feel Mookie Betts was a better player than Trout this season, that isn’t an unreasonable position.  I disagree with you, but admittedly we’d be trying to pick fly shit out of pepper in order to come to a definite decision about who was more valuable.

However, if you feel Betts is the MVP because he plays with JD Martinez, Chris Sale, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, and Craig Kimbrel while Mike Trout does not, I can’t help you.  You have cognitive issues that require assistance beyond my scope of expertise.

Dead horse, prepare for beating:

Miguel Andujar is not the best rookie on his team, and therefore, not the best rookie in the American League this season.  As has been discussed here previously, Gleyber Torres plays two middle infield positions at around an average level – this makes him far more valuable than an average corner infielder.

Andujar, as also previously discussed, isn’t just the worst defensive 3^rd baseman in baseball by FAR, he’s one of the worst rookie defensive 3^rd basemen of all time.

And whether fans and folks over at Simpleton Sumer Camp (YES Network) choose to admit it or not, Andujar’s and Torres’ offense is a wash.

But let’s look outside Yankee Universe…

Among AL Rookies:

Let’s break this down further.  In no particular order…

• Wendle is a wash with Torres and Andujar offensively and has played 5 (FIVE) positions at a plus level.
• WAR is a cumulative statistic and Andujar has 113 more plate appearances than Torres, 231 more than Ohtani and 53 more than Wendle. So the WAR is a little misleading as the other three would have more WAR with Andujar’s number of PAs.
• For some perspective, Ohtani would be the best offensive player on the Yankees this season (yes, he’s been better than Aaron Judge) and would be the 2^nd best starting pitcher (ERA+ of 127 to Luis Severino’s 130). And don’t come at me with small sample size: a) I get it, b) part of the reason for the small sample size isn’t his fault.

Bottom line, I don’t know who the American League’s best rookie is in 2018.  I know that Andujar isn’t even close.  And I strongly suspect the ever so close minded Yankee centric universe folk are going to be very upset at the eventual outcome.