Baseball season is under way as I am writing this and many names are making their case for the MVP Award for their respective leagues. However were not here to talk about this season of deserving MVP candidates. Instead I want to do another top 10 list for MLB where I don’t rank the top 10 best but more pick ten players for this list in no particular order. The MVP Award came to affect in MLB in 1911 and 2 players, one in the American League and one in the National League, would go on to win the award and pretty much be called the best players in their leagues. Of course the first 20 years of the award being a thing was still considered the “MVP Award”, but the actual award that is handed out each year in the offseason, aka the modern MVP award created by the Baseball Writers Association of America, was first awarded in 1931. Some key facts of the award will be talked about before we continue on as these facts are pretty interesting. 22 Yankees have won the MVP award, which is the most upon all 30 teams and shockingly among all 30 Major Leauge Baseball teams, no New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays or Arizona Diamondbacks player has won the award. Another fun fact is well the man who owns the most MVP Awards. That mantle is held by Barry Bonds who has won 7 NL MVP Awards including 4 back to back to back to back wins back in 2001 – 2004. 25 pitchers have also won the award in its luxurious career. Technically it’s 26 but the recent AL MVP award winner Shohei Othani is a 2 way player as he both pitches and bats in the lineup as a DH/RF. Anyway this list is about 10 ball payers who had MVP type of seasons but didn’t win the award and probably should have. That’s not saying that the actual winners of said year didn’t deserve to win them but these are just 10 players on the top of my head and doing my research that I believe should had won the MVP award. Some on here might of eventually won the award in time, other’s never won the award in their entire career but enough talk let’s get into the action and countdown my Top 10 MLB MVP Should Have Been Winners.
Top 10 MLB MVP Should Have Been Winners
10. Aaron Judge in 2017 – Yeah this one is on here for two reasons. First reason is pretty obvious; I’m a huge Yankee fan and think a Yankee should start off this list, but also because well the man was robbed by a trash banging Astro. The 2017 season is plagued with cheating all over it as it was the year where the Houston Astros won the World Series but also later proven that they cheated throughout the 2017 season including the World Series and their top name on the team, Jose Altuve, won the AL MVP. Now it hasn’t been fully proven that Altuve took part in the trash banging cheating ways of the 2017 Astros season but I mean the man had a pretty impressive season but still his MVP win is plagued with acquisitions of cheating and many believe that the runner up should had been awarded the award anyway. And that man is Aaron Judge. Judge was coming into the season as the odds on favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award, which he did end up doing but coming in 2nd place in MVP voting was the biggest shock considering he put on one for the greatest rookie years ever in MLB’s history. Judge led the American League in multiple categories including WAR (8.0), runs scored (128), home runs (52), and Bases on Balls (128) while also having an impressive .422 On Base Percentage, .627 Slugging Percentage and a 1.049 OPS. The Yankees rookie Right Fielder had one of, if not the best, rookie season ever in Yankees history and to put up these numbers as a rookie it felt like the 2001 season where Ichiro and Albert Pujols were putting up some incredible rookie numbers. Ichiro would eventually win the award in his rookie year in 2001 but Judge came in 2nd place in 2017 behind Altuve. Altuve had a better batting average and obtained more hits than Judge but in everything else Judge ran circles around him. Still Altuve won the award and while many fans believe he should had not won I will give him the benefit of doubt. But I’m a Yankee fan and Judge should have won that award hands down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_H6FNabCOQ
9. Ichiro Suzuki in 2004 – While Ichiro Suzuki did win a MVP in 2001, 2004 however was a year statistical wise where he could had won it all once again. In 2004 the AL MVP honors went to Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and I mean I can’t blame him for winning the award because the man went off that year. 39 homeruns, 126 runs batted in, .337 Batting Average, 206 Hits, a OPS of .989, man went off that year and wanted to show he is incredible. But even the 2nd – 6th place names could have won as well. Gary Sheffield had 39 homeruns and 121 runs batted in with a .927 OPS, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz had powerhouse seasons as both men hit over 40 homeruns, had 130 plus runs batted in and batting averages over .300, Miguel Tejada hit 34 homeruns while leading the American League in runs batted in (150) and Johan Santana pitched incredibly going 20 – 6 with a 2.61 ERA and plus he took home the AL Cy Young that year. But in 7th place was Ichiro and I’m kind of shocked he barely got any 1st or 2nd place votes or even won the award in general. Ichiro had a 9.2 WAR, which led all of the American League, batted .372, leading all of baseball, had an On Base Percentage of .414 and oh yeah led the league and became the single season hits leader with 262 hits. He did all of this as a leadoff hitter and in my opinion while I believe Guerrero deserved the award for sure, don’t sleep on the fact that Ichiro had one of the greatest seasons in baseball history and came in 7th place in MVP voting. If you ask me Ichiro could have easily sneaked through the home run hitting sluggers of that year and took the award for himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVGuSh6ggqQ
8. Sammy Sosa in 2001 – 2001 was a very incredible year for baseball and it was led by the eventual winner of the NL MVP Barry Bonds. Bonds led the major leagues in Homeruns, also breaking the single season homerun record with 73 homeruns. Not only that but add in the .515 On Base Percentage, 177 Bases on Balls, .328 Batting Average a Slugging Percentage at .863 and an OPS of 1.379 and a 11.9 WAR, yeah Bonds was on next level God mode. Of course this was the season where he did use steroids but even so these video game type of numbers made 2001 special. But the NL MVP race was stacked and the man that came in 2nd, Sammy Sosa, could have possibly won the award. Now with Bonds’ amazing season there was no way Sosa could have matched him right…..well that’s where you are wrong. In 2001 Sosa hit 64 homeruns, led all of MLB with runs batted in (160), had a 10.3 WAR, had 146 runs scored, an On Base Percentage of .437, Slugging Percentage of .737, an OPS of 1.174 and just like Bonds a .328 Batting Average. I need a second to breathe cause steroids or no steroids all I have to say is Jesus Christ the 2001 season alone was a year of video game numbers. Sammy Sosa took the NL MVP honors back in 1998 but this man said I want that award again and pretty much followed up to Bonds’ season by having just as great of a season. Hell the award could of also gone too Todd Helton, Luis Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, both Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson, Lance Berkman, Shawn Green, hell Larry Walker led the NL in Batting Average and also had video game type of numbers and he placed 24th. The 2001 MLB season was on a whole different level compared to other seasons and Sammy Sosa getting just 2 1st place votes and stopping the obvious winner Barry Bonds from being a Unanimous winner, yeah Sosa could have easily stolen that award too with the season he had. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnktXpLqzEs
7. Greg Maddux in 1995 – The 1995 NL MVP honors went to future Hall of Famer Barry Larkin. He had a pretty impressive year as he batted .319 with 15 homeruns, 51 stolen bases and a 5.1 WAR. Pretty impressive year but what if I told you someone had an even more impressive year. Well in 2nd place we had Dante Bichette and while his 1.2 WAR isn’t the most impressive stat in the world, his 40 homeruns, 128 runs batted in, 197 hits, .340 Batting Average and a .620 Slugging Percentage is pretty impressive. But in 3rd place we have Greg Maddux, starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. Maddux that year was the unanimous winner for the NL Cy Young and with his stats it’s not shocking why he took home the Cy Young but I mean the man could of and should of took home the NL MVP as well. He led all of baseball with a 9.7 WAR, his Win/Loss Record was 19 – 2, he pitched 209.2 innings striking out 183 batters and only giving up 26 walks/8 homeruns and his ERA was 1.63! The man had a season where he looked and pitched like St. Louis Cardinals great Bob Gibson. Did I mention Maddux only started in 28 games and in 51 consecutive innings he didn’t allow a single walk….the man legit was a robot on the mound. Oh yeah he helped lead the Braves to their eventual World Series Championship that year. Maddux had one of the greatest years ever as a pitcher and didn’t even win the MVP Award….let that sink in for a bit. He led all of baseball in complete games (10) and WHIP (0.811) and literally was unhittable and only came in 3rd place in MVP. He should have took that MVP award and ran away with it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCjEYPSzaIg
6. Todd Helton in 2000 – The year 2000 was a weird year in baseball. Jeff Kent just beat out his teammate Barry Bonds in NL MVP Honors, both New York teams battled it out in the World Series, Pedro Martinez pitched like Bob Gibson and Todd Helton put one of the greatest hitting seasons in the 2000’s and only placed 5th in the NL MVP voting. I feel like some players are literally playing video games while they are up to bat because once again video game numbers happened for this player. Now Jeff Kent deserved the award. After all he batted .334 with 33 home runs, 125 runs batted in, 7.2 WAR and an OPS above 1.020. But I mean Todd Helton legit outdid him by every stat. Todd Helton’s 2000 season was mouth opening to read about. Helton batted and led all of baseball with a .372 Batting Average. That’s not all he did as he led all of baseball in runs batted in with 147, led the NL in WAR with 8.9, hits with 216, had an On Base Percentage of .463, Slugging Percentage of .646, led all of baseball with OPS (1.162), hit 42 homeruns, 59 doubles and walked 103 times. He did all of this without using steroids too; the man was robbed. Todd freaking Helton should have won the NL MVP, no question. To lead the league in multiple batting categories and have the stats that he had and only placing in 5th place, the voters really screwed up big time when voting for who should win the NL MVP because in all seriousness Todd Helton is the actual winner and Kent is the one who won it in a different universe. Yes Kent deserved the award by my God Helton deserves it just a bit more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuJv7V9sEEQ
5. Jose Bautista in 2011 – 2011 was a year that multiple players could be ranked in this list from 2nd place contender for the NL MVP Matt Kemp to 2nd place contender for the AL MVP Jacoby Ellsbury. But I decided to go with a man that put on a show in 2010 and continued that show with an even better 2011 and his name is Jose Bautista. Bautista has a very unique story in his career as prior to the 2010’s Bautista was never seen as a MVP caliber player and was jumping ship from multiple teams. However once he landed in Toronto his prescience became known. Now 2010 can arguably be his best power season as he led the American League in homeruns with 54, but 2011 is probably his best season to date. He led the league in homeruns with 43, hit above .300 for the first and only time in his career, drove in 103 runs batted in, walked 132 times, had an .477 On Base Percentage, .608 Slugging Percentage, 1.056 OPS, an 8.3 WAR and an Major League leading OPS+ of 182. Now you may be asking what OPS+ is. Well it is a stat that takes a player’s on base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and normalizes the number across the entire league. The league average for OPS+ is 100 and Bautista’s was 182, which means was 82 percent better than the entire league that year. Now why is that stat important for this entry? Well the player with the highest OPS+ that year finished 3rd in MVP voting to 2nd place contender Ellsbury and the eventual winner Justin Verlander. Now Verlander had a great season, winning 20 games, striking out 250 batters, having an ERA of 2.50 and a WHIP of 0.92. But if you look into the stats, Bautista should have won the AL MVP that year. Ellsbury can also be an obvious choice to win that year but Bautista was still 36 percent better than him that year. Bautista was the best player that year in baseball and he only finished in 3rd place in MVP voting but in my eyes the true winner of the MVP that year was Bautista. Now that’s not saying Verlander didn’t deserve the award as he very well did but stats wise the true winner is Bautista. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmkoxeSZf2g
4. Derek Jeter in 2006 – The biggest shock in baseball is one of the greatest players to ever step onto the field, the Captain, Derek Jeter never won a single MVP in his entire career. He has had multiple seasons that could had been on this list including his 2009 season where he placed 3rd, but it is in 2006 where I thought Jeter could have and possibly should had won. The 2006 Yankees were honestly a team of elite bats led by the Captain and let me tell you I still don’t understand how he came in 2nd place in the MVP race to Justin Morneau. Jeter that year went on a tear as he batted .343, hit 14 homeruns, drove in 97 runs batted in, had 214 hits, 34 stolen bases, a .417 On Base Percentage with a OPS of .900, a 5.6 WAR and he only placed in 2nd to a guy who didn’t lead the league in any stat. David Ortiz had more homeruns than Morneau and could easily be a case for this entry but Jeter had better stats that Morneau and Ortiz with exception to the power numbers. Jeter even went on a tear in the 06 playoffs as in only 4 games he batted .500 and yes it was only in 4 games and the Yankees lost but in just 4 games Jeter easily was the best player on the field. Morneau had an MVP type of season, there no question about it, but even though Jeter a non power bat put on stats that would and should consider him a MVP, yeah I would be like you thinking and believing Jeter should have been an easy pick for MVP. Jeter only lost by 14 votes, which is a pretty close race there, but just imagine if Jeter won that year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdDOUQJ74bI
3. Dwight Gooden in 1985 – I need to show the Mets some love right now as they have 0 MVPs in their luxurious career. Names that are historical to them that didn’t win an MVP while on the team include Mike Piazza, Tom Seaver, David Wright and Keith Hernandez. But this man in our entry in my opinion was robbed in 1985 and could have brought an MVP home to Queens. Dwight Gooden is arguably one of the best pitchers in Mets history and in the 1980’s. He had such a great rookie season in 1984, winning NL Rookie of the Year and placed 2nd place in Cy Young voting. However the 1985 season we saw a different Gooden. We saw a more determined and unstoppable force on the mound. Dwight Gooden that year went 24 – 4 with a MLB leading 1.53 ERA, striking out 268 batters, a WHIP at 0.95, 16 complete games, 8 shutouts and a WAR at 13.3. Now he would eventually win the Cy Young that year but he placed in 4th place for MVP voting. Now I want to bring up his 13.3 WAR as this may be a shock to you but after looking up this stat on Baseball Reference Dwight Gooden’s 1985 WAR (13.3) is the 20th highest WAR total ever in a single season. Only 2 players in the modern era of baseball of the early 1900’s had higher single season WAR than Dwight Gooden, Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth. No other player in the modern era of Baseball had pulled off a higher WAR than Dwight Gooden. Willie McGee, the eventual winner, only had an 8.3 WAR and Dave Parker, the man who came in 2nd place, only had a 4.7 WAR. Mathematically, add both of their WAR stats together and Dwight Gooden still has a higher WAR. Plus Gooden pitched a season that we can compare it to Bob Gibson, who won the NL MVP in 1968 where he only had a 1.12 ERA. Now you tell me, was Dwight Gooden robbed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU72MB512DA
2. Manny Ramirez in 1999 – Now look I want to say this first, Pedro Martinez could have his own case for this year as he won the Cy Young, going 23 – 4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts but in 1999 Manny Ramirez looked like a monster with the bat. Ramirez put on such an historical season that he placed himself next to legends including Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Al Simmons. Manny Ramirez drove in 165 runs batted in that year, which has never been matched since. Many have gotten close like Sammy Sosa in 2001 with 160, but no one has ever passed Manny. In 1999 with his 165 RBI’s, Manny Ramirez batted .333 with 44 homeruns, a On Base Percentage of .442, a Slugging Percentage of .663, a OPS of 1.105, a OPS+ of 174, a 7.4 WAR and he only finished in 3rd place, tied with Roberto Alomar. Honestly 1999 might have been a hard year for the BWAA as the AL MVP race was disgusting. Jeter had a power year while also putting on one of his best seasons ever, Rafael Palmeiro was demolishing the baseball, Ken Griffey Jr. was showing why he is the GOAT, Mariano Rivera was showing his amazing talent on the mound and Ivan Rodriguez, the eventual winner, was lighting it up in Texas. But Manny Ramirez was undoubtedly the biggest talk of the town with his batting stats that year as it was very hard to even pitch to Manny without him driving in a run. There are 162 games in baseball and if you average it with Manny’s totals, Manny is averaging at least 1.02 runs batted in each game but Manny played in 147 games, so that total increases to 1.10. Regardless Manny was averaging a run batted in each game and was making history. Pudge deserved the MVP for sure but don’t sleep on Manny Ramirez’s 1999 season as it could have been an MVP season. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtLpE8Ezdm8
1. Lou Gehrig in 1928 – I’m not even trying to be biased here this is just an absolute disgrace for the fact that Lou Gehrig put on such an incredible season and didn’t win the AL MVP. A year after winning the MVP and winning the World Series with his Murders Row companion Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig put on another great season batting .374 with 27 homeruns, league leading 147 runs batted in, 210 hits, 47 doubles, 13 triples, a .467 On Base Percentage, a .648 Slugging Percentage, a 1.115 OPS, an OPS+ of 193 and a 9.5 WAR. In 1928 Mickey Cochrane won the AL MVP as he batted .293 with 10 homeruns and 57 runs batted in with a 3.4 WAR. Now you may be asking this and I’m so happy I haven’t mentioned it but where did Lou finish as he had such an incredible season and put up video game monster numbers. Well he didn’t place 2nd as that went to Heinie Manush and he didn’t place 3rd as that went to Joe Judge. So where did Gehrig place in the MVP voting. He didn’t. Lou Gehrig didn’t get any votes in 1928. His partner in crime Babe Ruth also didn’t place anywhere in the MVP voting and he batted .323 with 54 homeruns. So now you may have to ask yourself and I’m asking myself this too, are these people on fucking drugs; I’m sorry but how the hell does Lou Gehrig put on a monster season and not get any type of MVP voting. Well here is the reasoning. You see back then a rule existed where no player can win the award more than once. Now that is a pretty stupid rule if you ask me as the key reason of giving out the MVP award each year is to show off the best player of that year pretty much and in 1928 the defending 1927 MVP kind of deserved that award a lot more than the eventual winner. So in conclusion Lou Gehrig was more than just robbed by MVP voters, he was robbed from the beginning of the year by the MLB. If that rule was never a rule than the true winner of the 1928 AL MVP would have been and should 100 percent have been Lou Gehrig.
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