Yankees: Highway robbery times three and the honor of the game

AL Most Valuable Player

The Yankees also lost out in the competition for the AL Most Valuable Player Award. All 30 voters (two writers from each AL city) selected Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout and Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman either first or second in some order.

Trout received 17 first place and 13 second-place votes and became a three-time MVP. Bregman received 13 first place and 17 second-place votes and came in second. I agree with both outcomes.

Oakland Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien, however, somehow finished third in the voting and the Yanks’ D.J. LeMahieu surprisingly finished in fourth place. This outcome is puzzling.

The 30 voters name and rank the top 10 candidates for the AL MVP Award. Curiously, one of the 30 voters excluded LeMahieu on his ballot, even though D.J. was universally considered to have had an MVP-like year, consistently performing exceptionally well in the batter’s box and on the field throughout the 2019 season.

James Fegan of The Athletic, a Chicago White Sox writer, for some unexplained reason left D.J. off his ballot entirely and, instead, included White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada in 10th place on his list.

Not only were Moncada’s statistics inferior to DJ’s statistics, but he also played for a disappointing team that finished 72-89. Furthermore, Moncada was not a finalist for a Gold Glove. Yet, the Yankees won over 100 games and Lemahieu was a finalist for a Gold Glove at second base.