Yankees: DJ LeMahieu is going to lose the MVP and that’s OK

No, Yankees star DJ LeMahieu is not going to win the American League MVP. Yes, that’s completely fine.

The Yankees’ success in 2020 was, in many ways, predicated on DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit’s incredibly consistent offensive efforts, which resulted in the team’s best shot to capture an MVP award since the 2017 rigged travesty where Jose Altuve vaulted ahead of Aaron Judge.

When the finalists were announced the night before Election Day (and — we cannot stress this enough — why?), LeMahieu got the designated Yankees nod over Voit (somewhat strange, but we get it), and he’ll be competing against White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu and Indians spark plug Jose Ramirez.

He won’t win. And it’s best if you accept that before the night of the big reveal so we can all just get back to work afterwards in our efforts to drum up enough GoFundMe money to get the man extended.

LeMahieu flirted with .400 in 2020 and battled back from a thumb injury to post a spectacular shortened campaign, sure. But in many ways, the MVP honors are about whose narrative is most impressive, and whose performance features the most intriguing narrative.

Say what you will about The Machine’s ’20, but it was just a continuation of his ’19 campaign, which frankly was a more interesting and unexpected year and should’ve been a better opportunity for him to win the hardware. 2019 was the year LeMahieu came out as one of the best pure hitters in the game on the national stage; 2020 was just a short continuation.

Meanwhile, he’s competing against Ramirez, who keyed Cleveland’s postseason surge almost entirely by himself, hitting .292 with 17 home runs, most of that impact coming in the year’s final month. He’s battling Abreu, the likely favorite who got Voit’s first base finalist slot, lauded for being the veteran voice in the upstart White Sox locker room (and remember, it’s a regular season honor; their playoff flameout doesn’t matter). This time, LeMahieu’s consistent vanilla-ness works against him; we’ve already seen what he brought to the table.

However, a second straight MVP-level campaign, whether it results in a trophy or not, should get the Yankees’ checkbook wide open.

When LeMahieu has to smile and nod again this year while someone you perceive as less impactful takes home the trophy, just accept that it’s coming and hope against hope that his current team does recognize his value more than the committee.

All you can do, at this point.

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