Dallas Braden is a former MLB pitcher who spent five seasons in The Show.
He accumulated a solid 4.16 ERA and pitched a perfect game in 2010.
He now has a podcast and is not afraid to voice his opinions related to our beautiful game.
As most of us do, he appreciates the uniqueness of Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani.
He pitches like an ace (2.33 ERA this year, 3.18 last season) and hits like a top-ten slugger (34 homers in 2022, 46 in 2021, with 37 steals between the two years).
Nobody has done that in the history of the game.
By virtue of setting the new single-season American League record for most home runs with 62, New York Yankees star Aaron Judge is widely considered the AL MVP favorite.
Braden doesn’t necessarily agree with that, especially with the use of Wins Above Replacement (WAR) as one of the deciding factors in the race.
“1.0 WAR? That is what has gift wrapped an award designed to showcase an individual players talent/performance over the course of the season? NOBODY believes AJ makes the Angels better with his performance VS. what Ohtani TRULY means to a team providing what he does on both sides,” he tweeted.
1.0 WAR? That is what has gift wrapped an award designed to showcase an individual players talent/performance over the course of the season? NOBODY believes AJ makes the Angels better with his performance VS. what Ohtani TRULY means to a team providing what he does on both sides pic.twitter.com/3Wbzno9Xx3
— Dallas Braden (@DALLASBRADEN209) November 17, 2022
He disagrees with the fact that just because he edges Ohtani by just 1.0 WAR, Judge has all but wrapped up the MVP.
Judge Should Still Win
It’s a fair argument: WAR is useful, but not the be-all, end-all of stats.
Judge, for all his offensive excellence (and defensive, too) can’t and won’t pitch in the foreseeable future.
Ohtani can, and he is one of the best at it.
Ohtani is unique, and for that, he deserves serious MVP consideration.
Will that be enough for him to win the award for a second straight year?
It seems doubtful.
We do think the result won’t be unanimous (and it shouldn’t, in reality), but Judge is the favorite to celebrate tonight.
NEXT: Aaron Judge Has Blown By Preseason Underdog Odds