"I really wasn't a fan of the punishment; I thought that was a little weak for a player-driven scheme, that no players involved got any punishments," Judge said.

July 2, 2017. by Darryn Albert. He was the unanimous selection for AL Rookie of the Year -- a catalyst in New York's high-powered lineup that came one win away from a World Series appearance.And yet, Judge was blown away in the race for the league's Most Valuable Player, receiving just two first-place votes.The winner of the 2017 AL MVP, Jose Altuve, also had a tremendous season. Or was his MVP-worthy performance in 2017 clean?Either way, with these numbers in mind, it's clear the race for AL Most Valuable Player in 2017 should have The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox without Aaron Judge behind strong performances from Mike Tauchman, Clint Frazier, Gary Sanchez and Gleyber TorresNew York Yankees' slugger Aaron Judge has been placed on the injured list with a mild right calf strain. The Astros signed Altuve as an amateur free agent in 2007, and he made his major league debut in 2011. If I go out there and cheat the game -- I think [Yu] Darvish was the one that said, 'If you're playing in the Olympics, you win a gold medal and you find out you cheated, you don't get to keep that medal. Pete Caldera . Watch the New York Yankees' slugger's blastThe Yankees Rays rivalry has become one of the best in Major League Baseball as New York and Tampa Bay are both postseason contenders and tensions are high There's no way, as of now, to know just how much each individual member of the 2017 Astros cheated -- it's impossible to quantify the sign stealing's affect on different player's numbers. And yet, Judge was blown away in the race for the league's Most Valuable Player, receiving just two first-place votes. Here’s a line of reasoning using the transitive property about short hitters and small strike zones: If a player is shorter, then his shoulders are closer to his knees. It's possible that Judge's 208 strikeouts (most in all of baseball in 2017) hurt his resume, but then again, he led the American League in walks and finished second in on-base percentage -- Altuve struck out far less (84 slow walks back to the dugout) but got on base less.Sure, exit velocity doesn't directly correlate to MVP votes, but the members of the BBWAA must take a comprehensive approach, encompassing all statistical categories, en route to making their decisions.Each voter evidently has their own way of voting for individual awards. He is currently leading MLB in home runsNew York Yankees' ace Gerrit Cole extends his winning streak to 20 games, securing his fourth win of the year in his first taste of the Yankees Red Sox rivalryDJ LeMahieu had four hits in a Yankees win over the Braves on Wednesday. He has the best batting average in the American League and could hit .400 this yearGiancarlo Stanton is expected to miss 3-4 weeks due to his latest injury, a Grade 1 left hamstring strain. In what Baseball Reference identifies as "high leverage" situations, Judge hit .219 with an .861 OPS. The baseball gods blessed us with a sight for the ages on Sunday. He led the league in several offensive categories, guiding the Astros to 101 wins in the regular season (third-best in all of baseball).It was always fun for fans of each franchise to debate who deserved the Most Valuable Player Award more from that season, as it is every year. "I could sit up here and lie to you and say that I'll forget about it and move on," Judge said, "but you're always going to have that bad taste in your mouth. '"He even went on to speculate about the uncertainty surrounding the 2019 playoffs, in which the Astros again knocked out the Yankees in the ALCS. The fact of the matter, however, is that this race was a landslide -- Judge had This week, that final tally seems even more unjust.