Fansided

Yankees: 5 best offensive WAR seasons of the 21st century

By Ryan Morik

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 03: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees connects on his fourth inning two run home run against the Minnesota Twins in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 3, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees defeated the Twins 8-4. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 03: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees connects on his fourth inning two run home run against the Minnesota Twins in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 3, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees defeated the Twins 8-4. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 03: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees connects on his fourth inning two run home run against the Minnesota Twins in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 3, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees defeated the Twins 8-4. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 03: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees connects on his fourth inning two run home run against the Minnesota Twins in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 3, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees defeated the Twins 8-4. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Aaron Judge, 2017, 7.2 WAR

HIGHWAY ROBBERY!

This might be my bias talking, but even before the cheating scandal, Judge should have been the the 2017 American League MVP over Jose Altuve.

If the season ended on June 29, he would have won the Triple Crown award (with a lower batting average than he had two weeks prior). Of course, Judge did himself no favors when he hit .182 and struck out in more than a third of his plate appearances from July 14 to September 9.

But Judge finished the 2017 season as the unanimous Rookie of the Year and led the American League in home runs (52), bWAR (7.9), runs scored (128), and walks (127, an MLB best). His 1.049 OPS was the second-best mark in baseball, behind Mike Trout – who missed 48 games.

Okay, he led all of baseball in strikeouts too.

But anyway, what Judge did was the best rookie season by a Yankee ever. His OPS was the best in any rookie season ever. Ted Williams held the mark beforehand at 1.045. His 52 homers, at that point, were the most ever by a rookie.

Now Mets and Yankees fans can argue about juiced balls vs. a short porch.

But seriously, Judge’s incredible season brought the Yankees back into the championship conversation much quicker than anyone had originally expected.

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