Should the Cleveland Guardians very own Jose Ramirez be in the AL MVP race?

The Cleveland Guardians Jose Ramirez could be in the AL MVP race.

Had Jose Ramirez not hurt his hand, I have no doubt that he’d be the odds-on favorite to win the AL MVP award. Ramirez is tied for 17th in the Majors for home runs (28), he’s fourth in the majors for RBIs (112), second in doubles hit (42), fifth in total bases and he’s second among all hitters in fewest strikeouts with at least 21 home runs. The only person who has fewer is Nolan Arenado, and he has just one fewer (68) strikeout than Ramirez does.

His numbers are really good, the only problem is that the New York Yankees Aaron Judge has truly become the odds-on favorite to win the AL Central, and even though I hate the Yankees, I genuinely see that he’s the front-runner.

He’s leading the league in home runs (57), RBIs (123), and OPS (1.102) he’s seventh in the league in batting average (.311), and he’s first in the league in total bases. There’s really nothing Ramirez has over Judge.

Now, we could bring in Shohei Ohtani into the conversation, but the problem with him is the same reason Judge has the advantage on Ramirez; team success. If a player isn’t the centerpiece of a winning team, they shouldn’t even be in contention.

Judge and Ramirez are both the key players on their respective teams offensively speaking. The teams may have vastly different budgets but like with Ramirez, Judge has been carrying his team for the entire season.

So Judge is the obvious pick to win the AL MVP. That’s not what we asked, however.

Should Jose Ramirez be in the AL MVP conversation?

Simple answer, yes. Ramirez would be the MVP of the AL in just about any other year he played in if he had these numbers. Ramirez, just like Judge, is the vocal point of the Guardians’ offense and without him, the team would be mediocre at best, and around the Royals or Tigers are currently at worst.

Ramirez will and should likely finish second place in the AL MVP voting, as even though Ohtani is a once-in-a-lifetime talent, his team is absolutely terrible and MVPs should have a direct hand in the elevation of their team.

Right now Vegas odds have Ramirez in third place, with +50000 to win the award, but he’ll likely finish second considering his place statistically in the MLB and the combined success of his team.