The Biggest Joke in MLB History

Free agency is now underway, and the Winter Meetings are fast approaching. However, those aren't what the following story is about. Question: What do Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Tarik Skubal, and Paul Skenes all have in common? These men have won the NL MVP, AL MVP, AL Cy Young Award, and NL Cy Young Awards respectively consecutively, with Judge winning for the third year in a row. I thought at first that this was all satire, except for Kurtz, but alas, I was wrong. Nick Kurtz of the Athletics won AL Rookie of the Year, which the writers were correct on that one.

The voting for these categories is biased towards certain players, and it shows. Translation: it's rigged and also a huge sham. I've accused Major League Baseball of being heavily biased towards two players and teams: Aaron Judge and the Yankees and Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers. Whoever is managing their social media pages should be under heavy scrutiny. They believe that everything should be centered around those two at all times, barely highlighting other teams or players, which is selfish. I have news for MLB: everything doesn't revolve around them. Also, the writers who voted for the aforementioned players to win those awards either have no knowledge of the game or just voting based on how popular a player is. They got this all wrong and should be under heavy scrutiny.

Cal Raleigh had a fantastic season. To me, he was absolutely robbed of the AL MVP Award. To the writers who chose Judge over Raleigh, you mean to tell me that despite his record-breaking season and his team reaching the ALCS, y'all instead chose a player who does well during the regular season, yet collapses in the Postseason? Make it make sense. To be honest, the Yankees haven't been good in the last decade or so. Plus, it's been nearly 20 years since their last World Series title. The blatant disrespect of Cal Raleigh is real and him being overlooked is atrocious. Did we not watch and/or follow the same games this past season, including the Postseason? This doesn't add up. The Yankees are a below average team, to put it bluntly and a manager who's still around, despite for calls for him to be fired. That's just the truth of the matter.

As far as Shohei Ohtani, I've officially disowned him altogether. I've tried my best to like and support him, but the large contract, entitled demeanor, the gambling scandal involving his former interpreter, and being attention seeking are the reasons why I don't like and respect him anymore. He comes off as a sketchy individual, respectfully speaking. My pure dislike of the Dodgers has been made public in previous stories on here. Many of us will agree that they're the most hated team in baseball, with the Astros being second. I felt like some other player in the National League was more deserving of the NL MVP Award, such as Kyle Schwarber.

Let's talk about the AL and NL Cy Young Awards winners. No disrespect towards Tarik Skubal, but I believed that either Jacob deGrom or Nathan Eovaldi of the Rangers were more deserving of the award. Had Eovaldi not been injured, he would've been the frontrunner for the award. As for Paul Skenes, why? He didn't perform his best this past season and yet writers voted for him to win the NL Cy Young Award? Huh? Favoritism at its finest. The four players mentioned in this story were chosen based on two factors: popularity and emotions.

I've come to the conclusion that there's so much favoritism from Major League Baseball towards both the Dodgers and Yankees, plus the players mentioned at the beginning of this story, except for Kurtz. Many people would laugh off my claims and tell me to the effect of that I'm just jealous. Jealously has nothing to do with what I'm talking about or have been discussing for the longest period of time. I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of the voting process of these awards. I'm just tired of MLB pushing the Dodgers-Yankees agenda on us, when other teams and players deserve more recognition. For instance, fan voting from this year's All-Star Game had caused major backlash, due to the heavy presence of multiple Dodgers players being selected, some who I thought weren't deserving of those honors. Meanwhile, other players got snubbed. It was a case of rules for thee, not for me. There's no doubt or denying that the All-Star Game voting is nothing but a popularity contest. It's nothing new and has been going on for years. The Dodgers complained when Andy Pages wasn't voted as an All-Star and stated that it was unfair. So pot meet kettle. I wrote in one of my previous stories that I wouldn't watch another All-Star Game unless the fan voting process goes through some changes and for MLB to stop putting the Dodgers on such a high pedestal. The Dodgers can't have everything and it's not always about them. They're the most selfish, entitled, and spoiled team in the league, as if the world owes them something.

Finally, let's discuss the AL and NL Managers of the Year. As much as I respect Stephen Vogt, I would've preferred either Dan Schneider of the Blue Jays or Dan Wilson of the Mariners to win that award. Schneider helped his team reach the World Series for the first time in over 30 years. While they didn't win it all, I believe that they'll be back in the playoffs next season. As for Dan Wilson, he and the Mariners had a stellar season: winning the AL West for the first time since 2001 and reaching the ALCS. Despite not winning the AL Pennant, I see them back into the Postseason in 2026. Pat Murphy of the Brewers winning the NL Manager of the Year for the second consecutive year sounds about right. Outside of the Brew Crew being swept by the Dodgers in the NLCS, he was more deserving of the award than any other manager.

MLB owes Cal Raleigh a huge apology, because he was more deserving of the AL MVP over Judge. Raleigh signed a huge contract extension this past season and I believe that MLB should send him some sort of bonus. The fact that they completely ignored his record-breaking season and the Mariners second half surge, this is one of many examples why voting for these awards is biased towards certain players and also a complete joke. The pure and blatant disrespect of Cal Raleigh is mind-blowing. Honestly, I would choose him over overrated Aaron Judge every single time. Judge and the Yankees are always one and done in the Postseason and yet MLB decided to give him the aforementioned award. This is completely backwards. Until Major League Baseball stops putting the Dodgers and Yankees, as well as their respective players mentioned in this story, on such high pedestals, this frustrating pattern will continue. Everything is NOT always about them.