With the year of the long ball coming to a close this past Sunday, Major League Baseball has seen a record amount of baseballs fly out of the ballpark. The two most notable sluggers are Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins and rookie phenom Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. Both of which have passed the 50 home run plateau; Stanton with 59, and Judge with 52, the most by any rookie ever.

2017 has also brought a pair of superstars in just their first year in the big leagues. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Each of these players are heavily favored to win the Rookie Of The Year award in each of their respective leagues. If their rookie year was just the start, the rest of their careers can be fun to watch.

At the end of each season, the question seems to always be the same. Who was the most valuable player in the American and National League? The front runners for the American League are Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros (.340 BA, .410 OBP, 32 SB), Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees (52 HR, .422 OBP, 114 RBI), and the Cleveland Indians Jose Ramirez (.316 BA, .370 OBP, 29 HR). And for the opposing league the front runners include Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks (.297 BA, .404 OBP, 36 HR), Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins ( 59 HR, 132 RBI, .631 SLG), the Colorado Rockies Charlie Blackmon (37 HR, .331 BA, .399 OBP) and his teammate Nolan Arenado (37 HR, 130 RBI, .586 SLG). Senior Patrick Gilmore weighed in on his thoughts on who would win the American League MVP, saying , “Aaron Judge should undoubtedly be named the AL MVP because the Yankees would clearly not be where they are without him”. Gilmore also responded saying this when asked about who should take home the NL MVP award, stating, “Nolan Arenado deserves to win NL MVP because he has had three consecutive seasons with 130 RBIs with minor recognition.” No matter who takes home either MVP award it is safe to say the league cannot go wrong with who they choose.

After a long 162 game regular season full of ups and down for each team, the playoffs should not lack the excitement and drama as it has every year.