Was DJ Snubbed?

He had a year for the ages in the Bronx. For an injury riddled team, DJ LeMahieu stepped into a role and performed it swimmingly. Hell he was a big reason that the Yankees were able to do what they did this year. He was a leader on this team, even hearing MVP chants from the Yankees faithful as the year went on. Sure the fans wanted it, but the Baseball writers didn't see it that way. On Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced the finalists for MVP of the American League, and DJ didn't make the list.

The finalists for MVP this year are Mike Trout of the Angels, Marcus Semien of the Athletics and Alex Bregman of the Astros are the three finalists for the award this year. DJ wasn't even nominated as a finalist and that is a crying shame.

Bregman and Trout are both deserving to be in the final race. Trout hit .291 with 45 home runs, the second most in the American League, and 104 RBI's. He also scored 110 runs, tied for 6th in the league. Bregman hit .296 with 41 home runs, 112 RBI's and 112 run scored. Semien had a .285 batting average, with 33 homers, 92 RBI and 123 runs scored. All solid numbers. But LeMahieu had just as good numbers. DJ hit .327 with 26 home runs, 102 RBI's and 109 runs.

Now I know Semien played every game, but come on, DJ put up better numbers than he did. I also know that Oakland got a Wild Card Spot, and no denying that Semien was a huge reason for that. But what DJ did with an injury riddled Yankee team is more impressive. Bregman and Trout both had outstanding seasons and were deserving of being in the race. But facts are that Semien, while good, couldn't be at the level of what DJ did in the Bronx.

Again, I'm not taking anything away from what all three finalists did this year, they put up great numbers. But DJ deserved to have his name in that consideration more than Semien did. He put up the better numbers and was one of the best players in all of the American League this year.

DJ, like most of us, should feel a little annoyed that he got left out for MVP, but he should still feel very proud of the year that he had.