Toronto Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has weighed in on the contentious American League MVP race between Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. After finishing as the runner-up behind Ohtani last season, Guerrero knows better than anyone what is required to outdo the Angels star in MVP voting. Via Hector Gomez, Guerrero said that he believes Judge should be the 2022 AL MVP, despite Ohtani's incredible numbers on both sides of the ball.

“To be honest, I think if they give it to Shohei Ohtani it will be another steal. Aaron Judge's numbers are way above Ohtani's. Ohtani is an excellent player, but for me, the MVP has to be Aaron Judge,” said Guerrero.

Judge's heroics for the New York Yankees have been impossible to ignore. The slugger leads MLB in virtually every significant hitting category, particularly the ones to do with power. Judge is slashing .310/.413/.688 with 57 home runs, and 123 RBI. He leads MLB in home runs, RBI, runs (117), total bases (353), OPS (1.102), WAR (9.1), and OPS+ (208).

It's hard to argue against absurd numbers like those, but Ohtani has the advantage of being a two-way player. Ohtani is slashing .265/.355/.534 with 34 home runs, 88 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. On the mound, he's made 24 starts, logging a 2.55 ERA with 188 strikeouts across 141.0 innings. Ohtani boasts a bWAR of 8.1.

The Blue Jays star lost to Ohtani last year, but claimed that if the Japanese superstar won again in 2022, it would be “another steal.” In the eyes of Guerrero, his AL East rival Aaron Judge has done all he needs to do, and more, to take home the hardware in 2022 and add an MVP trophy to his cabinet.