Aaron Judge is AL MVP, not Shohei Ohtani

Adam Ottavino wants his former Yankees teammate to break the American League single-season home run record. It gets trickier when trying to pick the league MVP, but the Mets reliever says Aaron Judge should be the pick.

« I agree with the general idea that [Shohei] Ohtani is the best player in the world, but I think Judge is the MVP this year in the AL,” Ottavino told The Post. “More than one winning team and I think that’s kind of the tiebreaker there. The judge’s contribution pushed the team into the playoffs. That’s not to say Ohtani hasn’t done much, but they won’t be playing anything in a few weeks while the Yankees are and they might not be if it wasn’t for Judge. .

Judge started play Monday with 60 home runs, one shy of the AL and franchise mark set by Roger Maris in 1961. Ottavino spent two seasons as Judge’s teammate with the Yankees beginning in 2019.

« When I played with him, I felt if he could stay healthy for a whole year, he was going to do something special, » Ottavino said. « Now he’s able to play all year round, so you see what he’s capable of. »

Judge also remains in the hunt for the Triple Crown.

« It’s been good for him because he doesn’t have to worry about working on power, » Ottavino said. “He was just able to work on being a good hitter and having a good approach. He knows the power will always be there, so he improved his weaknesses.

Tomas Nido has a .341/.348/.568 slant line with two home runs and eight RBIs in September. The catcher went 2-for-5 against Oakland on Sunday with a brace and started five of the Mets’ last seven games, ahead of James McCann.

The Mets are one win away from setting the franchise’s highest total in 34 years. They’ll start playing 97-57, matching the 1999 and 2006 Mets for wins. The Mets won 100 games in 1988, the last time they eclipsed 97 wins.