For months, the debate over the American League’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award has kept baseball fans on tenterhooks.
Would the honor fall on the right fielder of the New York Yankees, Aaron Judge, for the third time in four years, after another exceptional offensive season? Or would it be for the Seattle Mariners catcher, Cal Raleigh, who burst into the record books with 60 home runs?
On Thursday, voters elected Judge by a narrow margin, solidifying his place among baseball greats by becoming the thirteenth player to win three or more MVP awards. He joins Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle as the only Yankees to have achieved this feat. The voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America was one of the closest in years. Judge received 17 of the 30 first-place votes and 13 second-place votes. Raleigh got the other 13 first-place votes, while finishing second on the other 17 ballots. If two writers had changed their votes, there would have been a tie. Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez finished third, and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was fourth. Judge, humble as always, hurried to congratulate Raleigh and Ramirez.They had two incredible seasons. It’s always fun to play against them, especially when we play against Seattle. The main goal is to make sure Cal doesn’t beat you.
Aaron Judge
He won his first batting title with a .331 average, 20 points better than the rest of the league. Judge hit 53 home runs to become the fourth player with four seasons of at least 50 home runs, surpassing Berra and DiMaggio for fourth place on the Yankees’ all-time home run list.I know I say it often when I meet with our media during the season, but I never want to become numb to the consistency and enormity of his achievements. Each time, I find it more difficult to use words to describe how good he is. He’s simply playing at a higher level, and he’s been doing it for quite some time.
Aaron Boone, Yankees manager
The 53 home runs were the most for a batting champion. He led the majors in OPS (1.144), wRC+ (204), and fWAR (10.1). He became the fifth player in the expansion era (since 1961) to lead the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage in the same season. He also set the American League record with 36 intentional walks. Judge could have left the Yankees a couple of years ago, but he re-signed as a free agent.You try not to think about it during the season. I try to keep my head down during the 162, do what I can in today’s game to help our team win. And you do what you can, give it your all, and then you wake up the next day and do it again.
Aaron Judge
Not included in his MVP resume was the best postseason of his career. Judge hit .500/.581/.692 in 31 plate appearances in the Yankees’ abbreviated playoff run. His three-run home run that tied the game against the foul pole at Yankee Stadium in Game 3 of the American League Division Series helped the Yankees temporarily avoid elimination and punctuated a revealing postseason after his October struggles in other years. But a World Series title is still missing from Judge’s resume, as the Yankees’ drought extended to 16 years in 2025. For now, Judge is the greatest Yankee without a World Series championship. The Raleigh vs. Judge debate was the most disputed MVP discussion in over a decade, as both star hitters had historic seasons. Raleigh, the switch-hitting catcher, became the seventh player to hit 60 home runs in a season. He broke Salvador Perez’s previous record of 48 home runs by a primary catcher and surpassed Mantle’s record of 54 home runs by a switch hitter. Raleigh hit .247/.359/.589 with 60 home runs, 125 RBIs, league leader, and 110 runs scored.It’s a lot of responsibility to play in New York, but that’s what I love. When I was a free agent, I came back to New York. I wanted to play in the city, play for these fans, play with these high expectations.
Aaron Judge
