Aaron Judge Shouldn T Suffer Michael Jordan S Mvp Snub Fate

While many fans and analysts would like to say they knew for certain that New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge was going to win the 2025 AL MVP award, nothing is guaranteed. In fact, Judge faced stiff competition from Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, beating him out by only four votes. The truth of the matter is that just should not have been the case. There's no denying Raleigh had an incredible season. His fifth year in the big leagues, he slammed 60 home runs (the most in the AL, with four more in the playoffs), and slashed .247/ .359/ .589 for an OPS of .948 during... And, as his supporters mention over and over again, he's a fat-bottomed catcher, not a tall, muscle clad outfielder like Judge.

Anti-Yankee sentiment throughout the league led many to suggest that Raleigh's performance, due to his position, should be enough to grant him the MVP award. However, the award doesn't go to the best player in spire of being a catcher. If that were true, it would be called the MVPISBC award. Judge whacked 53 home runs this season, and likely would have hit even more had he not suffered a right flexor strain that left him on the IL in late July. He also slashed an incredible .331/ .457/ .688 for an OPS of 1.145, leading the MLB in every single category. The thing about Judge is that he is making those numbers every season.

Maybe he isn't able to have a repeat of 2022, where he broke records with 62 regular season homers, but he hasn't had an OPS below 1.00 since 2021. History and consistency certainly plays a factor in voting, and Judge is both incredible and reliable. Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees’ star outfielder, has become a real source of hope for the team and its fans. Lately, though, people have started comparing him to Michael Jordan, and that’s sparked a whole debate about whether Judge gets the respect he actually deserves. This blog post takes a closer look at Judge’s career and the pressures he faces. I think it’s time we celebrate him for what he brings to baseball, instead of trying to stack him up against legends from other sports.

Whenever folks talk about Aaron Judge, it seems like someone always brings up Michael Jordan. Sure, Jordan’s basketball legacy is on another level, but you can’t really compare his career to Judge’s path in baseball. Jordan dominated the NBA with six championships and became a global icon. But let’s be real—baseball is a whole different animal, with its own challenges and ways to define greatness. Baseball and basketball just don’t work the same way. Basketball often spotlights one player’s brilliance, but baseball’s more about the whole team getting it done together.

The 2025 season has been historic for Aaron Judge. The star has stood as the symbol of power and consistency in the AL with an impressive campaign. He has guided the league in multiple areas with his elite numbers. For instance, he has led the league with a .331 batting average, with a .458 on-base percentage, with a .691 slugging, with a 1.149 OPS and 136 scored runs. Not only this, but Judge also has recorded 53 home runs, and because of this, Judge has joined Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle as only the third player in MLB history to hit at... This resume definitely screams MVP.

However, perhaps no one has raised their voice for Judge more than Anthony Rizzo. The veteran first baseman has gone to bat for his teammate and praises Judge’s number and leadership on the team. “He’s the heartbeat of this team,” Rizzo has said on multiple occasions, and in Rizzo’s eyes, there is no MVP race at all. Yet, as USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale said, Judge “shouldn’t be the 2025 MVP.” In a season full of statistical fireworks, one star has defied convention and attracted the attention of analysts, and turning the... He has delivered a season so extraordinary that it is forcing fans to rethink what “value” truly means. Despite Aaron Judge’s power, the Mariners catcher’s case could just be powerful.

Cal Raleigh’s stats are also staggering. The star has hit 60 home runs, which has made him the first catcher ever to reach such a mark while shattering the single-season record for homers by a catcher. He has crossed the record of Mickey Mantle for the most home runs as a switch-hitter and entered the league with Babe Ruth in the 60-HR club. Dan Wilson has praised him: “For him to do what he’s done offensively and to do what he does behind the plate, I honestly don’t think we’ve seen this before.” And it is not just the numbers sheet that makes Raleigh’s case bulletproof. His Gold Glove defense, the ability of Seattle’s pitching staff, and leadership in navigating the Mariners to their first AL West title in 24 years have lifted him to a very different level.

As Nightangle pointed out, if Raleigh were a Yankee and Judge were a Mariner, the conversation likely would not even exist. Raleigh has changed Seattle into a valid World Series participant, performing under the radar while most of the country sleeps. Simply put, in 2025, no one has been more valuable than the “Sultan of Squat.” I don’t want to make the Charles Barkley mistake. I don’t want to repeat the Karl Malone error. Don’t miss Greg Joyce’s text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he’s giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees.

Michael Jordan won five NBA MVP awards and should have won at least seven. But a Jordan fatigue set in, and voters went looking for someone else. So after Jordan won two in a row, Barkley was elected MVP for the 1992-93 campaign. And after Jordan won the 1995-96 MVP in his first full season back from his baseball foray, Malone was selected the following year. In retrospect, Jordan did not win those additional two MVPs because 1) a ho-hum, he is just historically great again mentality pervaded, and 2) voters tend to love narrative and grow bored with repetition. The American League MVP winner was announced on Thursday, and the winner was not what most MLB fans hoped for.

At the end of the day, Aaron Judge wrapped up his second straight MVP win and his third in the last four years, winning this year's award over Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. Raleigh had arguably the best season a catcher has ever had, yet Judge still walked away with the win. This fact has many screaming New York bias, as Judge, the New York Yankees captain, won it by an expectedly small margin. The fact of the matter, though, is that the better player won. Top 5 in AL MVP voting:Aaron Judge - 355 pointsCal Raleigh - 335José Ramírez - 224Bobby Witt Jr. - 215Tarik Skubal - 139

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop... This is no slight to Raleigh, who, again, might've had the best season a catcher has ever had. He slashed .247/.359/.589 with 60 home runs and 125 RBI as a primary catcher, while hitting in the most pitcher-friendly park in the majors half the time. In addition to his offensive prowess, Raleigh was his usual sturdy self defensively. We may never see a player like this wear the pinstripes again. The MVP award is the ultimate prize in any sport.

It defines the legacies of the greatest in each respective sport. A majority of league MVPs in all sports find their way into the Hall of Fame, but there are always those that are “flukes”. In baseball, we’ve had guys such as Zoilo Versalles (1965), Kevin Mitchell (1989), Miguel Tejada (2002), and Justin Morneau (2006) take home the award. Great players, but players who never quite replicated their MVP campaigns and didn’t do enough to make it close to Cooperstown. An MVP is occasionally won by a player who was really good, but not a legend. That is much less the case when you add on.

Two MVPs have been won by 34 players in the history of baseball. 23 are in the Hall of Fame. Of the 11 that aren’t, six aren’t eligible, and several others are blackballed for steroid usage. To be at this level, you are elite. But what about three? In baseball, only 13 men have ever accomplished this feat.

In the other three major North American professional sports, only 25 combined have done it. That’s 38 players in MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL history who have been the best player in their respective leagues on three separate occasions. The New York Yankees have had some incredibly legendary players come through their organization, and in the modern era, Aaron Judge is carving out not just a Hall of Fame career but an inner-circle... He has a case to be the best right-handed hitter in baseball history. This season, while he isn't the leader in home runs, he's still the most dangerous hitter in the game. Judge and Cal Raleigh are the two favorites for the AL MVP in 2025, with both having strong cases for the award.

But, in the opinion of MLB insider for USA Today Bob Nightengale, there is a clear favorite for the award. He has such a strong opinion that he says that Judge, despite his incredible league-leading numbers, shouldn't be the AL MVP this season. "It is called the Most Valuable Player Award. It is not the Best Player award." Nightengale writes. "He (Judge) shouldn't be the 2025 MVP. This award belongs to Raleigh, who has defied the imagination with his historical season, going where no catcher has ever gone before."

While there's no denying that Raleigh has had one of the best seasons in MLB history, and arguably the best season by a catcher in MLB history, it's still a very bold stance to... The 10 largest banks in the U.S. are Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, U.S. Bank, PNC Bank, Goldman Sachs Bank, Truist Bank, Capital One and TD Bank. Holding trillions of dollars in combined assets, the 10 largest banks in the country offer various financial products. These financial institutions play a pivotal role in the economy, providing individuals and businesses a secure place to hold their money.

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