Aaron Judge Wins 2025 Al Mvp Edges Mariners Cal Raleigh

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 18, 2025, 12:47 AM

aaron judge wins 2025 al mvp edges mariners cal raleigh

For the second straight season, New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge has been named the American League's Most Valuable Player. Judge beat out Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh and Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez for the award, the BBWAA announced Thursday night. As the voting results show, it was a close race between Judge and Raleigh: This is Judge's second straight MVP and the third of his career (he also won in 2022). He is the 13th player with three MVPs. Only Barry Bonds (seven) and Shohei Ohtani (four), who won this year's National League MVP, have more.

Judge is the fourth Yankee with three MVPs, joining Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio (1939, 1941, 1947), Yogi Berra (1951, 1954-55), and Mickey Mantle (1956-57, 1962). He joins Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers superstar who won National League MVP. Judge slashed .331/.457/.688 this season and led baseball in batting average by 20 points, on-base percentage by 58 points, and slugging percentage by 66 points. His 53 home runs were second in the AL behind Raleigh's 60. Judge's 9.7 WAR was 1.7 wins better than the next best player, per Baseball Reference's calculations. November 14, 2025, 2:23am EST 116 • By Swati Bhatia

The 2025 MLB awards season came to an exciting finish on Thursday night with the announcement of the American League and National League MVP winners. While last year’s AL MVP race was a one-sided affair with Aaron Judge winning unanimously, this year’s contest was far closer. In the end, the New York Yankees captain edged out Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh to secure his second straight MVP honor, taking home 17 first-place votes compared to Raleigh’s 13. Aaron Judge is MVP again!It’s back-to-back AL MVPs for The Captain! pic.twitter.com/HzqA96V6Ni Both players delivered incredible seasons that will be remembered for years to come.

Aaron Judge continued his dominance at the plate, while Raleigh made history with a record-breaking hitting. Raleigh crushed 60 home runs, setting both a Mariners record and a new single-season record for an MLB catcher. He also drove in 125 RBIs while anchoring Seattle’s pitching staff and helping the team stay in the playoff hunt until the final week. Aaron Judge, meanwhile, hit .331 with 53 homers, 114 RBIs, and a 1.144 OPS, putting together another monster campaign despite missing seven games due to an elbow injury in late July. Updated on: November 14, 2025 / 12:19 AM EST / CBS/AP In the American League, Aaron Judge became the New York Yankees' fourth three-time Most Valuable Player winner, edging Seattle's Cal Raleigh with 17 first-place votes to 13 for the switch-hitting catcher.

The vote was the closest for an MVP since the Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout topped Houston's Alex Bregman by 17-13 in 2019. Judge, who won the AL award in 2022 and 2024, joined Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle as three-time MVPs with the Yankees. The 33-year-old outfielder led the majors with a .331 batting average and 1.144 OPS while hitting 53 homers. When asked about his place in MLB and Yankees lore, Judge acknowledged he's in rare company. The 2025 American League MVP race wrapped up with New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge once again standing atop the baseball world. In a nail-biting vote, Judge barely edged out Seattle Mariners star catcher Cal Raleigh to claim the honor for the second straight year—and the third time in his career.

This achievement puts Judge among some of the most legendary names in Major League history. It also adds another chapter to a growing rivalry between two of the league’s brightest stars. By winning the 2025 AL MVP, Aaron Judge becomes just the 13th player in MLB history to earn the award three times. Among Yankees legends, only Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle have reached that milestone. That’s rarified air, and it really cements Judge’s place as one of the franchise’s all-time greats. Judge’s numbers?

Honestly, they’re wild. The Yankees captain posted a slash line of .331/.457/.688, leading the league in average, on-base percentage, and slugging. The MLB released the 2026 regular season schedule. Here is a look at key dates and events. The New York Yankees outfielder won his third career American League Most Valuable Player award on Thursday, edging out Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh and Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez. Judge, 33, previously won MVP in 2022 and 2024.

He's just the fourth player to win the award at least three times for the Yankees -- joining Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle -- and the first to do it in a... Judge joins Berra and Mantle as the only Yankees to win consecutive MVPs. While Judge's counting numbers were down from his previous two MVP runs, he still put together a monster season. The Yankees captain hit a career-best .331 with 53 home runs and 114 RBIs -- leading the AL in runs scored, walks, batting average, slugging percentage, on-base plus slugging, total bases and intentional walks. Raleigh was Judge's closest competition this season, leading the AL with 60 home runs and 125 RBIs. The Mariners star hit just .247 though, not getting on base nearly as much as Judge.

Shohei Ohtani's fourth MVP award was announced Thursday, but the race was effectively decided in September or even earlier. The same can't be said for the American League's edition of the award. New York Yankees star Aaron Judge had to sweat out the vote totals all the way until Thursday's announcement, when he narrowly won his third AL MVP award over Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. Ohtani and Judge became the first pair of players to win back-to-back MVP awards together, earning the award in 2024 and 2025. Here's a closer look at the vote totals in both the AL and NL. MORE: Full list of winners, finalists for 2025 MLB Awards

After a storybook season, Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh finished second place for the American League Most Valuable Player Award, receiving 13 first-place votes, four less than the Yankees' outfielder Aaron Judge. With the victory, the 33-year-old Judge is now the owner of three MVP trophies. Raleigh received a lot of sentimental votes, cast by those who saw him as a long shot and an underdog. His Ruthian-like stats were hard to ignore, and the M's backstop is widely considered one of the truly 'good guys' in the game. Tip of the 🧢 to Cal Raleigh on a historic 2025 season! 👏- Led MLB with 60 HR- Led AL with 125 RBI- Single-season HR record by a primary catcher- Single-season HR record by a switch-hitter- Single-season HR record by a Mariner pic.twitter.com/mNwfXNyIL5

For the record, Raleigh finished the 2025 campaign with 60 home runs and notched 125 RBI, 110 runs scored, 24 doubles, and 14 stolen bases. However, his batting average was only .241. Meanwhile, Judge won his first batting title with a .331 average, with 53 home runs, 114 RBIs, and an MLB-leading 1.145 OPS. It was that sharp contrast in averages that was enough to give the nod to Judge. There are many MLB fans (particularly in Seattle) who feel Raleigh was robbed, and there a few accolades and personal milestones that the voters should have looked at closer. After a historic season for Mariners superstar catcher Cal Raleigh, Aaron Judge edged Raleigh for his second American League Most Valuable Player award in a row.

Mariners fans anxiously awaited good news that Raleigh's historic season would be properly rewarded, but unfortunately, that was not the case. Judge earned 17 first-place votes to Raleigh's 13 first-place votes. Had both players received 15 votes, the MVP award would have been shared. Raleigh hit 60 home runs during the regular season, the most ever by a catcher, switch-hitting player, and Mariner in history, beating out Salvador Perez, Mickey Mantle, and Ken Griffey, Jr., respectively. But Judge had an incredible season, with a .331 batting average, .457 OBP, .688 slugging percentage, 1.144 OPS, 53 home runs, and 114 RBI. Like Raleigh, Judge led his New York Yankees to a division title.

Judge narrowly edged out Cal Raleigh to pick up his third career AL MVP. Aaron Judge is your 2025 American League MVP. He narrowly beat out the Mariners’ all-world catcher Cal Raleigh to win the award for the third time in his career and the third time in the last four seasons, the others coming in... In winning his third MVP, he joined the illustrious group of Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, and three-time Yankees MVPs Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and... Judge trails only Shohei Ohtani and Barry Bonds for most wins all-time. He became the first player in the AL to defend his MVP crown since Miguel Cabrera scored consecutive wins in 2012 and 2013.

Judge led all of MLB with 10.1 fWAR and won the first batting title of his career, pacing the league with a .331 average. His 53 home runs marked the fourth time in his career he has breached the 50-homer plateau, joining Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa as the only players in MLB history to achieve... In fact, he led the AL in pretty much every offensive category including on-base, slugging, total bases, and Win Probability Added. His 204 wRC+ means he was over 100-percent more productive than the average MLB hitter, with the next-highest mark belonging to Ohtani at 172. It’s a level of production that is hard to compute even as we watched it with our own eyes every game. Judge just nipped ahead of Raleigh to win the award, finishing with 17 first-place votes to Raleigh’s 13.

It was a far closer race than when Judge won unanimously in 2024 and properly reflects the astonishing season turned in by the Mariners’ backstop. Raleigh became the first primary catcher and first switch-hitter to slug 60 home runs in a season, just the fourth time that an AL hitter has slugged 60 bombs in a season, joining Ruth,... To go along with his stellar defense behind the plate, Raleigh accrued 9.1 fWAR, second among position players behind Judge. Raleigh’s performance would have merited winning the award in pretty much any other season had his primary competition not been the greatest right-handed hitter in history, and a massive tip of the cap from... As indicated above, Cody Bellinger was the only other Yankee to receive down-ballot votes, earning a seventh, eighth, and tenth place vote to finish 14th. It’s the 2019 NL MVP’s best finish in the voting since placing 10th in 2023 and reflects an impressive walk year performance that should earn him a lucrative contract in free agency — be...

Aaron Judge Wins 2025 Al Mvp Edges Mariners Cal Raleigh

People Also Search

For The Second Straight Season, New York Yankees Captain Aaron

Judge Is The Fourth Yankee With Three MVPs, Joining Hall

The 2025 MLB Awards Season Came To An Exciting Finish

Aaron Judge Continued His Dominance At The Plate, While Raleigh

The Vote Was The Closest For An MVP Since The