University of Kwazulu-Natal

The Reason Cal Raleigh Deserves Al Mvp Over Aaron Judge

Bonisiwe Shabane
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the reason cal raleigh deserves al mvp over aaron judge

The perennially great Aaron Judge is MVP-worthy yet again. Don’t miss Greg Joyce’s text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he’s giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees. But Cal Raleigh’s 60 home runs are historic. This will be recalled as Raleigh’s year, just as 2022 rightly was Judge’s year. Raleigh joined Judge, Roger Maris, Babe Ruth and some steroid guys as the only players ever to hit 60. Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh had historic seasons, but only one could win the AL MVP.

Steph Chambers / Getty Images By Tyler Kepner, Chandler Rome, Britt Ghiroli and Zack Meisel Plenty has changed about baseball. Little has changed about how voters are supposed to determine the league’s Most Valuable Player. From the official guidance given by the BBWAA: There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means.

It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier. The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931: The 2025 American League MVP race was flat-out wild. Two extraordinary but totally different players — Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh — went head-to-head and gave us one of the most intense MVP debates in recent memory. What does “most valuable” even mean?

Is it about record-breaking offense, or does it include the grind of defense, leadership, and playing tough positions? This year, baseball writers couldn’t agree, and honestly, that made the whole thing way more interesting. When it was all said and done, Aaron Judge took home the award. He racked up 17 first-place votes and finished with 355 points. Cal Raleigh had a strong showing too, pulling in 13 first-place votes. He came up just short, but the tight vote really says a lot about how split everyone felt.

Most years, there’s one guy with the gaudy stats who runs away with it. Not in 2025. Of all of this year's MLB awards races, the most interesting debate surrounds the American League MVP. That debate is moot -- the balloting is long over, and the winner will be announced Thursday night -- but it remains a classic conversation about two of this past season's best performers. With all due respect to perennial candidate Jose Ramirez -- once again an MVP finalist -- the winner is going to be the Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh or the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge. Whatever your opinion on that selection, there is no wrong answer.

This is the perfect encapsulation of pretty much every debate about the MVP award we've had over the decades. My AXE system for rating players is built off of the leading bottom-line metrics with the hope of settling this kind of thing. Often, it's as much a sorting mechanism as it is a definitive answer, but if there is a clear division between players, AXE is usually on target. 1. Aaron Judge, Yankees (164) 2. Cal Raleigh, Mariners (150) 3.

Bobby Witt Jr., Royals (145) 4. Jose Ramirez, Guardians (138) 5. Julio Rodriguez, Mariners (134) 6. Jeremy Pena, Astros (132) 7. George Springer, Blue Jays (131) 8. Byron Buxton, Twins (129) 9.

Maikel Garcia, Royals (128) 10. Gunnar Henderson, Orioles (128) There is a clear separation between Judge and everyone else in the AL. So it's an easy call, right? For all Raleigh did that was historic, Judge has the upper hand in the metrics, and the Mariners star just picked the wrong year to shuffle the record books. For the third time in the last four years, New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge is the American League MVP winner, with the BBWAA wrapping up award week by announcing the MVPs on Thursday...

It was another brilliant season for the hulking slugger, but unlike last year when he won the award unanimously, there was a legitimate challenger this time around in Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. Both players had a compelling case, and while Judge ultimately finished on top, it was one of the closest votes in recent memory: Before we dive into why Big Dumper should have been the 2025 AL MVP, let's first lay out the case for Judge to provide some context. .css-1582m2i{margin:0;font:inherit;font-weight:700;}The Case for Aaron Judge Cal Raleigh, the Seattle Mariners’ switch-hitting catcher, made history by hitting 60 home runs in the 2025 season, redefining the American League MVP debate. While Aaron Judge had an outstanding year, Raleigh’s unique contributions as a catcher significantly impacted his team’s success, solidifying his status as baseball’s Most Valuable Player.

The Seattle Mariners’ switch-hitting catcher, Cal Raleigh, set an unprecedented Major League Baseball record by blasting 60 home runs in 2025, a historic feat that changes the American League MVP conversation. But that hasn’t seemed to matter in many eyes heading into award season. The American League MVP conversation is supposed to be fun. But this year, it’s starting to feel like the national media has already crowned Aaron Judge before the ballots are even in. And that’s wrong. If the award really stands for Most Valuable Player, then the case is simple: Cal Raleigh deserves it.

This isn’t just about raw numbers. Raleigh’s stats are historic, but the story goes far beyond the box score. Context tells the real story. The scarcity of this kind of production from a catcher changes everything. Leadership shows up in ways the stat sheet can’t capture. Raleigh carried the Mariners on both sides of the ball while enduring the most punishing position in the sport, becoming the driving force behind Seattle’s climb back to the top of the AL West...

It is a season unlike anything Major League Baseball has ever witnessed. In the most anticipated award race of the 2025 season, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh finished second in voting for the 2025 American League MVP award Thursday, falling to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. Raleigh's historic season for the Mariners, which helped the club reach Game 7 of the ALCS, wasn’t enough to earn him the prestigious award over Judge, who took home his second straight AL MVP... Of the 30 ballots submitted by the BBWAA, Judge received 17 votes for first place—barely eking out Raleigh, who took home 13 first-place votes. It was the closest vote for MVP in either league since Angels star Mike Trout received 17 first-place votes to win the 2019 AL MVP over Astros slugger Alex Bregman (13 votes). Here’s a closer look at the voting for the top-five 2025 AL MVP finishers:

Raleigh led the American League with 60 home runs and 125 RBIs; he also scored 110 runs on the season for Seattle. No catcher in MLB history has hit more homers in a single season than Raleigh, but Judge’s otherworldly bWAR (9.7) and OPS (1.144) was too much for Raleigh to overcome in the eyes of...

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