University of Kwazulu-Natal

Yankees Aaron Judge Shouldn T Have Had Mvp Competition

Bonisiwe Shabane
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yankees aaron judge shouldn t have had mvp competition

New York Yankees outfielder and captain Aaron Judge is having one of his best seasons yet. He's a seven-time All-Star and is once again in the MVP conversation, going for his fourth time with the honor. However, some critics are suggesting Judge could be pushed out. One of the loudest names in competition with Judge is Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. Raleigh is having an incredible season and is leading the league with 38 home runs. He also won Monday's home run derby, crushing heavy hitters like Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder ONeil Cruz.

Some fans have taken to pointing out that Raleigh's hitting stats are massively impressive "for a catcher," given that catchers generally require different builds and skillsets than outfielders. While that may be true, the AL MVP award is not for player with the best stats given their position. Judge is leading the league post All-Star break in batting average (.355), on base percentage (.462), slugging percentage (.733), OPS (1.195), hits (125). He trails only Raleigh for homers (35) and is second in runs (85) only to Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani (91). If Judge were on any other team, these feats 11 years into a career would be considered miraculous. Because he plays for a team that is so known for dominance that they're hated for it, he's put into competition with players just not on his level.

While there is no clear-cut criteria for the personality of an MVP, Judge is an exemplary as captain as well as player. He's well respected by his teammates, keeps to himself and invests time into the local community with his All Rise Foundation. Though plenty of other players on other teams exhibit these same characteristics, Judge's MVP case is bolstered by his character. 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 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. 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.” Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge won the 2025 American League MVP, cementing this as one of the greatest stretches in MLB history. And yet, there's something missing.

This would go for any player having such a stretch, but it's especially magnified when we look through the lens of Yankees history. The Yankees haven't won the World Series since 2009. That's 16 empty seasons in the Bronx. They went 17 years between the 1978 and 1996 titles, but there wasn't a World Series in one of those seasons (the 1994 strike caused a World Series cancellation and the Yankees had the... Keeping this in mind, the Yankees have tied their longest stretch of World Series without winning one since their first in 1923. And, again, they're doing it with Judge on a historic individual run.

This isn't recency bias or hyperbole. I'm not being a prisoner of the moment. Judge has now won three MVPs in the last four seasons. The one time he didn't win it, he missed 56 games due to injury and lost out to a historic Shohei Ohtani season. Still, we're talking about a four-year stretch in which Judge has hit .311/.439/.677 (209 OPS+) with 210 home runs, 464 RBI, 471 runs and 35.9 WAR. The general guideline for WAR is that 8.0 is an MVP-caliber season.

Judge is averaging just about 9.0 per season in the last four, even accounting for the extended absence for injury in 2023. He's also averaging 53 home runs, 116 RBI and 118 runs. Aaron Judge might have won this season’s American League MVP award — but his competition was within arm’s reach. Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees. Judge beat out Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh by just four first-place votes, the closest MVP race in any league since 2019, when Angels outfielder Mike Trout won over Astros third baseman Alex Bregman by... Before that, the next closest AL MVP race came when Justin Morneau of the Twins bested Derek Jeter in 2006, with the first baseman getting 15 first-place votes to Jeter’s 12.

Raleigh had one of the best offensive seasons for a catcher in recent history, hitting a MLB-leading 60 home runs, along with 125 RBIs and a .948 OPS. Aaron Judge won this third AL MVP and now has taken home the award in three of the past four seasons, a dominant stretch that has bolstered his Hall of Fame resume. Al Bello / Getty Images LAS VEGAS — New York Yankees star Aaron Judge, who led MLB in batting average while hitting 53 home runs, beat the Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh in a close vote to win his third... Judge netted 17 first-place votes and 355 points to edge Raleigh, who garnered 13 first-place votes and 335 points, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced Thursday night. The Cleveland Guardians’ José Ramírez (224 points) finished third.

Judge’s across-the-board offensive dominance in leading the Yankees to a tie for the AL’s best record won out over whispers of voter fatigue amid a historic season from Raleigh, whose 60 home runs were... In the National League, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter and starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani unanimously won his fourth MVP award.

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