With the World Series coming to a close, there is just one more thing to be settled before the Major League Baseball offseason can officially begin.  That one thing is to determine who was the American League MVP.  Was it Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners or is it Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees?  Let’s dive in and figure out why it’s clearly Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. 

I will start off by saying Cal Raleigh had a hell of a season.  One of the best ever for a catcher.  In most years it would probably have been good enough for the AL MVP.  However, not when Aaron Judge is being Aaron Judge.  Cal led the American League in home runs and RBIs.  That is a good accomplishment.  But does that make you the MVP?  Well, Kyle Schwarber led the NL in homers and RBIs.  Is he going to be the NL MVP or is Shohei Ohtani going to be the NL MVP?  Let’s look at 2023.  Matt Olson led the NL in home runs and RBIs.  Did he win the MVP?  Nope.  His teammate Ronald Acuna won it.  2021 Salvidor Perez led the AL in homers and RBIs.  MVP?  Nope.  I can go on and on with more examples over the decades.  It has been well established that leading the league in homers and RBIs does not necessarily make you the league MVP.  That’s strike one for Cal. 

Now you might be saying he had his great season as a catcher where as Judge is “only” an outfielder.  Well, last season when DH Shohei Ohtani beat out short stop Francisco Lindor for the NL MVP, defense wasn’t taken into consideration.  If position doesn’t matter between a short stop and a DH, then it should never matter.  Strike two.

Now let’s talk about the seasons they both had.  You know, good ‘ol statistics.  Cal was ahead of Judge in some of the counting stats, i.e. homers (60-53), RBIs (125-114), and stolen bases (14-12).  But Judge had more doubles (30-24), hits (179-147), triples (2-0), runs (137-110), walks (124-97), and had fewer strike outs (160-188).  (I just have to point out that Joe DiMaggio once had a season where he played 139 games and struck out 13 times).   Right there it is clear that Judge had the better season.  But now let’s look at the non-counting stats.

Batting average, Judge lead the Majors hitting .331, Cal hit .247.  On base percentage, Judge again led the Majors at .457.  Cal reached base at a .359 pace.  Those are huge gaps between Judge and Cal.  Not to mention Judge is the first person to win a batting title and hit over 50 home runs since Mantle did it in 1956.  Jimmie Foxx is the only other guy to do it.  We are in an era where hitting for a high average isn’t a common thing and Judge does it while hitting 53 home runs.  This is so impressive and is why he is so much better than everyone else playing these days. 

Continuing on, Slugging percentage, Judge .688, Cal .589.  Again a 100-point difference.  OPS, Judge 1.144, Cal .948.  Oh, and Judge led the Majors in both.  OPS+ (whatever that is), Judge 215, Cal 169.  WAR, Judge led the Majors at 9.7 and Cal was at 7.3.  Do I have to keep going?  Don’t worry, I will. 

Win Probability Added, Judge 5.6, Cal 3.7.  Base Out Runs Added, Judge 73.52, Cal 51.41.  Base Outs Wins Added, Judge 7.2, Cal 5.3.  Most people have never heard of these stats, yet Judge dominates in all of them. 

Here’s some stats that don’t really matter but are also fun to look at, Head-to-head.  In the 6 games they played against each other Judge hit .348 with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 6 RBIs, 5 walks, 8 Ks, a .433 OBP, a .433 OBP, and a 1.129 OPS.  Cal hit .217 with 1 double, 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 2 walks, 6 Ks, a .217 average, a .280 OBP, and a .802 OPS. 

Here are some other stats to consider.  Judge had 24 go ahead home runs, the most in the Majors.  Judge won the AL player of the month 3 times, Cal won it once.   Player of the week was won by Judge 3 times and Cal twice.   

I don’t know what else there is to say.  Aside from home runs and RBIs, Judge absolutely dominates Cal in every statistical category.  And Judge is at least as important to the Yankees as anyone is to their team.  And importance to team winning, aka Valuable, hasn’t mattered in decades anyways.  If it did Ohtani would not have won the MVP last year or this year.   

So there you have it.  Clearly Aaron Judge is the 2025 AL MVP no matter who they give the trophy to.  Oh, one more thing, if you are thinking to yourself “hey, wait a minute, isn’t Jose Ramirez a finalist for MVP as well”?  He is.  But he isn’t in this conversation.  I have been one of Ramirez’s biggest fans for most of his career.  I love that dude.  He is so underrated.  But he is not in this conversation.  He was named because they have to name three guys.  Just like they named two NL guys beside Ohtani even though we all know Ohtani is going to win.