102(63%) games Aaron Judge/Cal Raleigh 2025

[Podunkparte]

Cal did A LOT to close the gap tonight IMO. 10 multi HR games now, most by a switch hitter, and another hitting one from both sides. I get that Judge is having a great offensive season, but Cal is doing the flashy things that tend to get attention.

 

[Old Sweater]

Today’s fWAR- Judge 8.8/Raleigh 8.4 Passed Mantle, tied Griffey Jr, set catcher homer records.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Even with Cal having the best season for a catcher...ever, I just don't see how you take him over Judge. Judge is better in every category pretty easily...except HR's and RBI's. What Judge is doing across the board reminds me of a Barry Bonds lite type of season in his prime.

 

[nynasty]

Judge has been intentionally walked 31 times. Raleigh 16

Pitchers know who the MVP is

 

[navamind]

Even with Cal having the best season for a catcher...ever, I just don't see how you take him over Judge. Judge is better in every category pretty easily...except HR's and RBI's. What Judge is doing across the board reminds me of a Barry Bonds lite type of season in his prime.

No question Judge has been the best hitter in MLB (Ohtani is the only player within 30 points of him in wRC+) and I'd vote for him right now, but I still think it's a fairly close race. Judge has a 0.6 win advantage in FanGraphs WAR, it's not a huge advantage. I guess it comes down to how much you weigh positions (114 games at C (most in AL) and 35 games at DH, Judge has 86 games in OF and 55 at DH)

 

[Shanemansj13]

No question Judge has been the best hitter in MLB (Ohtani is the only player within 30 points of him in wRC+) and I'd vote for him right now, but I still think it's a fairly close race. Judge has a 0.6 win advantage in FanGraphs WAR, it's not a huge advantage. I guess it comes down to how much you weigh positions (114 games at C (most in AL) and 35 games at DH, Judge has 86 games in OF and 55 at DH)

Is defense even valued? Maybe a bit but unless there is a huge disparity it probably won’t play a big part.
Sometimes they give it to the new candidate (in other sports specifically NBA) and that isn’t saying Cal isn’t deserving bc he is but I would vote Judge.

I don’t really care either way

 

[wazzu31]

Voting is closed. Maybe next year Judge

 

[WizardHawk]

The only non Yankee to reach 60HR in a season in AL history. Because the 4th player to reach that mark in AL history.
Helped lead his team to their first division championship in 24 years.

Yes, Judge is the most valuable hitter in the AL. But this year Cal should at least be considered as the most valuable overall player, especially to his team, in the AL.

I won't be too fussed over who wins it. They are both crazy good at what they do. Wouldn't bother me if it ended up in only the 2nd tie in history either.

The playoffs are where it's at. Player hardware is not nearly as important.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I mean it's a CATCHER. It's easily the hardest defensive position in baseball and Cal played over 110 games at that position (not just DH). And Judge I believe has been majority DH. Don't get me wrong, his value on offense is prob. #1 - but as a PLAYER? Eh? As a DH in Yankees stadium 30-40 homers and a great average/OBP is EXPECTED. Not 60 homers from a catcher in one of the worst (if not THE worst) hitter friendly parks in the majors. Put Raleigh on the Yankees and he's probably over 70 HRs at this point (especially given he's a switch hitter and the easy RF homers in New York).

That said, it wont shock me at all if Judge gets it. First off, Judge would deserve it, his hitting this year has been incredible and the Yankees are now tied for the division. Second, it's the Yankees. MLB loves their major market teams, and Seattle isn't it... so yah.

Put Raleigh on Boston, LA, or New York and he would EASILY win the MVP because the jersey sales would be WILD (face it, most people aren't buying a Mariners jersey lol). Now, it's a toss up.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I should also rephrase my last sentence from EASILY to have a much better chance. Again, Judge has an incredible season going. His OPS is through the roof.

I think it really comes down to "If you were building a team and got the 1st pick, who would you take?" I think most people are going to take Judge over Raleigh. So when you think about MVP - that's kind of where it leans. Raleigh will go down in the history books probably for quite some time - is that worthy of an MVP title as well? Hard to say.

Is MVP breaking 2x HOFer records (one being a former player on his TEAM - but both in a different era?) and an all time positional record, and joining a < 5 crew if you ignore PEDS? Or is MVP about who you'd choose first on your roster if you were building a team from scratch? As much as it pains me to say, I think it's the later - and I think most people would take Judge. It's tough though.

 

[Old Sweater]

To my Yankees fan surprise, Judge won the MVP. For sure I thought the headline grabbing Raleigh would win it.

 

[Cedrique]

It could have gone either way and it wouldn't have surprised me. Judge leads in a lot of offensive categories and has a better season long WAR. But we've never seen a guy catch 120 games and hit 60 homeruns in a season. That's pretty Valuable. And a lot of times if it's close the voters try not to pick the same guy 2 years in a row but I guess Judge's overall offensive stats were too good to ignore.

 

[comet28]

Vote was 17-13, now I'm mad they weren't co-MVPs

 

[Clayton]

I kinda think they got it wrong but its not egregiously wrong or anything. It is one of those things when its close give it to the harder position imo.

 

[Old Sweater]

			Voti				Batt												Pitc
Rank	Name	Tm	Vote Pts	1st Place	Share	WAR	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	W	L	ERA	WHIP	G	GS	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	SO
1	Aaron Judge	NYY	355.0	17.0	85%	9.7	152	541	137	179	53	114	12	124	.331	.457	.688	1.144
2	Cal Raleigh	SEA	335.0	13.0	80%	7.4	159	596	110	147	60	125	14	97	.247	.359	.589	.948
3	Jose Ramirez	CLE	224.0	0.0	53%	5.8	158	593	103	168	30	85	44	66	.283	.360	.503	.863
4	Bobby Witt Jr.	KCR	215.0	0.0	51%	7.1	157	623	99	184	23	88	38	49	.295	.351	.501	.852
5	Tarik Skubal	DET	139.0	0.0	33%	6.5	0												13	6	2.21	0.891	31	31	0	195.1	141	18	33	241
6	Julio Rodriguez	SEA	136.0	0.0	32%	6.8	160	652	106	174	32	95	30	44	.267	.324	.474	.798
7	George Springer	TOR	125.0	0.0	30%	4.8	140	498	106	154	32	84	18	69	.309	.399	.560	.959
8	Garrett Crochet	BOS	74.0	0.0	18%	6.3	0												18	5	2.59	1.028	32	32	0	205.1	165	24	46	255
9	Junior Caminero	TBR	37.0	0.0	9%	4.4	154	602	93	159	45	110	7	41	.264	.311	.535	.846
10	Jeremy Pena	HOU	32.0	0.0	8%	5.6	125	493	68	150	17	62	20	35	.304	.363	.477	.840
11	Byron Buxton	MIN	30.0	0.0	7%	4.9	126	488	97	129	35	83	24	41	.264	.327	.551	.878
12	Nick Kurtz	ATH	29.0	0.0	7%	5.4	117	420	90	122	36	86	2	63	.290	.383	.619	1.002
13	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	TOR	14.0	0.0	3%	4.6	156	589	96	172	23	84	6	81	.292	.381	.467	.848
14	Cody Bellinger	NYY	7.0	0.0	2%	5.1	152	588	89	160	29	98	13	57	.272	.334	.480	.813
14	Maikel Garcia	KCR	7.0	0.0	2%	5.8	160	595	81	170	16	74	23	62	.286	.351	.449	.800
16	Bo Bichette	TOR	5.0	0.0	1%	3.5	139	582	78	181	18	94	4	40	.311	.357	.483	.840
17	Riley Greene	DET	3.0	0.0	1%	2.2	157	600	84	155	36	111	2	46	.258	.313	.493	.806
18	Aroldis Chapman	BOS	1.0	0.0	0%	3.5	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0					5	3	1.17	0.701	67	0	32	61.1	28	3	15	85
18	Yandy Diaz	TBR	1.0	0.0	0%	3.4	150	583	79	175	25	83	3	57	.300	.366	.482	.848
18	Jacob Wilson	ATH	1.0	0.0	0%	3.0	125	486	62	151	13	63	5	27	.311	.355	.444	.800

[thead] [/thead]

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/14/2025.

 

[wazzu31]

Congrats to Judge. I know Yankees fans don’t care about defense cause they let Jeter become a hero but he did have a great offensive season.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Id have picked Cal

Top 5 all time offensive season for a catcher

 

[navamind]

I'd have gone with Cal, but it's still very close and Judge is a very reasonable choice. A 215 OPS+ is insane, iffy defense/DH aside. FWIW, I think both had better years than Ohtani (that's not a knock either).