New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh have each enjoyed fruitful seasons and could both compete in the Postseason. However, their race for this season’s American League MVP has been what has especially captured the attention of fans and pundits down the stretch.
Mark Feinsand and MLB.com recently polled several front office executives and asked whether they would vote for Judge or Raleigh. The results were close, but favored Raleigh, who received seven votes as opposed to the six votes that Judge earned. Interestingly, there was also one executive who could not decide between the two.
Raleigh has been on a tear for the majority of the season. He leads baseball with 56 home runs and 118 RBIs. The 28-year-old recently broke Mickey Mantle’s switch-hitting home run record and tied Ken Griffey Jr. for the Mariners’ single-season mark.
“He is putting together an unprecedented season that is about as well-rounded as you can imagine,” an NL executive said. “While both are part of a team surging toward a playoff spot, it feels like Raleigh is right in the middle of everything they are doing at the moment.”
While he spent a portion of the season on the injured list, Judge has been excellent when healthy. He has hit 48 home runs, collected 104 RBIs, posted a .328 batting average, and earned a 1.129 OPS.
The New York captain has been significantly better than Raleigh in terms of both batting average and OPS. This could sway AL MVP voters in favor of Judge.
“Holy cow, that’s a tough call; I’m actually glad I don’t have a vote,” said one NL executive. “I would lean towards Judge because I think he’s had the better overall season in terms of quality of performance. The home run total and positional advantage would go to Raleigh, but outside of that, I think you can put Judge ahead across the board. And as weird as it might sound, I actually think the Yankees would miss him more than the Mariners would miss Raleigh. I can’t believe I’m saying that, but I think Judge is that important to them.”
There has only been one tie in the award’s history. Keith Hernandez and Willie Stargell shared the National League MVP in 1979. While Judge and Raleigh might not be destined to reach a similar outcome, the race has gone down to the wire.
