Every World Series MVP from the 21st century

The Yankees completed the three-peat in the fabled “Subway Series.” While the Mets played the Yankees close games in and game out, the Yankees took the series in five games. Jeter, already a star for New York, hit two homers and batted .409, which pretty much locked him into World Series MVP, given he was the face of the franchise.

Voters could have opted for Johnson or Schilling, but they wanted co-MVPs because it was more fun and created a more interesting narrative. At the time, both seemed like future Hall of Famers. In the end, only Johnson, arguably the best left pitcher in history, got the call. Both were stellar in helping the Diamondbacks upset the Yankees, though. Schilling started three games in one series! He posted a 1.69 ERA in the process. Johnson started two games, but pitched in three, picked up three wins, and had a 1.09 ERA. You know, maybe the co-MVP thing was fair.

The Angels won their only title to date, and they kept Barry Bonds from getting a World Series ring, the closest he ever got to winning one. This was an exciting seven-game series, with Glaus ending up as the MVP. While he’s no great of the game, Glaus was a good player, a four-time all-star who once led the American League in homers. He hit three homers in this series, and by Game 7, he was being intentionally walked so the Giants could keep him from doing any more damage.

This is one of the two seasons in MLB history in which the Marlins built themselves into title contenders before blowing it all back up again. Beckett, who would later emerge as an all-star with the Red Sox, had his proverbial “coming out party” in this World Series. After all, not many people watched the Marlins, but many watched the Yankees. While Beckett pitched twice in this series, he was the MVP because of his second start. In the clinching Game 6, he pitched a complete-game shutout.

After years of waiting, the Red Sox finally won a World Series. Also, after a tense ALCS, they basically breezed to the title. Boston swept St. Louis, so there wasn’t a lot of time to build an MVP resume. A few hitters were in the mix, but Ramirez was the most famous, and he hit .412 in the series, so there you have it. Sure, he also committed errors because he was bad in the field, but were you going to give the World Series MVP to Mark Bellhorn?

This is the first name where we think, “Oh yeah, right, weird.” Dye was a solid player. He made two All-Star Games and won a Gold Glove. Dye was also the White Sox’s second-best hitter in 2005, and he did more in the field than Paul Konerko. In the World Series, a four-game sweep of an Astros team still in the NL, there wasn’t really a question about the MVP. Dye posted a 1.214 OPS while picking up seven hits and scoring three runs.

The power of scrappiness! St. Louis was an underdog, and in a way, Eckstein exemplified that. He had no power and was a middling fielder, but, um, he was 5’6’’ and played hard? Eckstein did have an .891 OPS over five games with the Tigers, but you know who had a higher OPS than that? Yadier Molina. Scott Rolen. Albert Pujols. You know, three Hall of Fame-caliber players.

Fun fact: Once upon a time, the Rockies were a good baseball team. It’s true, they even made it to the 2007 World Series! And then the Red Sox swept them. In 2007, Lowell made his fourth and final All-Star Game, and he finished fifth in the MVP voting. Those good feelings about him may have bled into World Series MVP voting. He did have a 1.300 OPS with three doubles, a homer, and a stolen base. Lowell was the only Red Sox player to go yard and swipe a bag.

The Phillies won the World Series over the Rays in five games, and Ryan Howard had a 1.137 OPS with three homers. And yet, he wasn’t World Series MVP. That went to Hamels. He started two of the five games in the series, winning the opener and pitching well in Game 5. Hamels had a 2.77 ERA over those starts, which was evidently appreciated more than Howard’s hitting.

The Yankees won yet another World Series, but this one has had to tide over fans for a long time. Alex Rodriguez got his ring as well, and with three doubles, a homer, and a stolen base in six games, he probably imagined such a performance would have won him MVP. However, Matsui absolutely obliterated Philly pitching. The Japanese slugger had a 2.027 OPS. That’s an OPS over 2.000! That’s almost unheard of!

Renteria was a star (including being a four-time all-star) with the Cardinals, but he won his two rings to bookend his career. First, in 1997, he was on the title-winning Marlins. Then, in 2010, at the end of his career, he won another title with the Giants. During the regular season Renteria played in 72 games with no power. Then, suddenly, he turned back the clock against the Rangers. The shortstop slugged .765 over five games.

After some so-so World Series, we got a classic in 2011. It was so good it effectively made sure Freese would have his place in MLB history. Honestly, he made his one All-Star Game in 2012 mostly as a carryover from his 2011 playoff run that saw him win the NLCS and World Series MVPs. The Cardinals won a riveting seven-game series over the Rangers, with Freese hitting .348 with five extra-base hits. That includes two massive hits in Game 6 that kept the Cardinals alive.

The Giants’ sweep of the Tigers didn’t leave much room to make an impact. And yet, Sandoval managed and then some. “Kung Fu Panda” hit .500 and managed three homers in only four games to pace the Giants’ offense.

For a DH to win World Series MVP, he needs to really mash. Ortiz did that, to be sure. He legitimately carried the Red Sox’s offense in a six-game win over the Cardinals. “Big Papi” had a 1.948 OPS. Literally nobody else on Boston had an OPS over .599.

Had Bumgarner’s career not collapsed after he left San Francisco for Arizona, he may have been a Hall of Famer. He’ll always have the 2014 postseason, though, when Bumgarner pitched the Giants to a World Series. Bumgarner was the NLCS MVP, and then he bested himself in the World Series. In a seven-game series, Bumgarner picked up two wins, but he also earned the save in Game 7. He finished with a 0.43 ERA over 21.0 innings.

The Royals weren’t deterred by 2014. They returned to the World Series in 2015 and won. Kansas City beat the Mets in five games, without anybody really standing out, hitting or pitching. Perez hit .364, though, and he was a catcher, and that sufficed for the MVP voters.

Zobrist will always be tied to the Cubs ending their century-plus title drought. Chicago beat Cleveland in seven games, and the stars of the team Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant were viable choices for World Series MVP. Zobrist, though, was the choice. He had a .919 OPS in the series, but more to the point, he broke the tie in the 10th innings of Game 7, the Cubs’ biggest hit of the series.

The 2017 World Series will always leave a bit of an ill taste in the mouth of many fans, as the Astros won a title forever tied to the sign-stealing scandal. Of course, the alternative was the Dodgers winning it all, and that’s not exactly exciting, either. Springer had an incredible seven-game series. He slugged 1.000 and hit five home runs. It’s almost like Springer knew what to expect or something.

Pearce is the most obscure player in this list. He never made an All-Star Game and he played for seven MLB teams. Pearce was actually traded from Toronto to Boston during the 2018 season, and it was largely an afterthought. In a five-game series against the Dodgers, though, Pearce hit three home runs. The next year, he hit one homer with the Red Sox and then retired.

Owing to injuries, Strasburg only lived up to his hype as one of the best pitching prospects ever sporadically. 2019 was his last hurrah, as he finished fifth in the Cy Young voting, won World Series MVP, and then never pitched more than 22 innings in a season again. Strasburg made two starts against the Astros in 2019, winning both games and posting a 2.51 ERA. In hindsight, maybe it should have been Juan Soto, but it’s nice Strasburg got some hardware after all the expectations.

Obviously, this was a weird World Series because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dodgers and Rays played in isolation, with the Dodgers winning in six games. Seager, winner of Rookie of the Year once upon a time, had a 1.256 OPS as a shortstop. Justin Turner hit almost as well as Seager, but Seager’s defensive player gave him the edge.

Soler was another trade acquisition that paid off with a World Series MVP, but Soler was no Pearce. A couple of years earlier, he had led the American League with 48 home runs, and in 2023, he would be an all-star. After Soler moved from KC to Atlanta, he hit 14 homers in 55 regular-season games. In a six-game series with the Astros, the Cuban slugger added three more homers and took home the MVP.

The Astros would get their revenge on the NL East the next season, winning the World Series in six games over the Phillies. Carlos Correa was gone, and Pena stepped in as the starting shortstop for Houston. Flashing a Gold Glove-winning glove, the rookie hit .400, making Astros fans feel pretty good about the lack of Correa in town.

Seager is the only two-time winner on this list. Not only has Seager won World Series MVP twice, he’s done it with different teams. In 2023, Seager won the award with the Rangers. Texas took home its first title by besting Arizona in five games. In addition to his .375 OBP, Seager had six RBI and six runs scored. He paced the Rangers’ offense.

This time, the Dodgers got to celebrate a title with fans. Freeman’s World Series MVP was probably locked up in Game 1, when he crushed a grand slam in the bottom of the 10th innings. Had the series gone seven games, maybe somebody else might have had a chance. Instead, the Dodgers took down the Yankees in five games, and Freeman cruised to MVP.

Yamamoto helped the Dodgers pull off a repeat in a remarkable seven-game series with the Blue Jays. His pitching performance in the 2025 playoffs would have been impressive 40 years ago, but in the current landscape it felt otherworldly. After pitching a complete game in the NLCS, he also pitched a complete game and only allowed one run in his first World Series start. In his second, he only went six innings, but once again he only allowed one run. Then, in the 11-inning Game 7, Yamamoto pitched again. He pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowed zero runs, and pitched up the clinching victory.