Jul 12, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a double during the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

MVP Discourse Surrounding Yankees' Aaron Judge is Ridiculous

Originally posted on New York Yankees on SI
By Jack Markowski | Last updated Jul 15, 2025 12:00 PM ET

No disrespect to Cal Raleigh and the season he's putting together for the Seattle Mariners, but New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is miles ahead of him in the race for the American League MVP Award.

Raleigh put on a show in the Home Run Derby on Monday night, launching 54 home runs into the Atlanta night at Truist Park en route to becoming the first catcher to ever win the event.

The hype train surrounding Raleigh had already been off the rails before taking home some hardware, but his MVP candidacy has come even more into focus as a result. Through 94 games, the 28-year-old leads the entire league with 38 home runs, finishing one shy of Barry Bonds' first-half record, and 82 RBIs while slashing .259/.376/.634.

Raleigh is well on his way towards breaking Salvador Perez's single-season home run record for a catcher at 48, and he's also on pace to best Judge's AL record of 62 long balls, which was set in 2022.

The Mariners' backstop is in the midst of a historic campaign, especially by the standards set at his position, but he's simply not at the same level as Judge.

While he may trail slightly behind Raleigh with 35 homers and 81 RBIs, Judge leads MLB in batting average (.355), on-base percentage (.462) and slugging percentage (.733). Furthermore, the 33-year-old's 7.4 fWAR is tops in the league while his 1.195 OPS is nearly 200 points higher than Raleigh's (1.010).

Judge, who's already established himself as an all-time great and one of the best right-handed hitters to ever play, has a real shot at becoming the first qualified AL player since Frank Thomas in the strike-shortened 1994 campaign to finish a season with an OPS over 1.200.

While positional value, which would give the edge to Raleigh, matters to a certain extent within this discussion, there's still no stopping Judge from taking home the third MVP Award of his career.

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