Three dark horse AL MVP candidates who could surprise MLB this year

Over the past few years, MVP awards have been subject to two separate monopolies: New York Yankees titan Aaron Judge and Los Angeles Dodgers two-way stud Shohei Ohtani. 

In the AL, Judge won the award in three out of the past four years, losing the opportunity in an injury-hampered 2023 season, a season that saw Ohtani grab his last AL MVP before donning Dodger blue.

Since leaving for the NL, Ohtani has cemented his monopoly in the league, running away with the MVP honors unanimously twice. Meanwhile, in the AL, Judge found a surprising challenger in Cal Raleigh, whose historic 60 home-run campaign and solid defense behind the plate earned him 13 first-place votes compared to Judge’s 17 last season. 

With The Big Dumper’s extraordinary season falling just shy of Judge’s annual greatness, here are three other overlooked stars who could surprise the baseball world and upend this year’s AL MVP race. 

C Shea Langeliers 

Raleigh came close in the MVP voting thanks to his immense power and premier defense. However, his .247 batting average was likely the factor that sunk his MVP chances. Langeliers, the rising star catcher for the A’s, has the power and bat-to-ball skills to succeed where his fellow backstop failed.

After a relatively slow start to 2025, Langeliers broke out in the second-half of the season, hitting .328/.367/.651 with 19 long balls in 226 at-bats, bringing his stat line up to .277/.325/.536 on the year. His season-total of 31 home runs in 481 at-bats was also an impressive feat. If Langeliers can replicate his second half over the course of a full year, he could be a surprise MVP contender. And he’s already off to a good start, going 5-for-8 with three home runs, including a grand slam entering Sunday.

1B Munetaka Murakami 

Murakami became a Japanese baseball legend in 2022, taking the NPB triple crown with 56 home runs and a .318/.458/.710 slash line. However, Murakami hasn’t reached those heights since, and his rapid strikeout rate in a low-strikeout league made his free agency concerning. And while many concerns about how his bat will play against major league pitching linger, he appears to be dispelling them one swing at a time. 

Since joining the Chicago White Sox, Murakami is 2-for-5 with two moonshots – or Mun-shots, if you will. Thus far, he has three walks and only one strikeout. It may only be a sample size with 160 games left to play, but it would seem we are already getting a sense of how Murakami’s generational power is translating to the majors. If this keeps up, he will definitely land in the MVP conversation.

DH/LF Yordan Alvarez 

Only once in MLB history has a primary DH won MVP honors, that being Ohtani in 2024. If there’s another DH who has that potential, it would be the fearsome lefty from the Houston Astros. 

Alvarez certainly has the power. On Thursday, he hit a towering moonshot that should have been a no-doubter, but wound up going for a long foul ball thanks to the lofty rafters at Daikin Park. Thus far, he is 3-for-11 with one home run.

Last year, Alvarez’s production plummeted in an injury-shortened season. But despite frequently battling injuries throughout his career, he still managed to cement himself as one of the best hitters in MLB, hitting for OPS numbers above .950 in four of five seasons where he saw more than 360 plate appearances. If he can stay healthy, the sky’s the limit. 

Honorable mentions: Junior Caminero, Nick Kurtz, Bobby Witt Jr.