Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh finishes runner-up to Aaron Judge for AL MVP

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TORONTO, ONTARIO - OCTOBER 20: Cal Raleigh #29 of the Seattle Mariners hits a solo home run during the fifth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in game seven of the American League Championship Series at the Rogers Centre on October 20, 2025 in Tor (Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)

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Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh finished as the runner-up to New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge for the American League Most Valuable Player award, announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Thursday.

Raleigh narrowly lost out on the award to Judge, with Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez finishing third. Judge received 17 first-place votes, with Raleigh getting 13 as the two players split the vote total from the 30-person panel of BBWAA writers.

Raleigh would have become just the third Mariner to win the award, joining Ken Griffey Jr. in 1997 and Ichiro Suzuki in 2001. Judge won his third AL MVP award overall and second straight. 

Raleigh led all MLB with 60 home runs, and the AL with 125 RBI. He set records for most home runs by a catcher, by a switch-hitter, and by a Mariner, and became the first non-Yankee to hit 60 home runs in American League history.

Judge was clearly the more productive offensive player out of the two, with Raleigh getting extra benefit for playing the most difficult position in the game and his handling of Seattle’s pitching staff.

Judge finished the year with astronomical offensive numbers, batting .331 with 53 home runs, 114 RBI, 137 runs scored (leading the AL), and a whopping 1.144 OPS, which is nearly 200 points higher than Raleigh’s .948 OPS. There wouldn’t have been any debate about the award if it was for the league’s "best offensive player."

But it became a major discussion because of the "valuable" wording in the award. Judge played a less demanding position in the outfield for New York, and played 55 games at designated hitter.

Coming off a 2024 season where he won a Platinum Glove as the best defensive player in the American League, Raleigh delivered one of the best offensive seasons a catcher has ever had. 

Via Fangraphs, Raleigh’s 9.1 WAR (wins above replacement) season is tied for third-best by a catcher ever, trailing only Buster Posey’s 2012 season with the San Francisco Giants (9.8 fWAR), Johnny Bench’s 1972 season with the Cincinnati Reds (9.2 fWAR), and tied with Mike Piazza’s 1997 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Via Baseball-Reference, Raleigh’s 7.4 bWAR is tied for ninth-best all-time with Gary Carter’s 1984 campaign with the Montreal Expos.

Compared to the rest of the catching position across all of MLB, Raleigh’s numbers were comical. He had a 9.1 fWAR and 7.4 bWAR, leading Alejandro Kirk (4.7 fWAR) of the Toronto Blue Jays and Will Smith (4.1 bWAR), leading both metrics by large margins.

He had 29 more home runs than Hunter Goodman (Colorado) and Shea Langeliers (Sacramento). He led in RBI by 25 over Salvador Perez (100) and by 21 in runs scored over William Contreras (89). His .948 OPS was nearly 100 points higher than Langeliers’ .861. 

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