Aaron Judge vs Cal Raleigh: Who Deserves 2025 AL MVP?

The 2025 American League MVP race has sparked one of the most heated sports debates in years. It’s New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge versus Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh—a matchup that’s got fans and analysts buzzing.

Judge’s season was a ridiculous display of power and consistency. Raleigh’s record-breaking performance as a catcher, though, brought historic significance to the conversation.

ESPN analyst Bradford Doolittle dove into the stats and stories, trying to make sense of how modern baseball metrics clash and mesh with old-school narratives. It’s a rare, evenly matched contest, and you can feel the tension in every discussion.

The Statistical Showdown: Judge vs. Raleigh

By classic standards, Aaron Judge’s 2025 campaign was absurd. He led the AL in batting average at .331, scored 137 runs, and mashed 53 home runs.

He was the engine of the Yankees lineup, driving their offense night after night. Meanwhile, Cal Raleigh went on a home run tear—launching a league-best 60 bombs and racking up 125 RBIs, all while handling the grind of catching every day.

The AXE Metric and WAR Calculations

Doolittle’s own AXE metric—which tries to blend offense and defense into one tidy score—put Judge on top at 164 points. Raleigh wasn’t far behind at 150.

The numbers give Judge an edge, but not by enough to end the debate. Modern stats carry a lot of weight now. Baseball Reference WAR had Judge at 9.7 and Raleigh at 7.4. FanGraphs showed Judge at 10.1, Raleigh at 9.1.

Judge looked better on paper, but Raleigh’s defensive value as a catcher—framing, blocking, calling games—made things much closer than the numbers first suggest.

The Role of Team Impact in MVP Voting

Raw stats only tell part of the story. Team success matters, too.

Judge’s bat carried the Yankees to the playoffs. Without him, who knows if they even get there?

For Raleigh, the Mariners’ division title hinged on his leadership and clutch hitting. He wasn’t just piling up numbers—he was the difference-maker.

Historical Significance of Raleigh’s Season

Raleigh’s 2025 campaign blew past old records. He became the first catcher ever to hit 60 homers in a season.

He also set a new mark for switch-hitters. His defense held up, too—it was a season that baseball fans and historians won’t forget anytime soon.

The Evolving MVP Debate

Decades ago, MVP voting leaned on batting average and RBIs. Now, advanced stats like WAR and Win Probability Added shape the conversation.

That shift makes Judge’s all-around dominance tough to overlook. But baseball’s never just about numbers, is it? Raleigh’s year had a storybook feel, and that’s what keeps this race so compelling.

Balancing Metrics and Narrative

Doolittle thinks real MVP voting is a balancing act—mixing hard data with the intangibles that make baseball what it is. Judge is the stats darling: unmatched across the board.

Raleigh, though, is the narrative pick—a once-in-a-generation season at one of the game’s toughest spots. That’s what makes this race impossible to call and impossible to ignore.

Why This Race Enriches the Sport

No matter who takes home the award, this MVP race lifts the sport to another level. Fans get a fresh reminder: baseball’s magic lies in its power to spark debate and blend stats with real human stories.

• Aaron Judge: He’s the clear leader in modern metrics, pushing his team forward with top-tier offensive numbers.
• Cal Raleigh: A catcher who shattered records—his mix of power and defense changed how people see the position in 2025.

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Here is the source article for this story: Should Judge or Raleigh win AL MVP? We weigh every type of debate — and what it means for this year’s race