The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the finalists for the 2025 awards tonight. Those are top three vote getters (listed in alphabetical order) for the four biggest awards: MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year. Winners will be revealed next week, as will each voter’s individual ballot.
MVP
American League
- Aaron Judge (Yankees)
- Cal Raleigh (Mariners)
- José Ramírez (Guardians)
National League
- Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers)
- Kyle Schwarber (Phillies)
- Juan Soto (Mets)
Cy Young
American League
- Hunter Brown (Astros)
- Garrett Crochet (Red Sox)
- Tarik Skubal (Tigers)
National League
- Cristopher Sánchez (Phillies)
- Paul Skenes (Pirates)
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers)
Rookie of the Year
American League
- Roman Anthony (Red Sox)
- Nick Kurtz (Athletics)
- Jacob Wilson (Athletics)
National League
- Drake Baldwin (Braves)
- Caleb Durbin (Brewers)
- Cade Horton (Cubs)
Manager of the Year
American League
- John Schneider (Blue Jays)
- Stephen Vogt (Guardians)
- Dan Wilson (Mariners)
National League
- Terry Francona (Reds)
- Pat Murphy (Brewers)
- Rob Thomson (Phillies)
—————————————————–
The American League MVP race has been hotly debated for months and the arguments will probably continue for years after the award is given out. Judge has already won the award twice and he put up another monster season, hitting 53 home runs with a .331 batting average and .457 on-base percentage. Raleigh hit 60 home runs but his offense was otherwise a notch below Judge. Strictly based on the work done at the plate, Judge gets the edge. However, Raleigh’s performance is completely unprecedented for a catcher. It’s possible some voters give Raleigh the edge due to the extra work catchers have to do working with a pitching staff, on top of the wear-and-tear associated with the position.
Ohtani seems likely to repeat in the National League, given that he continued to hit at an elite rate and also returned to the mound this year. Skubal is expected to repeat as A.L. Cy Young winner, even though Crochet gave him a good run for his money this year. Skenes is generally considered the favorite in the N.L. Kurtz probably earned himself the hardware by launching 36 home runs. The N.L. Rookie of the Year race feels fairly wide open.
With awards voting, the Prospect Promotion Incentive has become a consideration in recent years. Brown has already earned the Astros an extra pick just by being a Cy Young finalist. Baldwin can also net Atlanta an extra pick, but only if he ultimately wins Rookie of the Year in the National League.
The awards will be announced as follows:
- Nov. 10: Rookie of the Year
- Nov. 11: Manager of the Year
- Nov. 12: Cy Young
- Nov. 13: MVP
Photo courtesy of Joe Nicholson, Imagn Images
I like it.
Its going to be Judge as it should be
I don’t have a big beef with Judge being the MVP but what Raleigh did was impressive for a catcher. He should get it. On the other hand Judge was out with injury and still put up a monster year.
What he did was impressive. What Judge did was more valuable. Led the league in OPS and OPS+, the only thing Cal has over Judge is HRs.
Offensive production is also immensely more important than defensive production. If you dont want my word for it, take every FO in baseball as the contracts around the league say exactly that, so Cal playing league average defense at the catcher position with Judge playing average defense at the RF position really isnt enough to outweigh the massive gap in offense between the two players.
Begamin, I respectfully disagree. Judge is the best player in the AL but in my view Raleigh was the most valuable player in the AL this past season. I’m not sure Seattle makes the playoffs without him. Regardless of who ends up winning, in my book CR was this year’s AL MVP.
If Judge is the “best player” then he is the most valuable player. If Judge was on Seattle in Cals place you could make the exact same argument that youre not sure theyd make the playoffs, especially since Judge is better and had the better season.
Benjamin —
Nope.
Wow great argument
@Begamin I agree with all you said here except for the contracts. The value of contracts does not directly correlate to overall value provided in the game. Teams pay much for offensive production as it is generates more revenue. In baseball much like other sports, the diehard fans generally appreciate defense, but average and casual fans predominantly favor offense as it equates to excitement.
Maybe theres something to that, but fans also appreciate wins over everything and front offices are trying to put win as much as possible (with exception of teams like the Pirates who have a different approach to baseball all together)
Respectfully, Judge is the reason the Yankees are in the playoffs pretty much every year. He has to carry each years roster of overpriced, under performing has beens and never will be’s into the playoffs.
I would argue Seattle actually had a more well rounded team.
Either team would have suffered with the loss of their respective star.
Canuckle, in past years I would agree with you but this season, the Yankees had much more than just Judge. While Seattle had important contributions this year from Rodriguez and their deadline pickups, Raleigh had so many important HRs that added with his catching, he’s my MVP as the league’s most valuable player.
With respect to judge and the year that he has had, there will never be another offensive bombardment from a catcher like Cal has had-period!
Unless Cal Raleigh does it again 😉
Its not “the most unique season” award
More home runs than any switch hitter including Mantle and Murray speaks volumes. Add in the importance of so many and in my view, Raleigh was more valuable to Seattle in 25 than Judge was to the Yankees.
Yankees without Judge for the short time he was hurt went into free-fall. Last year the teams offense was Soto, Judge and 7 outs until they came back up again.
You also do NOT see guys like Judge pop up through the years, hes putting up historic numbers its not his fault youre numb to it. Even if that silly thing you said was true, so, its an MVP award, not most unique season award. Itll be a long time before you see the best basketball player ever take minor league at bats, doesnt mean MJ should be crowned MVP.
Benjamin—
Ah, no.
Doing some smug snarky remark isnt gonna make Cal win the award
Before Judge there was HoF players so therefore a HoF player and the most valuable player shouldnt get an MVP award is your argument? Really?
Aaron Judge put up the 27th highest OPS+ of all time last year. The actual best OPS+ of ALL TIME if you remove Barry Bonds and players that played in the MLB before integration (like Ruth) and players that played in the NLs (Like Josh Gibson). This year he put up the 46th best OPS+ of all time, and about 3-4th ALL TIME if you apply the same parameters. A player like this does NOT pop up every now and again. Btw, you have to go a looooong way down before you get to a Mike Trout season (tied flr 116th best OPS+ single season of all time) and even farther down to get to a Ken Griffey season (t. for 476 single season OPS+)
Wait all you want. If youre going to let the 3rd best offensive season ever go just because someone else had a more unique season then you dont know ball.
Begamin, then award Judge the player of the year trophy. The MVP and POTY are not the same award. One emphasizes production while the other incorporates team value.
No, I did not miss the point entirely. The names you named best seasons do not even come close to what Judge did at the plate this year. Its not “easily proven wrong” lmao go look at single season OPS+ leaders of all time, remove players that played in leagues not the MLB, the MLB before integration, and Barry Bonds and Judge has put up the 3rd best OPS+ season of all time.
Players you listed best OPS+ in single season:
Trout – 198
Ken Griffey Jr – 171
Vlad – 162
Beltran – 154
Jim Edmons – 171
Aaron Judge in 2025:
215
Its not even close. Again youre going to keep waiting. Its not the most unique season award no matter how hard you try to conveniently reframe what the MVP award is about.
I’d take Mauer 2009. Less power obviously but very productive, batted over .360 almost 200 hits. Called an incredible game and played much more than cals barely serviceable defense this year. Won the gold glove. A solid all around season.
1997 piazza also was an amazing year. “Only” 40 homeruns but also batted over .360.
Cal has an awesome year but he sacrificed most aspects of his game so he could hit more homers. He was a far less complete player than Judge.
Judge is more valuable than Cal. bWAR, fWAR, DRS, OPS+, OPS, every hitting stat besides HRs, all favor Judge. Idgaf that Cal played league average defensive at catcher, Judge still provided more value.
Argue with a wall
We get it Raleigh had a historic season. Historic does not add value though. If every voter cast a vote strictly on the value of overall production, that would be Judge.
Voters do not vote strictly on the value of production so some will be influenced by varying degrees by the Historic nature of Raleigh’s production at his position. I doubt its enough to surpass Judge tho. The volume of overall production Judge put up was quite a bit more than Raleigh.
I wonder if any poster has ever caught a game and understands the importance of a catcher. While it may become less important if more games are called from the dugout but a catcher’s importance doesn’t get measured simply by metrics.
Bad comparison. MJ was.not successful. Raleigh set records. If there was more distinction between Player of the Year, and MVP, this would be an easy decision. MVP is NOT a Fantasy Player of the Year award. Seattle, without Raleigh having this monster season, missed the playoffs for many years. He got them in this year. His season made the difference.
Yep, Judge had a great season. No one is denying that. Spectacular. Unfortunately, MVP is not for having the best OPS+. That’s an award a fantasy league gives out.
Judge never struck out 194 times in a year, that is his 162 game average. For comparison Griffey’s was 108 since you opted to use #s favoring the narrative you are portraying. Griffey struck out less often, that is undeniable and that is about the only thing he did superior to what Judge has done the last 2 seasons.
Griffey also played the bulk of his career in the Steroid Era, he himself has never been linked to PEDs but this notion of him playing in and era not favoring an all or nothing approach is unequivocally false.
Not sure what your point is mentioning analytics and launch angle, other than further showing a biased derived in nostalgia. Judge hits for better contact so that kind of makes one question if you even understand your own argument. On top of that Judge’s traditional sats(aside from K rate) are across the board superior to Griffey’s.. Doubles, triples, RBIs, avg, walks, etc… all Judge.
I myself do not like the Yankees at all and was far more a fan of Griffey then I am of Judge. The reality is tho Judge put up #s these last few seasons Griffey never had and Judge’s production provided value Griffey never had. This is to take nothing away from Griffey, Im just pointing out facts. What Judge has done last few seasons is historic and no amount of nostalgic whitewashing changes that.
This is the part of the game show where José Ramírez gets his consolation prize. Thanks for coming out, better luck next year.
Is it still a case of Turtle Wax?
Ramirez is laughing all the way to the Hall of Fame. Everyone posting here would love to have him on “their” team.
Originally, the phrase was ” laughing all the way to the bank.” That’s not really the case with Ramirez. While nobody is going to cry for him as he earns over $20 million/year, he signed what was recognized at the time, and has turned out to be, an unbelievably team friendly deal. (Among other things, it ends when he will be 36, when it will be hard to sign a significant long term deal.) He knew what he was doing, he said he wanted to stay with the franchise. But the Guardians have not kept up their end of the bargain by trying to put a team around him. HIs $20 million salary was 20% of Cleveland’s entire 2025 payroll. They are talking about trading Kwan, their only quality outfielder, who is projected to make under $9 million in arbitration and won’t be a free agent until 2028. Last off season they traded away Josh Naylor, who would have made about $12 million, and Andres Gimenez who they had signed long-term only two years previously. Yes, they have won the division the last two seasons and hopefully Ramirez will go to the Hall, as he deserves. But if I were him, I’d be crying that he didn’t sign elsewhere for a team that cared about winning.
I think the point is is that he has zero chance of actually being named MVP over Judge. No one is saying anything negative about Ramirez and you are correct in everyone would love him on their team but it’s only stating the obvious
Great list and i agree on all. But it should be judge over raleigh. Dont let voter fatigue win !
This was meant to be a reply to MaxBallXpert. Apologies i am new to this
I don’t think the writers will overlook Judge’s offense. Raleigh’s OPS was closer to Sal Frelick than it was to Judge.
I totally understand that he’s a catcher, but he wasn’t even a finalist for a GG so not like his defense aside from framing was good.
I don’t see judge on the list of finalists for Gold Glove?
Neither was Cal, and that was his point. Im not a big proponent of DRS, but Cal had a DRS of 2 while Judge had a DRS of 3. Take from that what you will
Not being considered in the top 3 doesn’t equate to not being a valuable catcher. Everyone knows Judge is a very good defensive right fielder and his not being nominated in 25 is most likely due to injuries. That said, for Raleigh to hit the most HRs ever by a switch hitter while catching is remarkable. Add in the importance of many of them and his catching duties and to me he was the AL 25 MVP.
Cal had a DRS of 2. Thats about league average at the position. I never said that he wasnt a valuable catcher, just that its not like Cal had an elite defensive season to hold over Judge
Most voters understand that T-Mobile is the least hitter-friendly park in baseball and won’t be basing this on OPS.
OPS is big but doesn’t determine who is MVP
OPS+ is a better metric to account for ballpark and his 215 OPS+ beats Cal’s 169
but my argument for Cal is every time a catcher put up a 170 ops+ in the modern era they win MVP (except Javy Lopez but that was the steroid era with Barry bonds)
Sure, but Buster LED the league in OPS+ when he won it, as did Joe Mauer. If Cal led the league in OPS+ or was closer, it wouldnt even be a conversation. But he wasnt even close to Judge offensively, he put up one of the best offensive seasons we’ve ever seen outside of Judges 2024 season.
Ivan Rodriguez did not lead the league in OPS+ when he won, but you could probably argue that he shouldnt have won the award in 99 if the same exact bWAR didnt net him the award the 2 years prior
How can Max Fried not be one of the 3 AL Cy Young finalists?
4.5 war
The finalist were at 6.1 and above
Eovaldi would’ve been a finalist, but injuries…
“Vogt (I mean to come back from what 15 back and win the division cmon)”
Ok, but it’s not like they started there. You could easily spin this as “he managed them into a 15 game deficit.”
and also, the team they ‘chased down’ was so busy losing every day of the week that it was nearly impossible to not make up ground.
And Wilson’s help knock Houston off its proverbial perch and the AL West
Kurtz anyone?
I’d have said Wilson the first couple months of the year he was batting over .350 for a while. Kurtz kinda just came out of nowhere. I think he gets it but Wilson was no slouch either.
Curious how they build on this season. With whatever team they may end up on 😂
I can’t see how it isn’t. To come almost straight out of college and belt 36 Home Runs in the Majors is pretty remarkable.
I love Roman Anthony but he should not be in the discussion given the amount of games he played and missing the last month of the season. Carlos Narvaez, Cam Smith or even Colson Montgomery (played the same amount of games as Anthony but hit 21 Home Runs) probably should have been there instead
Lets not get too caught up in MLB finalist crap. The voting for these awards already happened. They just haven’t announced the winner. This isn’t the Oscars, where the buzz sells additional tickets. You can’t buy a MLB ticket now that the season is over.
Noah Cameron of the Royals should have finished 3rd. He was by far the best rookie pitcher in the AL.
Desperately hoping that Judge and Raleigh end up in a tie somehow. It’s the funniest possible outcome. And perhaps the most appropriate.
Wouldn’t that be epic
Manning and McNair split MVP one year
Hernandez and Stargell did in the NL. I think it was 79.
I was all in on Cal Raleigh, but if you compare the stats, Judge just blew him out of the water, aside from HRs.
HRs 53 vs 60
BA .331 vs .247
WAR 9.7 vs 7.3
OPS+ 215 vs 169
fWAR 10.1 vs 9.1
And how many games did Judge play catcher?
And therein lies the problem. It’s impossible to compare an outfielder to a catcher properly.
Depends on how the voters define valuable, as always.
The reason Raleigh might win is the magical number of 60 HRs. Look at the NL awards. Schwarber wasn’t in the top 10 in WAR in the NL, but he is a finalist because he led the league with 56 HRs. Perdomo, who led the league in WAR (Perdomo, 1st, 7.1 WAR, Ohtani, 2nd, 6.8; Soto, 3rd, 6.2; Schwarber, 13th, 4.7), should have been a finalist.
People clearly do not recognize the physical toll put on catchers. I don’t have a dog in the fight and I understand the case for Judge but some of the comments are from a place of ignorance.
I’m surprised this site didn’t set up the voting system as they do frequently for other threads on trades and such for the posters on this page.?
Wasn’t Ohtani given the MVP when he showed up for spring training?
No. It was when he hit 3 home runs and pitched 6 shutout innings with 10 Ks.
Or was it when he was hitting almost .300 while rehabbing his pitching arm against major league hitters and shutting them down?
I forget…
Yeah there really isn’t a conversation there. He more than earned it
@Another
Postseason don’t count for these awards.
But your guy earned it. Don’t worry. Your validation is granted.
@Informed
I know. But those were the stats I had in my brain after listening to talking heads for a couple weeks lol.
Of course, Ohtani only hit those 3 HRs, because they changed the rules just for him. Any other pitcher in history, even Babe Ruth, would have never gotten the additional ABs to hit that 3rd HR, because they would have been removed when they stopped pitching.
Don’t get me started. The next CBA hopefully will eliminate the Ohtani advantage. Teams should be limited to x number of pitchers. To make it fair, also make it so non-pitchers cannot pitch in blowouts. Such just distorts stats.
He hit those home runs because he’s capable of hitting them.
How many games did your team win because of the ghost runner in extra innings?
Or any of the other rule changes MLB makes to improve the game?
Yes, eliminate the rule that has allowed baseball to thrive because they are watching something never seen before. Pulling in casual fans and international fans from entirely new regions as well. Merchandising and advertising opportunities. Did your team have Japanese advertisements in stadium when the Dodgers came to your city? Yes they did. They all did. Baseball must fix this terrible problem. Lol
Because it isn’t fair? Go develop a two way player for your team and you’ll have the same rule helping that player. If he were playing these days it could have been called the Rick Ankiel rule.
I bet you hate Travis Hunter too. It’s not fair. Did you hate Bo Jackson too? Deon Sanders as well?
Point me to the owner that is upset about the Ohtani rule. You can’t. Because it’s great for the entire game. And their profits.
Facts over feelings.
@Another
One would think you could just chill and enjoy your W. It’s a sports team, not a religion. The rest of us are fine without hearing the good news of the gospel of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Just like the Bible, you don’t have to read my posts.
I’m pointing out failing logic. And giving reasons why it’s failing logic.
And I’m definitely enjoying the win 🙂
MathBallXpert—
Agree with your picks 100%.
Judge was first player to win batting title and hit at least 50 HR. I don’t see MVP going other way because a handful of HR. Judge carried team to playoffs.
This is my exact list except I put Schneider above Vogt because he made the team go from last to first place with a lot of random guys from triple A in the lineup
Stats: Judge.
Team Results: Raleigh.
I do believe Dan Wilson is AL Manager of the Year. First full season managing and one game away from the World Series for a team that has never made it there is impressive. Tito Francona is debatable for the NL (Brought the Reds to the playoffs for the first time in a full regular season since 2013).
How about they split the award?
Judge gets the M\
Cal gets the /P
Together they make an awesome M\/P
Kurt’s and Wilson both having amazing seasons together is crazy. The future is bright for the athletics. Till they trade them in a year or 2 😂
Roy Campanella
Raleigh & Ohtani
Skubal & Yamamoto
Kurtz & Baldwin
Schneider & Murphy
Judge/Ohtani
Skubal/Sanchez
Kurtz/Baldwin
Wilson/Francona
Might as well add an “MVP Not Named Shohei Ohtani” award for the NL at this point, just to have anyone else to talk about.
I’m surprised Noah Cameron of the Royals didn’t finish 3rd in Rookie of the Year. He was definitely the best rookie pitcher in the AL and definitely better than Antony.
If it wasn’t for Judge then Witt would have won unanimously last year and Raleigh would have won unanimously this year. But Judge and Ohtani are on a different level.
If Judge wins then it a east coast bias and popularity contest
Raleigh was the valuable player to his team
I am surprised that Noah Cameron wasn’t in the top three for Rookie of the Year. He certainly had a great year.
Cade Horton is your easy winner of the NL ROY IMO. Durbin? Meh. Average at best numbers. Baldwin is end best but in the 2nd half of the season Horton did things no rookie starter has ever done.
Schneider has to win manager of the year. Brought a team to the World Series with no MVP candidates or Gold glove winners.
Yet cal wasn’t a finalist for gold glove for catcher this year. It’s not like comparing Bobby Witt jr who actually won a gold glove and was all around player but again judge beat him that year and judge is going to be cal this year too.
After doing some calculations for these awards, here are my results. Predicted winner is on top. There are a few that are quite close and could go either way.
AL MVP Score
Aaron Judge 8.75
Cal Raleigh 7.52
José Ramírez 5.67
NL MVP Score
Shohei Ohtani 7.02
Juan Soto 5.56
Kyle Schwarber 4.35
AL Cy Young
Tarik Skubal 4.90
Garrett Crochet 4.45
Hunter Brown 3.71
NL Cy Young
Cristopher Sánchez 4.65
Paul Skenes 4.59
Yoshinobu Yamamoto 3.65
AL Rookie of the Year
Nick Kurtz 4.02
Jacob Wilson 3.04
Roman Anthony 2.44
Drake Baldwin 2.73
Cade Horton 2.33
Caleb Durbin 2.29
AL Manager of the Year
John Schneider 0.260
Dan Wilson 0.214
Stephen Vogt 0.207
NL Manager of the Year
Pat Murphy 0.225
Rob Thomson 0.215
Terry Francona 0.187