If Raleigh were a Yankees player, he would have been MVP, and what about this absurd claim? I refute it like this

Nov 19, 2025

Seattle Mariners Cal Raleigh hit 60 home runs this season, the most in a season for a catcher. AP Yonhap News

New York Yankees Aaron Judge won his third MVP this year, overwhelming first place in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and WAR. AP Yonhap News

Some absurd claims have been made that Seattle Mariners Cal Raleigh lost MVP to New York Yankees Aaron Judge due to discrimination in perception of BBWAA (National Baseball Journalists Association) ballot 's team'.

Raleigh ranked second with a total of 335 points, including 13 first-place votes and 17 second-place votes, according to the AL MVP vote announced on the 14th (Korea time). Judge became the third MVP of his career with a total of 355 points with 17 first-place votes and 13 second-place votes.

It is the first time in six years that the MVP vote showed such a slight difference since the 2019 AL. That year, Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout won the MVP by beating Houston Astros Alex Bregman by the same 20-point margin as the result of this vote.

However, it was argued in local media that Raleigh would have been MVP if the vote had been held by switching between Raleigh and Judge's teams.

Dan Patrick, host of the local podcast 「Dan Patrick Show」, said on the 18th (Korea time)"If Yankees fans are sensitive to this controversy, I will ask you a question."Who would have been MVP if Jersey was a member of Seattle and Raleigh was a member of the Yankees? Everyone found out that Raleigh was a Yankees catcher and Gold Glove catcher. Wouldn't Raleigh be the MVP you pick?"

He then said "Raleigh plays the most important position in baseball. Look at the Seattle pitching staff. Raleigh has helped young and competent Seattle pitchers grow. But if Raleigh was a catcher who hit 60 home runs for the Yankees, won the division, led the growth of young pitchers, and got the Gold Glove, he would have won the MVP."

In other words, if he had the same performance and performance as the Yankees, he would have beaten 'Seattle's Judge' to become MVP. In other words, it is no different from saying that Judge was named MVP purely because he was a member of the Yankees.

애런 저지. AP Yonhap News

칼 롤리. AP Yonhap News

Patrick thinks it's important to look at which team Raleigh played like that. It's the importance of doing it in the big market team. Now, Ohtani is MVP no matter what team he plays for. But for Raleigh, I think his home base is a factor preventing him from becoming MVP. If he had done so in a Yankees uniform, fans might have already built a monument for him."

In the end, Jersey, which has a huge market of New York, has no choice but to be advantageous.

But there are some errors in Patrick's argument. First of all, Raleigh did not win this year's Gold Glove. It was last year that he received the AL catcher Gold Glove.

In addition, the market size of the home is not a very important evaluation factor for the BBWAA 30-member press corps that casts the vote. Two reporters are evenly distributed in 15 AL-related cities. There is absolutely no reason to discriminate between New York and Seattle.

Opinions were divided among the 30 reporters who actually voted. In particular, two reporters from the BBWAA's New York branch had different opinions. Two members of Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, Kansas City, San Francisco, and Toronto, which can be called neutral zones, were also divided into Jersey and Raleigh.

Seattle Mariners Carrolli. AP Yonhap News

In response, New York fan media 'Yanks Go Yard' said 'If there is an active Yankees favoritism in the MVP vote, the vote rate will not be as fierce as this. Judge had an outstanding season, and Raleigh also had a historic season. Therefore, the results of this vote reflect that there is no bias. The results of the votes of reporters who watched the two players closely throughout the season reflected that the reporters had reached the conclusion of their collective intelligence.

Still, as a catcher this season, Rowley, who marked 60 home runs and 132 RBIs and became the combined home run-run and RBI king of both leagues, had no choice but to be disappointed. In particular, Raleigh also made historical achievements by establishing new home runs for catchers, the most home runs for switch heaters, and the most home runs for Seattle clubs.

However, BBWAA's votes tilted a little more towards the jersey. Judge overwhelmed Raleigh by ranking first in batting average (0.331), scoring (137), walking (124), on-base percentage (0.457), slugging percentage (0.688), OPS (1.144), and WAR (9.7).