Cal Raleigh loses MVP race to Aaron Judge: What people are saying

Cal Raleigh had arguably the best season ever by a catcher, and yet, the Mariners star came just a couple votes shy of cementing his historical season with an AL MVP award.

Raleigh lost the closest MVP race since 2019 to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who had a historical offensive season in his own right. Judge won the race with 17 first-place votes and 355 total points, while Raleigh had 13 first-place votes and 335 points.

“Congrats to Cal Raleigh, Jose Ramirez, they had two incredible seasons. It’s always incredible playing against those two,” Judge said on MLB Network after winning his third MVP and second in as many years. “Especially when we play Seattle, man, the objective is to make sure Cal doesn’t beat you.”

Raleigh faced an uphill climb as a catcher. No catcher has won an MVP since Buster Posey did with the Giants in 2012, and just 12 catchers have won the award.

But this year, in many ways, felt like a season of destiny for the Big Dumper. Raleigh swatted a staggering 60 home runs, won the Home Run Derby, led the Mariners to their first AL West title since 2021 and to within a whisper of their first World Series.

None of those accomplishments is diminished without an MVP trophy. And Mariners fans will forever cherish 2025 as the season of Cal.

Here’s what fans and media members had to say following the news of Raleigh’s runner-up finish: