Aaron Judge or Cal Raleigh? MLB on FOX Crew Debate Who is the AL MVP

One is arguably the face of baseball with a Hall of Fame résumé. The other is MLB’s breakout star with the best nickname in baseball. 

Yankees superstar Aaron Judge or Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh (aka the Big Dumper) are the clear-cut frontrunners for this year’s American League MVP race. Who did the MLB on FOX analysts pick?

Derek Jeter: Aaron Judge

“[Raleigh] has had the more historic season when it comes to breaking records, whether it’s the Mariners record, switch-hitter record, catchers’ record. But in my opinion, the MVP is Aaron Judge. You take him off that team, they don’t win.”

David Ortiz: Cal Raleigh

“I love Aaron Judge, he’s done an incredible job for the New York Yankees. But Raleigh doing it as a catcher is almost impossible. 159 games, you don’t see many catchers doing that.”

Alex Rodriguez: Aaron Judge

“Judge is the MVP once again, and I love what Cal Raleigh did. … .331/53/114 from Judge, he’s on another planet. I just wish Cal Raleigh had a different year against a different guy because nine out of 10 years he’s the MVP.”

Raleigh became the seventh player to hit 60 home runs, eclipsing the record for catchers and switch-hitters, and led the AL with 125 RBIs to help Seattle win the AL West title and the No. 2 seed. The 60-HR mark also surpassed the franchise record held by Ken Griffrey Jr.

But Judge’s season was also impressive. The two-time MVP smashed 53 homers to go with 114 RBIs while leading the AL in average (.331) and OPS (1.144). His 137 runs scored was also second-best.

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