Making a case for each 2025 MVP finalist

The BBWAA will hand out its final set of awards for the 2025 season on Thursday night when it reveals the Most Valuable Player from each league — and it saved perhaps the most intriguing race for last.

Though Shohei Ohtani is considered the overwhelming front-runner in the National League, the battle in the American League heated up down the stretch. Yankees superstar Aaron Judge is seeking his second straight MVP Award (and third overall), but Mariners breakout sensation Cal Raleigh has a legitimate case to win his first honor.

Guardians star José Ramírez rounds out the field of AL finalists, while Ohtani is joined in the NL by Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber and Mets outfielder Juan Soto.

Here’s a look at the case for each of the six MVP candidates (listed by league and in alphabetical order) before the winners are announced at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday on MLB Network.

The 6-foot-7 Judge led the Majors with a .331 batting average, becoming the tallest batting champion in history. He became just the third player to hit at least 50 home runs and win a batting title in the same season, joining Mickey Mantle (1956) and Jimmie Foxx (1938). Judgeâ€s 53 homers were the most by any player to also win a batting title.

Judge also led the Majors in on-base percentage (.457), slugging percentage (.688), OPS (1.144), times on base (310), intentional walks (36) and fWAR (10.1). He led the AL in runs (137), total bases (372), walks (124) and extra-base hits (85). — Bryan Hoch

Raleigh was arguably the sportâ€s most prominent storyline in the regular season while breaking one home run record after another en route to finishing with 60 — the most ever by a catcher, a switch-hitter and a Mariners player. He also played in all but three games, including 128 at the sportâ€s most demanding position, and he led Seattle to its first AL West title since 2001.

Raleigh also had an AL-best 125 RBIs while posting career bests in batting average (.247), on-base percentage (.359), slugging percentage (.589), OPS (.948) and wRC+ (161).

The novelty factor could also help Raleighâ€s case, as he had whatâ€s widely considered the best catching season in history — and he did so for a team that has had limited success throughout its history. Raleigh would be a first-time winner, and the first catcher to win an MVP Award since San Franciscoâ€s Buster Posey in 2012. — Daniel Kramer

José Ramírez, 3B, Guardians

Itâ€s practically impossible to envision the Guardians achieving what they did in 2025 without Ramírez. The 32-year-old had another stellar season as Cleveland pulled off a stunning and historic comeback to win the AL Central. Ramírezâ€s case is simple: Where would the Guardians (who were as many as 15 1/2 games back of first place) have been without him?

Ramírez recorded a .283/.360/.503 slash line with 30 home runs, 85 RBIs and 44 stolen bases over 158 games. He was a Gold Glove Award finalist at third base and compiled 6.3 fWAR. In other words, Ramírez accounted for nearly half (47.7%) of the total fWAR compiled by all Guardians position players (13.2).

For comparison, Judge accounted for 29.5% of the Yankees’ fWAR (10.1 of 34.2) and Raleigh had 34.3% of the Mariners†fWAR (9.1 of 26.5). — Tim Stebbins

Shohei Ohtani, DH/SP, Dodgers

It’s hard to argue against Ohtani’s value when he pretty much does it all. Now that he’s back to being a fully actualized two-way player, it would be tough for anyone to beat Ohtani for his third straight MVP Award, and his fourth overall, when no one can make an impact on both sides of the ball quite like he can.

There’s an argument to be made that his performance as a hitter alone is worthy of MVP recognition. Ohtani led the NL with a 1.014 OPS and a 179 OPS+, while slugging 55 homers — second only to Schwarber’s 56 in the NL. His extraordinary season at the plate came while he was completing his rehab from a second major elbow surgery for much of the year — and continued even once he rejoined the Dodgers’ six-man rotation.

After going nearly two years without throwing a pitch in an MLB game, Ohtani threw live batting practice to hitters only three times before returning to the mound in June. That meant he was essentially rehabbing at the big league level, and he went 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA across 14 starts (47 innings) in a strictly regimented buildup. He struck out 62 against nine walks and posted a 145 ERA+.

Just when the Dodgers thought they had seen it all from Ohtani in his first season with the team, he continued to amaze with a skill set that stands alone in history. — Sonja Chen

Kyle Schwarber, DH, Phillies

Schwarber is a finalist because he batted .240 with a NL-leading 56 home runs, an MLB-leading 132 RBIs, a .928 OPS and a 150 OPS+. He ranked second in the NL in OPS and third in OPS+.

Schwarber was indispensable to a 96-win Phillies team that cruised to its second consecutive NL East title. Consider: Bryce Harper missed a month early in the season because of a wrist injury, Trea Turner missed time in September because of a hamstring injury, Alec Bohm got off to a poor start, Nick Castellanos ranked last in baseball in fWAR and bWAR, J.T. Realmuto had his worst offensive season since his rookie year, Max Kepler didnâ€t have the year the Phillies hoped and both Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott struggled mightily in the first half.

But Schwarber was excellent from beginning to end. The Phillies wouldnâ€t have won 96 games without him.

Itâ€s why the Phillies will try to/need to re-sign him this offseason. He not only brings a ton to the plate, but he is a tremendous influence in the clubhouse and in the community. — Todd Zolecki

Ranking Soto above Ohtani would certainly be contentious, given the latterâ€s success as a two-way player. But thereâ€s a real argument that Soto was the better hitter for most of this season. After a slow start to his inaugural campaign in Flushing, Soto led the NL in OPS, on-base percentage and stolen bases from May 30 through the end of the year, while also matching Ohtani with 35 homers during that span.

Soto’s ability to more than triple his previous career high in steals was a testament to both his skill and work ethic. It also led to the 16th 40-30 season in Major League history — something even Ohtani didnâ€t accomplish this year.

Much like Francisco Lindor in 2024, Sotoâ€s biggest problem is that he did all this while playing in the same league as Ohtani, whoâ€s not just a generational talent but one of the greatest players in baseball history. For as long as Ohtani remains both a standout starting pitcher and arguably the best hitter in the game, voters will continue to shower him with love.

But Soto compares favorably to Ohtani in many respects, and as he enters his late 20s, he only appears to be getting better — as his stolen base journey suggests. Though it probably won’t happen this time, his coronation as an MVP almost seems inevitable given his consistent success. Through eight big league seasons, Soto has now finished in the Top 10 in MVP voting six times. One of these years, heâ€s bound to break through and win one. — Anthony DiComo

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