The New York Yankees come into the 2025 MLB season with high expectations even after losing Juan Soto. That is mostly because of Aaron Judge, the Yankees captain who hit 59 homers last year. He won the American League MVP unanimously, beating out Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. In a preseason poll, staffers at The Athletic picked Witt to clip Judge and win his first MVP Award.
“The American League hasn’t had a back-to-back MVP winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and ’13. That might explain why only five of our writers picked Aaron Judge to win the MVP this season,” Chad Jennings wrote.
“Instead, our writers are all-in on Bobby Witt Jr. who’s coming off his own elite season, one of the greatest ever by a shortstop. Witt got 18 of 33 votes for AL MVP. Gunnar Henderson got three votes, and no other player — other than Judge — got more than two,” he continued.
The Yankees need Judge to have an MVP season to compete for the AL pennant. Just look at 2023, when he hurt his foot in the outfield at Dodgers Stadium and they missed the playoffs.
The rest of the voting in this poll includes: Corey Seager, Julio Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Jose Ramirez, and Isaac Paredes.
How can Aaron Judge repeat as American League MVP?
Witt had a phenomenal season with the Royals last year with a major-league-leading .332 batting average and 211 hits. He enters his age-25 season with high expectations and a Kansas City team on his back. Witt is also an amazing defender at shortstop but it was not enough to edge Judge last year.
Judge had, by many metrics, the greatest season a right-handed hitter has ever had. The Yankees captain played center field last year and hit 58 homers with a 1.159 OPS. Now, he will be moving back to right field, his original position, where his defense should take a step up.
If Judge’s numbers are anywhere in the vicinity of last year’s production, he will likely win AL MVP again. Another 35 homers would put him at 350 for his career during his tenth season. Voters love round numbers and Judge has the chance to reach historic levels in his career.
Witt will win an American League MVP at some point in his career. His floor is among the highest in the league and his speed gives him an advantage over Judge. If the slugger was to get hurt, Witt would take the lead over Judge in the MVP race.
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