Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh comes up short in AL MVP voting

Thursday was a night for both pride and frustration if you are a fan of Cal Raleigh and the Seattle Mariners.

This season is right at the top of the list alongside the 2001 campaign, when it comes to being contenders for both the most successful but also frustrating one in Seattle Mariners franchise history. Almost simultaneously there were feelings of pride and agony for the 116-win team and their fans, and it seems as if they are going through a similar gamut of emotions once again in 2025.

Coming just eight outs shy of a first ever AL Pennant and trip to the World Series headlines what happened this past season for contrasting emotions, as something which could and maybe should have happened. Once the season ended, there were similar sentiments in Seattle after Julio Rodríguez didn’t get the third AL Silver Slugger Award of his career.

Well, thanks to events on Thursday night the Mariners and their fans are right there again after Cal Raleigh came up short in voting for AL MVP, as Aaron Judge took home his third such award. It was close, as Judge collected 17 of the first place votes compared to 13 for Raleigh, with a swap in the numbers for second place.

Cal Raleigh may never be this close again

However, this is the type of thing where coming a close second doesn’t make up for missing out on such a prestigious award. Making it even tougher for Raleigh, the Mariners and their fans is that he will conceivably never be this close again to winning AL MVP, whereas you fully expect Judge to be a genuine contender again in future years.

Objectively speaking it really was a case of whichever of the duo won, they were deserving and the runner up would be unfortunate – it really was that tight. However, it also highlighted the ongoing debate about what being the MVP of the AL and NL actually means, which is where we go from being objective to subjective.

Judge was undoubtedly the best hitter in the majors this season, but this is about being an all around top level contributor as opposed to just producing offensively. Raleigh did things with his bat never achieved before by a catcher in Major League history, while also easily better defensively compared to his New York Yankees rival and at the hardest position to play in baseball.

It really does seem unfair that just the seventh player in Major League history to hit 60 home runs in season wasn’t deemed good enough collectively by the BBWA to be named AL MVP, when combined with how good he was — as always – behind the plate. By comparison the players thought he was good enough, with him being named MLBPA Players Choice Awards’ Player of the Year and the AL Outstanding Player.

Four Mariners deservedly earn All-MLB selections

Overall though nothing takes away from how special this season was for Raleigh, who also earned his first ever All-MLB selection, being named to the First Team along with Rodríguez (who finished sixth in voting for AL MVP). Teammates Andrés Muñoz and Bryan Woo also earned their first All-MLB selections, as members of the Second Team.

Raleigh has always maintained that the team’s success is more important than any individual accolades and you know he’s being honest, but it doesn’t mean that missing out on being named AL MVP won’t hurt. If nothing else, he at least now has even more motivation to come back next season to prove just how good he and the Mariners really are, as they lay the groundwork for another assault on that elusive World Series championship.

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Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

Did the BBWA get it right with the AL MVP voting or was Raleigh short-changed? Will the Mariners ever be in position again to challenge for the award, or is this as close as he will ever get? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.