The BBWAA will hand out its final set of awards for the 2025 season tonight at 7 p.m. ET (MLB Network) 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 RamÃrez 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 more about each of the finalists:
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). Judge’s 53 homers were the most by any player to also win a batting title.
Raleigh was arguably the sport’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 sport’s most demanding position, and he led Seattle to its first AL West title since 2001.
José RamÃrez, 3B, Guardians
It’s practically impossible to envision the Guardians achieving what they did in 2025 without RamÃrez. The 32-year-old had another stellar season as Cleveland pulled off a stunning and historic comeback to win the AL Central. RamÃrez’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?
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.
Kyle Schwarber, DH, Phillies
Schwarber is a finalist because he batted .240 with an 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+.
Ranking Soto above Ohtani would certainly be contentious, given the latter’s success as a two-way player. But there’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.
