It’s late summer in Seattle, and the buzz around T-Mobile Park isn’t just about October dreams; it’s about their cornerstone catcher doing things few at his position have ever done. Mariners’ $105 million player isn’t just slugging his way through the season; he’s commanding it. Night after night, he’s behind the plate managing one of the best pitching staffs in the league, and still finding time to crush moonshots into the upper deck. He’s durable, vocal, and everything you want in a franchise leader.
That’s exactly why the Mariners handed Cal Raleigh that big of an extension, a sign that they see him as the foundation of their future. And this year, he’s proving them right. With power numbers climbing, leadership on full display, and Seattle firmly in the AL West race, Raleigh has built a compelling MVP case—at least, until the conversation shifts to New York.
And that’s where things get cold, fast.
“Do we have to kind of grade Cal’s season on a sliding scale because of the position he plays?” Baseball Today host Chris Rose asked in a recent podcast.
The response from the guest Trevor Plouffe? Blunt but honest: “I mean, don’t they already do that with WARs? Yes, they do. There’s no question about it. I mean, no one’s close to Judge right now…Not even Cal Raleigh.”
That’s the reality. As brilliant as Raleigh’s season has been, Aaron Judge is playing like a video game cheat code. He’s hovering around a .400 average, blasting balls into orbit, and carrying the Yankees back into World Series conversations. He’s not just leading the MVP race, he’s ending it before it starts.
Now let’s be real: if Cal Raleigh were doing what he’s doing from first base or a corner outfield spot, the national conversation might sound different. But catchers? They carry the wear and tear of 150 games crouched behind the plate, and voters rarely factor that grind into the equation. Since 1976, just three catchers have won MVP. That’s not a coincidence; it’s a wall Raleigh is unlikely to scale, no matter how loud the homers echo in Seattle.
Cal Raleigh might be putting together one of the most complete seasons in baseball, but it just happens to be happening in the shadow of something historic from Judge.
Aaron Judge is having one of the best seasons of his career
Here’s the brutal truth: Aaron Judge isn’t just having a good season, he’s having ‘that’ season. The kind where every at-bat feels like a spectacle, and every swing seems destined for the second deck. He’s flirting with a .400 average, pacing the league in home runs, and anchoring a Yankees team that’s storming through the American League. When one guy is rewriting the record books in real time, there’s barely any oxygen left for the rest of the MVP field.
And history’s loaded with examples of great seasons that got steamrolled by once-in-a-generation dominance. In 2018, J.D. Martinez batted .330, smacking 43 home runs and driving in 130 runs. He didn’t crack the top three in MVP voting due to Mookie Betts’ stellar season, racking up a 10.6 WAR. Back in 2015, Mike Trout delivered a 9 WAR performance along with 41 homers, but fell short to Josh Donaldson’s compelling surge while playing for the Blue Jays. Sometimes, the MVP race is less about numbers and more about timing.
That’s the wall Cal Raleigh is up against. Even with 35–40 homers, Gold Glove-level defense, and the Mariners winning the AL West, his MVP odds are being smothered by Judge’s firestorm of production.
It’s not a knock on Raleigh, it’s just the cost of sharing a season with a guy who’s making MVP voting feel like a formality by mid-June.
The post Despite Strong Season, Mariners’ $105M Star Gets Crushed by Brutal Snub as Aaron Judge’s Dominance Shatters Award Hopes appeared first on EssentiallySports.
