Longtime Blue Jays analyst dismayed by MVP decision, says league has pro-Judge bias
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Count Ben Nicholson-Smith amongst the naysayers.
When the final tally for the MVP was released
, the Aaron Judge ended up on top, allowing the captain of the New York Yankees to claim his third title. Many were dismayed, as they felt that Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was more deserving.
, the Aaron Judge ended up on top, allowing the captain of the New York Yankees to claim his third title. Many were dismayed, as they felt that Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was more deserving.
Nicholson-Smith, a longtime Blue Jays analyst for SportsNet, falls into the latter category. The television personality cast his vote for Raleigh.
Aaron Judge with an incredible 2025 season. A deserving choice as AL MVP. Thought long & hard about putting him 1st but went with Cal Raleigh. Full ballot:
1 Raleigh
2 Judge
3 Witt Jr.
4 José Ramirez
5 Skubal
6 Julio Rodriguez
7 George Springer
8 Buxton
9 Jeremy Peña
10 Crochet
1 Raleigh
2 Judge
3 Witt Jr.
4 José Ramirez
5 Skubal
6 Julio Rodriguez
7 George Springer
8 Buxton
9 Jeremy Peña
10 Crochet
For him the reasoning was simple, a catcher hitting sixty home runs.
«Aaron Judge is amazing. Yeah, everybody gets it. If a catcher is hitting 60 home runs, it's going to take a ton to overtake him as the number one player.»
Nicholson-Smith also argued that advanced metrics often don't tell the full story, especially when it comes to catchers.
Nicholson-Smith also argued that advanced metrics often don't tell the full story, especially when it comes to catchers.
I honestly have no problem with him winning, but I do think Cal Raleigh was the better player this year. If you put Aaron Judge as a catcher, you know, how many home runs would he have hit?
Nicholson-Smith also notes that Judge's fielding obligations got easier in 2025, as he played less centre field then in years past. Compare with Raleigh, who plays arguably the toughest position in baseball.
MVP vote caused contentious debate
In perhaps an awkward twist, Nicholson-Smith's fellow Jays analyst Keegan Matheson was also eligible to vote and used his to select Judge as the MVP.
Clearly, it's a debate that will inspire conversations for the foreseeable future.
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