Yordan Alvarez Wins First AL MVP Unanimously; Caminero Second, Witt Third

WHO:

MLB.com - Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez won the American League Most Valuable Player Award unanimously, receiving all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

MLB.com - Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero finished second with 267 points: 27 second-place votes and three third-place votes.

MLB.com - Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. finished third with 188 points, receiving two second-place votes and 11 third-place votes; he appeared on all 30 ballots.

ESPN - Alvarez, 29, became the third Astros MVP, joining Jeff Bagwell, who won in 1994, and Jose Altuve, who won in 2017.

ESPN - Caminero, 23, had the highest AL MVP finish in Rays history; the previous best was sixth, by Evan Longoria in 2010 and 2013 and Yandy Díaz in 2023.

WHAT:

MLB.com - Alvarez won his first MVP after hitting .316, with a .432 on-base percentage, .601 slugging percentage and 1.033 OPS. He led the league in those categories, offensive WAR (7.2), total bases (341), walks (109) and extra-base hits (77).

MLB.com - Alvarez hit 42 home runs and drove in 106 runs, career highs in both categories; each total ranked second in the AL. He drew an Astros-record 33 intentional walks, surpassing Bagwell’s 27 in 1997.

ESPN - Alvarez played 158 games after appearing in 48 games the previous season because of a wrist fracture and sprained ankle. He said, “I was healthy.”

MLB.com - Caminero hit .276/.360/.524 with 42 home runs, 101 RBIs and a 144 OPS+; he started all 162 regular-season games at third base.

MLB.com - Witt hit .281 with 18 home runs, 33 doubles, 94 runs and 45 stolen bases. He recorded 24 outs above average and 7.0 FanGraphs WAR, the highest total in the AL.

ESPN - The same season, both league MVP winners and both Cy Young Award winners were unanimous.

WHERE:

MLB.com - Alvarez played for the Houston Astros, Caminero for the Tampa Bay Rays and Witt for the Kansas City Royals.

WHY:

ESPN - Alvarez said his disappointing, injury-affected season motivated him: “I was anxious to get back to this season.”

MLB.com - Caminero’s case included playing every regular-season game at third base and helping the Rays post the AL’s best record, with 98 wins.

HOW:

MLB.com - MVP voting was conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America using ballots from 30 voters; Alvarez received every first-place vote.

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez unanimously won his first American League Most Valuable Player award. Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero finished second, with Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. third. Alvarez hit 42 home runs and drove in 106 runs.