Aaron Decide is the MVP as soon as once more. The Baseball Writers Affiliation of America introduced this night that the Yankee captain was the unanimous selection for the American League’s prime participant this 12 months. Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals was the unanimous runner-up, getting the entire second-place votes. Decide’s teammate Juan Soto completed third within the voting.
Decide was the AL MVP in 2022, his 62-homer marketing campaign. Whereas he got here up simply shy of that in 2024 with “solely” 58 dwelling runs, he roughly stored tempo with himself in most classes. His 24.3% strikeout fee was really a private greatest, barely forward of the 25.1% clip from his earlier MVP marketing campaign. His 18.9% stroll fee was a number of ticks higher than the 15.9% clip from two years in the past. His 10 steals have been a little bit of a drop from his 16 from two years again, however his 144 runs batted in have been a achieve of 13.
General, his offensive contributions led to a ridiculous .322/.458/.701 slash line this 12 months. That translated to a 218 wRC+, indicating he was 118% higher than league common this 12 months. That was an enchancment over his 206 wRC+ in 2022.
On prime of his work on the plate, he additionally contributed within the discipline. Whereas he’s primarily been a proper fielder in his profession, he spent a career-high 903 innings in middle in 2024. Whereas he didn’t obtain sturdy marks for his work there, merely with the ability to play up the center was helpful to the Yanks, given the calls for of the place. FanGraphs thought-about him to be price 11.2 wins above alternative on the 12 months, a slight improve over his 11.1 fWAR in 2022.
That each one-time efficiency made it a simple selection for voters. That’s unlucky for Witt, who performed at a stage that’d be sufficient to win MVP in a number of years. The Royals’ star shortstop led the majors with a .332 common and 211 hits. He slashed .332/.389/.588 with 32 homers and 31 steals whereas enjoying glorious protection. FanGraphs credited Witt with greater than 10 WAR in his personal proper. Since Witt completed within the prime three in MVP voting inside his first three MLB seasons, the Royals obtain an additional choose after the primary spherical in subsequent 12 months’s draft.
Soto had arguably the perfect full season of his profession, hitting 41 homers with a .288/.419/.569 slash in what could also be his solely 12 months as a Yankee. That is his third prime 5 MVP end. Soto acquired 21 third-place votes. Gunnar Henderson and José Ramírez, who completed fourth and fifth respectively, have been the one others to land in third on some ballots. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Tarik Skubal, Jarren Duran, Yordan Alvarez, Brent Rooker, Emmanuel Clase, Cal Raleigh, Rafael Devers, Anthony Santander, Jose Altuve, Seth Lugo, Corey Seager, Framber Valdez and Detroit reliever Tyler Holton additionally appeared on at the least one poll.
Full voter breakdown from BBWAA.
