Last week, Aaron Judge won his third MVP award, but not everyone agreed with it. Ben Nicholson-Smith, a Blue Jays analyst, voted for Cal Raleigh instead, who’s worth $105M as per his six-year contract with the Seattle Mariners. This caused a lot of debate in baseball. Why does he think that? Traditional stats don’t show how good a catcher is when he hits 60 home runs. Judge had a .331 average, but Nicholson-Smith says that the baseball world doesn’t pay enough attention to what really makes Raleigh’s season special: he did it from the hardest position in baseball.

Blue Jays loyalist Nicholson-Smith defended his controversial ballot on SPORTSNET’s YouTube channel, acknowledging the awkwardness while standing firm on his reasoning. “I did vote for Cal Raleigh,” he stated, before quickly adding context about Judge’s credentials: “Aaron Judge is amazing. Yeah, everybody gets it.” The Sportsnet analyst explained his thought process centered on one undeniable fact: “If a catcher is hitting 60 home runs, it’s going to take a ton to overtake him as the number one player.”

The logic makes sense when you look at the numbers. Raleigh hit 60 home runs, which broke records for switch-hitters. For a position where offensive production is usually sacrificed for defensive duties, it was like “two 30-homer seasons in one.”

Nicholson-Smith’s most direct point was about how advanced metrics can’t fully show how much a catcher contributes. “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?” he asked, pointing out that the Judge’s defensive duties got easier in 2025 because he played center field less often than the year before.

The analyst’s main point made sense: Judge had the best batting average in MLB (.331) and the best rate stats, with a huge 84-point advantage over Raleigh’s .247. But the Mariners catcher did something that catchers just don’t do while playing the hardest defensive position in baseball.

And it wasn’t just Smith. For instance, the Fox crew had their debate on this, too. Derek Jeter said, “[Raleigh] has had the more historic season when it comes to breaking records, whether it’s the Mariners record, switch-hitter record, catchers’ record. But in my opinion, the MVP is Aaron Judge. You take him off that team, they don’t win.” David Ortiz, too, recognized Raleigh’s potential, saying, “I love Aaron Judge, he’s done an incredible job for the New York Yankees. But Raleigh doing it as a catcher is almost impossible. 159 games, you don’t see many catchers doing that.”

Judge’s third MVP award in four years puts him in a group of only thirteen baseball players who have won the award three times. The 17-13 first-place vote split was the closest AL MVP race since 2019. However, Judge’s sweep of the MLB-leading categories in average, OBP, slugging, OPS, and total bases was what really mattered in the end.

Blue Jays shift focus to Bo Bichette after MVP debate

The Toronto Blue Jays have a big decision to make this offseason, even though the MVP talk is still going on. After losing the World Series on November 1, Toronto’s front office has made one thing its top priority: keeping Bo Bichette around for a long time. Since his debut in 2019, the shortstop has become the franchise’s most important player, the one that every rebuilding plan is based on.

Bichette’s work makes the need for speed. He has a career batting average of.294, 111 home runs, and 438 RBIs, which shows that he consistently makes an impact on offense. He won back-to-back American League hits titles in 2021 and 2022, making him one of the best contact hitters in the game.

He showed his toughness in the World Series when he hit .344, even though he was still recovering from a knee injury, which he got in September while playing against the Yankees.

The financial commitment will put Toronto’s willpower to the test. Industry experts say that Bichette’s next contract will be worth $250 million over the next ten years. If talks break down, Toronto still has backup plans. Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman are both good options who could meet the needs of the organization. The major problem is still simple: the Blue Jays need to decide if keeping their homegrown star is worth any financial concerns.