With Aaron Judge’s average sitting above .400 on May 20, Kyle Higashioka stood in Yankee Stadium’s visiting clubhouse and eagerly accepted an invitation to praise his former teammate.
“It’s just the continual drive to be better every year,” the Rangers catcher said when asked what about Judge impresses him the most. “A lot of people would be very content with having some of the seasons he had a few years ago and just staying at that level. But I think he’s gotten better every single year since then. That’s just a testament to the character he has.”
Judge’s continued strides at the plate resulted in another spectacular season, as he finished the 2025 campaign with 53 home runs, 114 RBI, a .331 average — making the 6-7 slugger the tallest batting champ ever — a 1.144 OPS, 10.1 fWAR and a 204 wRC+. The performance, briefly interrupted by a flexor strain, served as a remarkable follow-up to his 2024 season, the greatest ever by a right-handed hitter, and earned Judge his second straight American League MVP Award and third overall.
“Aaron has been playing in rarified air for much of his career. His devotion to his craft, his continuous pursuit of excellence, and the importance he places on being a teammate who can be counted on help define his legacy just as much as his three MVP Awards,” Brian Cashman said in a statement after Judge won his latest trophy on Thursday night. “He is a once-in-a-generation player who embodies so much of what is good about our game. Aaron is being celebrated again tonight, and rightfully so. He has blossomed into one of sports’ greatest superstars.”
Aaron Boone issued a statement of his own, saying, in part, that “it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to use words to capture how good [Judge] is.”
Judge had to defeat Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, as well as Guardians third baseman José Ramírez, to win his third MVP.
“To me, he’s the clear-cut MVP,” Boone said of Judge in late September, but the switch-hitting Raleigh served as fierce competition and sparked months of debate.
The backstop led all of baseball with 60 home runs, drove in a league-high 125 RBI and provided stellar defense at the game’s most demanding — and time-consuming — position while Seattle captured its first AL West title since 2001. But as captivating as Raleigh was in 2025, his .247 average, .948 OPS, 9.1 fWAR and 161 wRC+ all trailed Judge’s marks by significant margins as the Yankees’ captain helped his Wild Card club tie for the AL’s best record.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America ultimately acknowledged the gap, as Judge took home 17 first-place MVP votes. Raleigh received 13 first-place votes.
“He is an amazing player. What he is doing out there is crazy. He is one of the best to ever do it,” Raleigh said of Judge in July. “He is a special player. Me being in that sentence, I’m just grateful to be in there. He is a really good one.”
Judge, who talked leadership with Raleigh during this year’s All-Star Game, shared similar thoughts on the MVP runner-up on Thursday.
“Cal’s different. He’s a special individual, a special player, and I know there’s 29 other teams out there that would love to have him,” Judge said, adding that he was aware of the MVP debate. “If Cal was the winner, there’s an obvious reason for that. If I win, there’s a reason too. So I think it’s just good for the game.”
With Raleigh thwarted and three MVPs now in his trophy case, Judge has put a rubber stamp on his Hall of Fame case. Everyone else with that many MVP Awards is already in Cooperstown or on their way there, aside from a few players with ties to performance-enhancing drugs.
“It’s tough for me to wrap my head around it,” Judge said when asked about his Hall of Fame pedigree. “It’s really just kind of mind-blowing from my side of things.”
Judge is the fourth player to win three MVP Awards with the Yankees. He joins a trio of Monument Park icons in Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio, though he uses a different word to describe the legends.
“You’re out there chasing ghosts,” Judge said.
“He’s already fashioned a career that matches up with the all-time greats,” Boone added in his statement, though those Yankees all have something Judge is missing.
That would be multiple rings. Judge is still searching for his first.
“I’d trade every award I’ve gotten and every All-Star appearance for an opportunity to win a championship,” Judge said.
Judge did his part this year, delivering a strong postseason after previously struggling in the playoffs. Following his star-studded regular season, he hit an even .500 while adding a 1.273 slugging percentage, seven RBI and a dramatic home run in Game 3 of the ALDS.
But with the Blue Jays winning that series, another year of Judge’s prime went by without a title. With Judge turning 34 in April, it’s fair to wonder how many peak seasons he has left, and if the Yankees will capitalize on them with a championship before they run out.
“I don’t look at it as we have to maximize this or that,” Cashman said earlier this offseason when asked if the eventual end of Judge’s prime is something to consider when crafting the 2026 roster. “I feel like we’re trying to put the best team we can on a year in, year out basis all the time, and that involves older players and younger players in the mix.”
Fortunately for the Yankees, Judge has yet to show any signs that a slow-down is imminent. The two-year MVP run that he’s been on has been one for the ages, as he leads all of baseball in average (.326), OBP (.457), slugging (.695), OPS (1.152), home runs (111), RBI (258), wRC+ (212) and fWAR (21.5) since the start of 2024.
Judge is also first or second in all of those categories since 2022, the year that he reset the American League single-season home run record with 62 dingers and won his first MVP.
“He’s an unbelievable player and means everything to this club and this clubhouse and this organization,” said Paul Goldschmidt, who won the NL’s MVP Award in 2022. “It’s not an accident, the success he’s had. He’s an extremely hard worker and extremely smart player. He goes out there and competes. Just does an unbelievable job. He plays great defense. He helps the guys in this room.
“I could go on and on, but he’s basically the total package.”
