Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez has won the 2026 American League MVP, the BBWAA announced Thursday night.
The Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot uses two voters from each of the 15 chapters housing AL teams. Each voter submits a ballot with 10 players, ranked 1-10. A first-place vote gets a player 14 points, while second place earns nine, third place eight, etc., until a 10th-place vote earns one point. Ballots are due before the playoffs begin, as this is a regular-season award.
Alvarez, 29, bounced back from an injury-riddled disaster in 2025, during which he only played in 48 games. This time around, he avoided the IL and appeared in 158 games. He hit .316/.432/.601 (190 OPS+) with 34 doubles, a triple, 42 home runs, 106 RBI, 105 runs and 6.8 WAR. He made a late run at the Triple Crown, missing out by one home run and seven RBI. He did lead the majors in all three triple slash categories, though, leading in average by five points, on-base percentage by a whopping 42 points -- he led the majors in walks -- and 31 points in slugging percentage. Add the latter two and his OPS victory was 90 points -- 1.033 to second place's .943 (National League MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong).
The only players in MLB history to lead the majors in all three triple slash categories:
- Alvarez, 2026
- Aaron Judge, 2025
- Miguel Cabrera, 2013
- Barry Bonds, 2002
- Larry Walker, 1999
- George Brett, 1980
Alvarez becomes just the third Astros player to win MVP after Jeff Bagwell in 1994 and Jose Altuve in 2017.
Player1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10thPointsYordan Alvarez, Astros30 420Junior Caminero, Rays 273 267Bobby Witt Jr., Royals 2115331212188Cam Schlittler, Yankees 188314 1181Pete Alonso, Orioles 27555131144Miguel Vargas, White Sox 42454741129Kevin McGonigle, Tigers 5234126109Randy Arozarena, Mariners 56554495Ben Rice, Yankees 2 33253292Willson Contreras, Red Sox 53233267Dylan Cease, Blue Jays 31 133120Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox 112 17Parker Messick, Guardians 1 13110Dillon Dingler, Tigers 17Steven Kwan, Guardians 1 1 15Munetaka Murakami, White Sox 1 5Ceddane Rafaela, Red Sox 1 14Ezequiel Duran, Rangers 113Drew Rasmussen, Rays 113Isaac Paredes, Astros 22Cade Smith, Guardians 22Rays third baseman Junior Caminero finished in second. At age 22, he played all 162 games, leading the Rays to the best AL record. He hit .276/.360/.524 (144 OPS+) with 42 home runs, 101 RBI and 100 runs, posting a 5.7 WAR. He's already made history, too, as the Rays had previously never had a player finish in the top five of MVP voting.
Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. came in third. This is now his fourth straight season in the top seven and third straight season in the top four. He finished second in 2024. This season, he hit .281/.359/.441 (125 OPS+) with 33 doubles, 18 homers, 54 RBI, 94 runs, 45 steals and 6.7 WAR.
