It is one of the most hotly contested MVP debates in recent memory, and The Athletic's voting writers tried to put it all into perspective.

But first, it's award season in baseball, and the American League and National League MVPs have finally been selected. Let's start there.

Judge’s three MVPs, however, will still go down in history. His dominance in 2022, 2024, and 2025, three seasons in which he posted an OPS north of 1.100, 50 home runs, and a 200 OPS+, created three of the best runner-up seasons in history with his mere presence.

Maybe Judge can win two more MVPs to take a 5-0 lead on Jeter. It would be fitting, since Jeter leads 5-0 in World Series championships.

The biggest awards have now been handed out in baseball, and one of them just increased Tarik Skubal’s free agency value. On Wednesday, the Cy Young Awards were announced, and Tarik Skubal (of course) won for the second year in a row, while Paul Skenes of the Pirates won for the NL.

The Bronx was roaring on the evening of Oct. 7, but Aaron Judge remembers hearing nothing. Some 40,000 pairs of eyes tracked a baseball on its collision course with the left-field foul pole, then came the clang against steel – fair ball,

Shohei Ohtani wins a Most Valuable Player award and Japan celebrates with newspaper extra editions being handed out a major train station