Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez named American League MVP after nearly winning 2026 Triple Crown

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 favorite 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.

Rays 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.