Houston Astros’ slugger Yordan Alvarez took all 30 first-place votes to win the American League MVP Award.
Alvarez is the second MVP for the Astros in the American League and the third overall. Jose Altuve was the AL winner in 2017. Houston’s other MVP was Jeff Bagwell in the National League in 1994. The Astros moved from the NL Central to the AL West in 2013.
This election marks the 14th time the AL winner was a unanimous choice. Shohei Ohtani, the only player to be unanimous more than once (four times, twice in the AL with the Angels and twice in the NL with the Dodgers) tops the list that also includes Aaron Judge (2024), Mike Trout (2014), Ken Griffey Jr. (1997), Frank Thomas (1993), Jose Canseco (1988), Reggie Jackson (1973), Denny McLain (1968), Frank Robinson (1966), Mickey Mantle (1956), Al Rosen (1953) and Hank Greenberg (1935). There have been 10 unanimous MVPs in the NL.
Alvarez is only the second designated hitter honored. Ohtani was primarily a DH in all four of his winning seasons.
Runner-up Junior Caminero has the highest finish in balloting by a player with the Rays, who have not had an MVP in their 29 seasons. The highest previous showing for Tampa Bay candidates was sixth place by Evan Longoria in 2010 and 2013 and Yandy Diaz in 2023.
Alvarez, Caminero and third-place Bobby Witt Jr. were the only players named on every ballot.
Ballots, submitted before the postseason, were cast by two writers in each league city. They are tabulated on a system that rewards 14 points for first place, nine for second, eight for third on down to one for 10th.
2026 AL MVP
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yordan Alvarez, Astros | 30 | 420 | |||||||||
| Junior Caminero, Rays | 27 | 3 | 267 | ||||||||
| Bobby Witt Jr., Royals | 2 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 188 | |
| Cam Schlittler, Yankees | 1 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 181 | |||
| Pete Alonso, Orioles | 2 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 144 | ||
| Miguel Vargas, White Sox | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 129 | ||
| Kevin McGonigle, Tigers | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 109 | |||
| Randy Arozarena, Mariners | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 95 | ||||
| Ben Rice, Yankees | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 92 | |||
| Willson Contreras, Red Sox | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 67 | |||
| Dylan Cease, Blue Jays | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 20 | ||||||
| Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 17 | ||||||
| Parker Messick, Guardians | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 | |||||||
| Dillon Dingler, Tigers | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||
| Steven Kwan, Guardians | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Munetaka Murakami, White Sox | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| Ezequiel Durán, Rangers | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
| Drew Rasmussen, Rays | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
| Isaac Paredes, Astros | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Cade Smith, Guardians | 2 | 2 |