Dan Patrick: If Cal Raleigh Was Catcher For The Yankees, He Would Have Won AL MVP | 11/14/25

All right. I said I would be fine if Aaron Judge won the MVP. He put up great numbers. His numbers a lot better than uh Cal Raleigh except for the home runs. Here’s the here’s the question I would ask when Yankee fans get sensitive about this. If Aaron Judge was on Seattle and Cal Raleigh was on the Yankees, who wins MVP? And that’s a rhetorical question because we know that Cal Raleigh as catcher of the Yankees and he is a gold glove catcher, he is going to be your MVP, right? They would talk about, oh my gosh, he’s the he’s the next Thurman Mson. I mean, we know this this played a role. Now, Aaron Jud Aaron Judge can be a liability in the field. He’s not a good outfielder. He’s a great hitter. He’s going to be a Hall of Famer. Cal Raleigh plays the most important position in baseball. He’s out there every single day. Look at that pitching staff. He helped develop a very good young pitching staff. They made the playoffs. I got to factor in all of those things. But I think the hammer is if Cal Raleigh was the catcher for the Yankees, hitting 60 home runs, winning the division, developing a young pitching staff, being a gold glove catcher, he wins the MVP. Aaron Judge is great. The numbers are phenomenal. Batting average was, you know, probably 50 points higher. I understand all of those things. the hardest position, most important position. You got a gold glove catcher and 60 home runs. Okay. You know how many games he missed? Three. I don’t know if he gets another chance. That’s not why I would say, you know, he deserved the MVP. I would just say we forget when you’re a catcher. I mean, it’s you never get a day off when you catch. I can put Aaron Judge in the outfield and he might get four balls hit his way. Uh we’ve seen him, you know, in the playoffs be a li liability out there, but it’s not really about he’s not a great fielder. It’s that Cal Raleigh is a really good catcher and he hits 60 home runs. And and I don’t want this to be that I’m anti-judge as much as I I just think you got to factor in where Cal Raleigh was doing this in Seattle and the importance of doing it in a big market. Now Otani could play anywhere and still win the MVP, but I mean he did it with the Angels, but I think Cal Raleigh to me location is what prevented him from winning the MVP. Yes, Mark. Is there another team that you would have thought, all right, if you play for the Red Sox, would it have been a closer race? Like you could see them giving it to Cal Raleigh if you played in Boston instead of Seattle? Yeah. Yes. Because their games are seen by more people. I mean, Sam Darnold is, you know, doing unbelievable things in Seattle. Nobody’s really focused on that. Now, you might say, “Well, Sam Darnold shown us that, you know, he can be good, not great.” Okay, but he’s still having an incredible year there. I just think location, location, location. And this is about New York real estate. Doing it in a Yankee uniform, they they would have a monument built for him already. They they’d have a plaque out there. Let’s not kid anybody. Yeah, Dylan. I feel like uh defensively that uh things have kind of gone by the wayside in the MLB too. Like it’s for the Hall of Fame defense wasn’t really ever looked at too. And I feel like now for awards and stuff, it’s not even like you don’t get docked if it’s bad and it doesn’t really help you out that much if it’s good. Yeah. But that’s where I want people to realize this used to be a thing. My catcher is great. My catcher is out there every game. My catcher was developing a pitching staff and and hitting 60 home runs. Home runs. Yes, Paul. But Dan, you remember a time in the 70s and 80s when if you had a very good catcher and they could hit over 250 and give you 20 home runs, that was like a luxury item because you had both. Then you have those anomalies like Johnny Bench or Cal Raleigh where like he’s both great at catching and great at hitting. And those come around three or four times in the past 40 years. Yeah. you know, Carlton Fisk was a a great catcher, great hitter. Um, I nobody is on par with Johnny Bench. You know, Johnny Bench was, I think, the best defensive catcher and he also was a great offensive hitter. Um, but, you know, feels like it’s that’s a long time ago where we’re not really factoring in defense. And I think you have to in certain positions certainly like catcher you do you have to factor that in if if it’s a plus I have to factor that in if it’s different and he’s a gold glove catcher. Um, so I I just think if he was catcher for the Yankees, this wouldn’t have been close the other way that he would have won the MVP.

Dan Patrick reacts to New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge winning the AL MVP award in a close race with Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh

34 comments

  1. What will history remember the most? The guy that who the best hitter or the guy that broke several records never seen in baseball history before? in 50 years, when they look at the year 2025, will they be more impressed with Judge or Raleigh? They will ask how the guy that still holds those records not be the MVP in his own year? They will talk about Cal Raleigh but will they talk about anyone else?

  3. When Yogi Berra won 3 MVP awards for the Yankees in the 1950's he averaged 27 HRs, .280 batting average, and 90 RBIs. The main reason he won those Year was playing catcher. 1n 1954 when he won the Yankees finished 2nd to The Cleveland Indians.

  9. Judge was the better player by a mile. Almost 200 points in ops , batting title, first in runs, obp, slugging , ops, Ralieigb hit 7 more homers and more RBIs. Judge was the better player.

  14. Where you play makes a difference, unfortunately. I'm a Tigers fan. You put Trammel and Lou in a Yankees shirt, same careers, first ballet HOF no question. Jack Morris, ya put him in NY or Boston at that time, no problem getting into the HOF. Put Jeter in Texas or with the Angels or Padres, HOF maybe, but his votes certintly aren't as high as they were. George Brett, Cal Rip jr, same thing. Lot of guys. Ichiro, that man, one of the greatest players I've ever seen..playing for the yankees in his prime..would he held at a greater point? Most defintely. Its an interesting arguement. Would Babe Ruth be Babe Ruth if he was in Cleveland? Mantle with Minnasota? Kobe with Charlotte? Hasek if he played in prime with the Rangers or Toronto?

  17. Don't play the location game. Take away the cities they played in, Judge still has better overall numbers than Cal. Maybe this will motivate Cal to hit for average with a lot of home runs in the future. Then he'll deservedly win it.

  18. I don't get sensitive as a Yankee fan. Quantifying the unquantifiable is a fools errand. Harder to play in NY than in Seattle? What if Cal was a Yankee? What if Judge was a Mariner? Would he be better with less pressure? We can play this game all day…reality is that Judge won because traditionalist writers looked at batting average said you wouldn't give a guy with a shitty average the MVP.

  21. Ohtani is just a DH and part time pitcher and gets treated like he’s Aaron Judge and Paul Skenes rolled into one player! Let me say that again he’s ONLY A DH!!! He shouldn’t be the automatic choice for MVP just because he takes the mound once a week for 5 innings! If he played the field instead of DH and pitched a complete season made starts every fifth day then I would say he’s the best modern day player in the game but the glaze on this guy is not justified! A real 2 way player would be out on the field even if it’s at first base.

  26. Aaron Judge won the MVP Award in the real world. Good luck with your alternate reality. By the way Judge is an outstanding outfielder..to say otherwise shows you are not even watching him play. You are completely obsessing he dropped a fly ball in the World Series..which is a ridiculous way to summarize his defense . He’s a five tool player. You disagree..duly noted (who cares). God..these talking heads think they know better than everyone around them. Just stop whining..it’s unbecoming. Judge won the award because his season was superior ..apparently you can hit .240 if you’re a catcher and negate a batting title in the opinion of some. Uh..no. Keep pontificating..you sound ridiculous and self obsessed.

  28. Zzzzzzz Plenty of Yankees lost when it was close. Judge in 17, Jeter/Mornaeu. Hell Matsui got screwed out of Roy, because “he was a pro over seas”, even though Ichiro won ROY. Pettite lost a Cy Young to Paul Quantrill. Dude just talking. Oh and “Judge is a liability in the field”. Mans sounds like he don’t watch baseball anymore.

  33. This is so dumb. Old people like Dan continue to do zero show research and yell about something that hasnt been true since the invention of modern media. Completely ignoring aaron judge getting burned by Altuve. Laziest take of all time and Dan should honestly be ashamed.

Leave a Reply