Yordan Alvarez is the 2026 American League Most Valuable Player, and it was not close. The Astros slugger received all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, the BBWAA announced Thursday night on MLB Network, finishing with 420 points, the maximum possible, per the BBWAA.
It is the first MVP award of his career, and it makes Alvarez just the third MVP in Astros history, joining Jeff Bagwell (1994 NL) and Jose Altuve (2017 AL). It also caps a two-day run of hardware: one night earlier, Alvarez picked up five awards at the 2026 MLB Awards, including the Hank Aaron Award and AL Comeback Player of the Year.
The Vote: A Unanimous Win
Rays third baseman Junior Caminero finished second with 267 points (27 second-place votes and three thirds), and Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was third with 188 points. Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler (181) and Orioles slugger Pete Alonso (144) rounded out the top five, per the BBWAA results. Alvarez, Caminero and Witt were the only players named on every ballot.
- Yordan Alvarez, Astros: 30 first-place votes, 420 points
- Junior Caminero, Rays: 27 second, 3 third, 267 points
- Bobby Witt Jr., Royals: 2 second, 11 third, 188 points
- Cam Schlittler, Yankees: 1 second, 8 third, 181 points
- Pete Alonso, Orioles: 144 points
Two writers from each AL city vote, ranking 10 players. A first-place vote is worth 14 points, second is worth nine, third eight and so on down to one point for 10th. Ballots are turned in before the postseason begins, so this is strictly a regular-season award.
The BBWAA noted this is only the 14th time the AL winner has been a unanimous choice. Aaron Judge (2024) and Mike Trout (2014) are among the most recent, and Shohei Ohtani is the only player to do it more than once. Alvarez is also just the second designated hitter to win the award, after Ohtani, who was primarily a DH in all four of his MVP seasons, per the BBWAA.
The Season That Won It
Alvarez played 158 games after being limited to 48 in an injury-plagued 2025, and he spent the year as the most dangerous hitter in the American League. He won the AL batting title and led the league in on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, total bases, walks and extra-base hits, per MLB.com.
- Slash line: .316/.432/.601
- OPS: 1.033 (190 OPS+)
- Home runs: 42, a career high and tied for second in the AL
- RBIs: 106, a career high and second in the AL
- Runs: 105
- Walks: 109, including an Astros-record 33 intentional walks
- Total bases and extra-base hits: 341 and 77
He led the Majors in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The only other players to do that this century are Judge (2025), Miguel Cabrera (2013) and Barry Bonds (2002), per MLB.com. MLB.com also noted his 33 intentional walks are the second-most in AL history, behind only the 36 Judge drew last year.
The one thing that slipped away was the Triple Crown. Alvarez chased it for most of the summer, but a quiet August and Alonso’s strong finish left him one home run and seven RBIs short, per CBS Sports. He still helped carry Houston to the AL West title, per the Associated Press.
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Where Alvarez Fits in Astros History
Bagwell won the 1994 NL MVP in the strike-shortened season and was a unanimous pick, receiving all 28 first-place votes, per Baseball-Reference. Altuve won the 2017 AL MVP with 27 of 30 first-place votes during the season the Astros won their first World Series, per MLB.com. That makes Alvarez the second Astro to win MVP unanimously, and the second to win it in the American League since Houston moved from the NL Central to the AL West in 2013.
Alvarez, who was born in Cuba, is also the fourth Cuban-born MVP, joining Zoilo Versalles (1965), Jose Canseco (1988) and Jose Abreu (2020), per Martí Noticias. All four won in the American League.
His win also ends a five-year stretch in which Judge or Ohtani took home the AL award. Judge, who won it in three of the previous four seasons, was limited to 66 games this year by injuries.
What His Teammates and Manager Said
The people closest to him made his case long before the votes were counted. “No doubt, he’s hands down the best player right now in the league,” Altuve, the 2017 AL MVP, said earlier this year, per MLB.com.
Joe Espada, who managed the Astros this season, said the same in July. “He’s the Most Valuable Player right now, as we speak,” Espada said, per MLB.com. “He’s the guy that’s been carrying our offense.”
What’s Next
Alvarez is also a finalist for the AL Silver Slugger Award at designated hitter, which MLB.com says will be announced on Tuesday. His career resume now includes the 2019 AL Rookie of the Year, the 2021 ALCS MVP, a 2022 World Series ring and, as of Thursday, an AL MVP.
LFG Houston’s Take
This is the award that puts a stamp on everything. The talent was never the question with Yordan. The question was whether he could stay on the field for a full season, and after only 48 games in 2025, that was a fair worry. He answered it with 158 games and the best offensive season in the American League, and all 30 voters agreed. A unanimous MVP with 42 homers, a batting title and an AL West crown is about as complete a case as there is. Now the goal is the same as it always is in Houston: turn a season like this into a deep October run.
Vote totals via the BBWAA. Stats and quotes via MLB.com, MLB.com, MLB.com, CBS Sports and the Associated Press.
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