Why Houston Astros DH Yordan Alvarez Should Not Win 2026 AL MVP

For the majority of the 2026 baseball season, Houston Astros Designated Hitter Yordan Alvarez was considered by many to be the frontrunner for the American League MVP award. Most people who thought Alvarez was the favorite pointed to the Triple Crown race for several months, where he was holding the lead in a combination of batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBIs) across multiple stretches of the schedule.

The historical prospect of a player winning the Triple Crown insulated Alvarez from the standard criticism applied to Designated Hitters in the MVP conversation. Even though Shohei Ohtani was able to win a National League MVP from the DH spot, baseball analysts traditionally have a negative outlook on players that do not contribute offensively.

That's just one of the reasons why the volume is getting turned up against Yordan Alvarez winning the AL MVP this year.

Designated Hitter Defensive Penalties and August Regression

Alvarez provides negligible fielding value to the Houston Astros due to his near exclusive role as a Designated Hitter. He only started in the outfield 24 times this season...resulting in only 194 total innings and 9 complete games played in Left Field. By comparison, one of the other strong contenders for the award, Baltimore Oriels power hitter Pete Alonso started 142 games at First Base, and had 135 complete games in the field. Alonso logged 1258 innings in the field, compared to Alvarez's 194 innings.

Not only did Alonso outplay Alvarez in the field, he surpassed him in the Triple Crown race too.

Greg Fiume, Getty Images

If the entire argument for Alvarez to be the MVP was wrapped in the Triple Crown race, shouldn't Alonso immediately become the top contender since he finished first in both Home Runs and RBIs in the American League?

That's right, Alvarez's statistical drop during the final two months of the season erased his Triple Crown standing entirely. Alvarez batted .242 with just 3 home runs over a 35-game stretch beginning in August...

Pete Alonso Secures the American League MVP Case

Baltimore Orioles First Baseman Pete Alonso constructed a more complete MVP case by combining consistent power production, with daily defensive durability. Alonso systematically dismantled the Triple Crown narrative by surpassing Alvarez to capture both the American League Home Run and RBI titles by the end of the year.

Alonso was on an Orioles team that was full of struggling bats, or players that were traded away during the season. He only had two teammates with over 100 hits, no teammate with more than 75 RBIs (next highest was 63), and only 2 teammates with more than 20 home runs. The Astros roster included multiple other players who had 75+ RBIs, five other players with more than 120 hits, and four other players with more than 20 home runs.

In other words, Baltimore would have been one of the worst teams in baseball without Alonso, while the Astros would still have offensive production without Alvarez. Meaning Alonso was way more valuable to his team than Alvarez was to his.

Now before anyone says that the Astros made the playoffs and the Orioles didn't...Houston ended with an 81-81 record, and the Orioles with a 79-82 record. They were basically the same team record-wise, but the Os had to play in the AL East with the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox (all playoff teams) while the Astros got to beat up on the Oakland/Sacramento Athletics, almost Los Angeles Angels, and Seattle Mariners all year.

Alonso faced more competition, played complete baseball, and was more impressive at the plate than Yordan. He should be the MVP.