Will José Ramírez Ever Win an MVP? The Numbers Say He Should

José Ramírez has spent nearly a decade as the Cleveland Guardians' best player.

But his value and play on the field actually also places him as one of the league's top talents.

Year after year, Ramírez has finished on the MVP ballot, stacking votes at a historic rate and continuing to keep his name in the conversation for the prestigious award. Yet somehow, baseball's highest individual honor has slipped through his fingers every time.

In a recent statistic dug up by GuardiansNation, Ramírez is actually in a league of his own. No player in MLB history has received more MVP votes without ever winning the award, a disappointing yet telling distinction that shows just how good he's been on the diamond. The 2025 award race marked the sixth time in his career that he's finished top five in the voting, and the fourth time he was top three.

While it would be great to see him snag the award at least once, it's growing more unlikely with age that he'll be able to do it.

In the American League, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have dominated the race since 2021, a window of time during which Ramírez has been the most effective.

Jose Ramirez has the most MVP votes in MLB history without winning an MVP award.

Will Jose ever win an MVP?

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— Guardians Nation (@GuardiansNation) January 27, 2026

A future Hall of Famer

The 33-year-old was impressive last season, slashing .283/.360/.593 for an OPS of .863, tacking on 34 doubles, three triples and 30 home runs for a total of 85 RBIs. 2025 also marked the fifth straight year that Ramírez was selected to be an All-Star.

He was also one of just seven players to reach the 30-homer, 30-steal mark, joining Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Julio Rodríguez, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Corbin Carroll and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Over the past two seasons, he’s one of only three players with at least 60 home runs and 60 stolen bases, and stretching that window to three seasons, just three players, including Ramírez, have reached the 90-homer, 90-steal threshold.

He's been incredible, even when looking beyond those three years, and the MVP voters have consistently taken note.

Since 2016, he has received MVP votes in every season except 2019, finishing 17th in 2016; third in 2017 and 2018; second in 2020; sixth in 2021; fourth in 2022; 10th in 2023; fifth in 2024 and third in 2025.

After this past season, he's now at a career MVP share of 3.61, the highest of any player to never win the award.

One of his closest races, 2020, saw him fall to José Abreu by 71 vote points and 13 first-place votes. Abreu was excellent, leading the American League in slugging and RBIs.

The tough part is, while Ramírez has been great, each player who's beaten him has been well deserving of the honor.

All of this begs the question, though, will he ever win the honor?

Honestly, probably not. As mentioned, he's getting up there in age and the window of his prime is slowly going to start closing. He's never going to be a bad player, but the characteristics that really help a player win the award: speed, strength and hand-eye coordination, are going to begin slowly declining.

As the Guardians keep getting more talented prospects to break out, they are going to also start stealing the spotlight and drawing further interest in award races. Eventually, too, he'll probably slowly transition into a larger designated hitter role, taking away some of the weight his consistent fielding brings to his MVP votes.

However, while for some players, winning the MVP is the biggest dream, for Ramírez, he just wants to see the team win a World Series.

"I owe this city a lot," he said in a recent interview reflecting on his initial extension in Cleveland. "There were real trade discussions and offers from other teams willing to extend me at my full asking price, but my heart was set on staying in Cleveland. First and foremost, my children were born here. My wife feels comfortable in Cleveland, and so do I.

Ramírez will have a chance to continue his hot streak of great play in 2026, with spring training as his first stop. The Guardians are set to play the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Feb. 21, with first pitch set for 3:05 p.m. EST.