Buster Olney of ESPN Now Thinks Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh Can Win MVP Award
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Several weeks ago, ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney told the Refuse to Lose podcast that Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh couldn't win the American League MVP Award because it was a foregone conclusion that Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees would repeat as the winner of the award.
Well, this week, Olney has changed his tune, telling us that he thinks Raleigh absolutely CAN win the award and become the first Mariners player to win MVP since Ichiro Suzuki did in 2001.
Okay, can you go back and find those tapes where I told you that and just burn them? Because I'm ready to take that off the table. I'm ready to sit here and go: 'You know I was wrong.' Cal Raleigh has now made this a fight, and made this an open competition because of what he's doing offensively, like to me, now it's a legitimate competition. It's Cal Raleigh vs. Judge for the American League MVP. Look, if you're a shortstop, or if you're a catcher, and you're having a great season, and you have defensive impact, and you're having a great season offensively, that puts you in a different category. As great as Judge is -- maybe the greatest right-handed hitter that we've ever seen -- and I know he's taken a step back in recent weeks, and his offensive numbers are coming down, but when you have a catcher like Cal Raleigh doing what he's doing, then he's going to be in consideration...
Entering play on Friday, Raleigh is leading the major leagues in home runs with 32. He's also got 69 RBIs and is hitting .275.
You can hear the full interview with Olney below:
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