With Aaron Decide’s common sitting above .400 on Might 20, Kyle Higashioka stood in Yankee Stadium’s visiting clubhouse and eagerly accepted an invite to reward his former teammate.
“It’s just the continual drive to be better every year,” the Rangers catcher stated when requested what about Decide impresses him essentially the most. “A lot of people would be very content with having some of the seasons he had a few years ago and just staying at that level. But I think he’s gotten better every single year since then. That’s just a testament to the character he has.”
Decide’s continued strides on the plate resulted in one other spectacular season, as he completed the 2025 marketing campaign with 53 dwelling runs, 114 RBI, a .331 common – making the 6-7 slugger the tallest batting champ ever – a 1.144 OPS, 10.1 fWAR and a 204 wRC+. The efficiency, briefly interrupted by a flexor pressure, served as a exceptional follow-up to his 2024 season, the best ever by a right-handed hitter, and earned Decide his second straight American League MVP Award and third total.
“Aaron has been playing in rarified air for much of his career. His devotion to his craft, his continuous pursuit of excellence, and the importance he places on being a teammate who can be counted on help define his legacy just as much as his three MVP Awards,” Brian Cashman stated in an announcement after Decide gained his newest trophy on Thursday night time. “He is a once-in-a-generation player who embodies so much of what is good about our game. Aaron is being celebrated again tonight, and rightfully so. He has blossomed into one of sports’ greatest superstars.”
Aaron Boone added an announcement of his personal, saying, partly, that “it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to use words to capture how good [Judge] is.”
Decide needed to defeat Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, in addition to Guardians third baseman José Ramírez, to win his third MVP. “To me, he’s the clear-cut MVP,” Boone stated of Decide in late September as debate swirled, because the switch-hitting Raleigh served as fierce competitors.
The backstop led all of baseball with 60 dwelling runs, drove in a league-high 125 RBI and supplied stellar protection on the sport’s most demanding – and time-consuming – place whereas Seattle captured its first AL West title since 2001. However as charming as Raleigh was in 2025, his .247 common, .948 OPS, 9.1 fWAR and 161 wRC+ all trailed Decide’s marks by vital margins because the Yankees’ captain helped his Wild Card membership tie for the AL’s finest document.
The Baseball Writers’ Affiliation of America finally acknowledged the hole, as Decide took dwelling 17 first-place MVP votes. Raleigh obtained 13 first-place votes.
“He’s a complete hitter,” Decide stated of Raleigh in July. “Hits the ball all over the park. Being able to be a switch-hitter and have both your swings on like that, it’s impressive.”
“He is an amazing player. What he is doing out there is crazy. He is one of the best to ever do it,” Raleigh added of Decide across the similar time. “He is a special player. Me being in that sentence, I’m just grateful to be in there. He is a really good one.”
With Raleigh thwarted, Decide is now the fourth participant to win three MVP Awards with the Yankees. He joins a trio of Corridor of Famers and Monument Park icons: Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio.
“He’s already fashioned a career that matches up with the all-time greats,” Boone stated in his assertion, although these Yankees legends all have one thing Decide is lacking. That might be a number of championships.
With the Blue Jays successful that collection, nevertheless, one other yr of Decide’s prime glided by with no ring. With Decide turning 34 in April, it’s truthful to marvel what number of peak seasons he has left, and if the Yankees will capitalize on them with a championship earlier than they run out.
“I don’t look at it as we have to maximize this or that,” Cashman stated earlier this offseason when requested if the eventual finish of Decide’s prime is one thing to think about when crafting the 2026 roster. “I feel like we’re trying to put the best team we can on a year in, year out basis all the time, and that involves older players and younger players in the mix.”
Thankfully for the Yankees, Decide has but to point out any indicators {that a} slow-down is imminent. The 2-year MVP run that he’s been on has been one for the ages, as he leads all of baseball in common (.326), OBP (.457), slugging (.695), OPS (1.152), dwelling runs (111), RBI (258), wRC+ (212) and fWAR (21.5) because the begin of 2024.
Decide can be first or second in all of these classes since 2022, the yr that he reset the American League single-season dwelling run document with 62 dingers and gained his first MVP.
“He’s an unbelievable player and means everything to this club and this clubhouse and this organization,” stated Paul Goldschmidt, who gained the NL’s MVP Award in 2022. “It’s not an accident, the success he’s had. He’s a particularly laborious employee and very good participant. He goes on the market and competes. Simply does an unbelievable job. He performs nice protection. He helps the blokes on this room.
“I could go on and on, but he’s basically the total package.”
