Is Yordan Alvarez Going to Take Over the AL MVP Award Moving Forward?

During the 2026 season, the Houston Astros had one player who stood out, which was made very clear over the past week in the form of designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, who earned multiple awards for his 2026 performance, including the American League MVP award, which he was able to win unanimously.

That said, the 2026 season from Alvarez was very impressive and showed that he has the ability to be dominant at times. Based on winning the AL MVP, it is evident that he was the best player in the American League for the 2026 season, and the reason for that was his ability to be so productive at the plate, even though opposing pitchers knew what he was capable of.

Looking ahead, there is one interesting question to answer when it comes to Alvarez and how he can perform in future years. Is Yordan Alvarez going to take over the AL MVP award moving forward?

While this may seem like a crazy question, Alvarez did something very impressive this past season by winning AL MVP, but he also got some help in the form of Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who won the NL MVP award.

The thing that Alvarez and Crow-Armstrong were able to accomplish that was impressive was ending the streak of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and New York Yankees star Aaron winning an MVP award, which was something alluded to by Bleacher Report MLB analyst Zachary D. Rymer.

To give some perspective, at least one of Ohtani and Judge has won an MVP award since 2021, which is crazy, and what is even crazier is the fact that now Alvarez and Crow-Armstrong have ended that streak. 

Crow-Armstrong was very impressive as he hit 45 home runs and played excellent defense, which enabled him to win the Platinum Glove award.

Shifting the focus to Alvarez, he did something that could arguably be even more impressive, which was nearly winning the Triple Crown in the AL while recording 42 home runs, 106 RBIs, and a batting average of .316, in addition to leading the MLB in on-base percentage and slugging, which shows his ability to dominate in a variety of categories.

With that in mind, it is clear that Alvarez is a strong hitter at the plate and also that his 2026 performance was not a fluke and is something that could be repeatable if he can once again stay healthy and have a great offseason to continue progressing as he heads into his next season with the Astros.

Now, when it comes to answering the question of Alvarez taking over the AL MVP award from Judge, I do believe that Alvarez has the ability to do so and the fact that he dominated in so many categories suggests that he is more well-rounded than many other hitters are.

Additionally with Randy Flores coming in as the new GM and Brad Ausmus being hired as the next manager there are changes being made in Houston that could put Alvarez in a position to be much better in 2027 than he was in 2026 if the overall roster is even a little better than it was this past season.

All of that to say, I do believe that Alvarez can take over the AL MVP for the next few seasons, and if he is healthy and the roster improves, there is no reason why Alvarez would not win the AL MVP award yet again in 2027 and have similar success beyond next year.

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