Junior Caminero finishes runner-up in American League MVP voting as Yordan Alvarez wins unanimous award

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

ST. PETERSBURG — Junior Caminero came within one place of adding a long-sought American League MVP to the Tampa Bay Rays’ franchise history, finishing second in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voting for the 2026 AL MVP Award. The final results were revealed Thursday night on MLB Network, with Alvarez and the Astros separating themselves from the rest of the field as the only unanimous choice for first place.

Yordan Alvarez received all 30 first-place votes to become the 14th unanimous AL MVP. Caminero followed with 27 of 30 second-place votes and three third-place votes, finishing with 267 points, while Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals earned 188 points in third. Despite the loss, the Rays’ finish represented the highest AL MVP placement the organization has ever had, with the previous best coming from Evan Longoria (sixth in 2010, and tied for sixth in 2013) and Yandy Díaz (sixth in 2023).

The voting picture positioned Alvarez as the clear frontrunner following the offensive production that led Major League Baseball categories in the source’s summary. Alvarez topped the Majors in batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.432) and slugging percentage (.601), becoming the fourth player this century to lead MLB in all three triple-slash categories, joining Aaron Judge (2025), Miguel Cabrera (2013) and Barry Bonds (2002).

According to the same voting context, Alvarez also led the Majors in OPS+ (190) and walks (109), ranked highly in home runs (42) and RBIs (106), and paced the American League in total bases (341). The source also noted that Alvarez joined Judge (2025) and Cabrera (2012–13) as the only players since 1970 to win the AL batting title while hitting at least 40 home runs.

For Tampa Bay, the runner-up finish underscored a season profile built around everyday availability and two-way impact within the Rays’ run to the World Series. The source states that Caminero was in the starting lineup at third base for all 162 regular-season games, while Alvarez was “mostly a DH for the Astros,” a contrast presented as part of the reasoning behind Caminero finishing behind the unanimous winner.

The source further describes Caminero as “the best player on the AL’s best team,” referring to the Rays’ 98-win season that produced the league’s best record and a trip to the World Series. While the source frames his overall statistical impact as slightly behind Alvarez’s, it provides specific line items for Caminero’s season: a slash line of .276/.360/.524 with 42 home runs and 101 RBIs, a 144 OPS+, and a team-high 5.8 wins above replacement, attributed in the story to Baseball Reference.

Tampa Bay team leadership also discussed what Caminero’s follow-through has meant to the organization’s on-field results. Erik Neander, the Rays’ president of baseball operations, said earlier this month that Caminero’s importance goes beyond raw talent, adding that it is “not lost on us what kind of not just talent we have, but what kind of character we have, what kind of professional we have, what kind of drive Junior has within him to not be satisfied with the two unbelievable seasons that he's had, but just the obsession to continue to get better.”

The story ties that developmental theme to early-season changes at the plate. It notes that Caminero showed he was “more well-rounded” than the young slugger who hit 45 homers and drove in 110 runs the prior year, while keeping “elite bat speed and raw power” and adding an expanded approach at the plate.

In particular, the source reports that Caminero worked nearly twice as many walks in 2026, drawing 79 compared with 41 the year before, lifting his on-base percentage from .311 to .360. It also says his strikeout rate dipped slightly from 19.1% to 18.4%, and frames the overall improvement as a key reason he emerged as a major league MVP candidate in what was described as his second full Major League season.

Neander also offered detail about how Caminero processes feedback and applies it. In quotes included in the source, Neander said, “Surprised, but not surprised at the same time. Just exceptionally talented [and] as driven as he is talented,” and added that his feedback loop can translate quickly, noting, “His feedback loop from getting feedback, constructive criticism, processing it and applying it, oftentimes that's an offseason, right? 'All right, next year I’m going to come back and I’m going to be better for it next year.' With Junior, it takes like 20 minutes.”

Caminero’s runner-up finish means Tampa Bay still has not produced an AL MVP, but the season’s placement in the voting establishes the closest club history to doing so. Neander’s remarks in the source also pointed to what he viewed as the distinction between being a star and acting like one consistently, saying Caminero’s “desire to not just be a star, but act like a star, work like a star and be that kind of behavioral example” has been present even at a young age.

With Alvarez confirmed as the league’s unanimous MVP and Caminero closing out second in the BBWAA vote, the Rays’ franchise will continue to look for their first AL MVP in future seasons. For now, the organization’s best-ever finish in its history sets the marker for what came nearest to an award it has long sought.