Yordan Álvarez Wins the American League MVP Unanimously, Becoming the Fourth Cuban-Born Winner

November 15, 2026

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Álvarez, born in Las Tunas, Cuba, was voted the 2026 American League Most Valuable Player unanimously, collecting all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, as announced on MLB Network on Thursday, November 12. The Rays' Junior Caminero finished second with 267 points and the Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. was third with 188.

Álvarez becomes the fourth Cuban-born player to win a regular-season MVP, following Zoilo Versalles (1965), José Canseco (1988) and José Abreu (2020), according to MLB.com. He is also only the second designated hitter to win the award after Shohei Ohtani, and the third Astro to do so, alongside Jeff Bagwell (1994) and José Altuve (2017).

He won the AL batting title at .316 and led the majors in on-base percentage (.432), slugging (.601) and OPS (1.033). He hit 42 home runs, drove in 106 runs and drew 109 walks, leaving him one homer and seven RBIs shy of the Triple Crown, MLB.com reported. His season followed a 2025 in which injuries limited him to 48 games. "Everybody knows I had some injury struggles last year... so yes, that was on my mind," Álvarez said.

The night before, at the MLB Awards in Las Vegas, he had collected the AL Hank Aaron Award, the Edgar Martínez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award and AL Comeback Player of the Year, plus a spot on the All-MLB First Team, 14ymedio reported.