The Boston Red Sox have had one of the best hitters in baseball this season: Willson Contreras. The 34-year-old is having a career year. He's on pace for 32 home runs and 96 RBIs, both career highs. As long as he doesn't have a major slump, he'll also set career highs in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. The only player in baseball with a higher WRC+ than Contreras is Yordan Alvarez.
The Red Sox also have one of the best fielders in baseball at one of the most important positions to be a great fielder: Ceddanne Rafaela. He also happens to be having a breakout season at the plate, with a .288 batting average, a career high by .40 points, and a .784 OPS, a career high by .80 points. His 5.8 bWAR is seventh in all of MLB.
In Bleacher Report's most recent MVP rankings, both of them were listed in the top 10, and deservedly so. If those rankings hold and both end up in the top 10 of AL MVP voting, it would be the first time Boston has had two in the top 10 since they did it four straight years from 2016-19.
The Top 10 AL MVP Candidates, via @BleacherReport
— SleeperMLB (@SleeperMLB) August 26, 2026
1. Yordan Alvarez (HOU)
2. Bobby Witt Jr. (KC)
3. Junior Caminero (TB)
4. Cam Schlittler (NYY)
5. Dylan Cease (TOR)
6. Dillon Dingler (DET)
7. Willson Contreras (BOS)
8. Miguel Vargas (CWS)
9. Ceddanne Rafaela (BOS)
10.… pic.twitter.com/93bfgRLIGv
When the Red Sox are in a championship window, multiple players get MVP recognition
In 2016, Mookie Betts officially broke out and finished second, and David Ortiz's farewell season saw him finish sixth. In 2017, Betts finished sixth in the voting, and Chris Sale's 300 strikeout season landed him in ninth. In 2018, Betts finally got his MVP, and J. D. Martinez ended up in fourth. Finally, in 2019, it was Xander Bogaerts the top vote-getter in Boston, finishing fifth, with Betts landing in eighth. The Sox have had other top 10 finishers since then, but not two in the same year.
Contreras and Rafaela are both deserving of a top 10 finish on this year's ballot. Without them, the Red Sox would not have had the turnaround they did. Through the first couple of months of the season, it was Contreras keeping the team afloat, and then being the middle-of-the-order thump the team needed during the hot streak.
Rafaela's breakout flew under the radar in the first part of the season, but every month since May, he has had a batting average over .285. He cemented himself in the two-hole in the lineup and has consistently produced despite a rotating cast of leadoff hitters all season. His defense, as always, has been elite too.
The two of them have been integral parts of the Red Sox's success this season. Without them, who knows if the Red Sox would have been able to flip their season. They deserve to be recognized in the voting as such.
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