Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees is the best hitter in the American League.

Yet, Cal Raleigh, who Seattle Mariners fans lovingly call “Big Dumper,” is more valuable — and the most deserving of the league’s most prestigious award for a position player.

A popular statistic that attempts to boil down all facets of a baseball player’s ability to a single number is wins above replacement, or WAR. Judge has 8.6 WAR on the season, largely due to his elite hitting and unthinkable 1.131 on-base plus slugging. Raleigh’s WAR stands at 6.7.

The WAR model says if the Yankees did not have Judge, they would have won 8.6 fewer games, and likewise, the Mariners with Raleigh.

That’s far from the truth. Judge is captain of the Yankees, a testament to the off-the-field value he brings to the team and its clubhouse. Without him, the Yankees would be a worse and leaderless team.

Raleigh is the glue holding the Mariners together. He is responsible for many more wins. First, he’s not far behind Judge at the plate, recording a .944 OPS. That’s the second-highest, behind Judge, of any American League player who has played a full season.

Why is coming in second place so impressive?

The catcher is the most valuable player on the diamond. Catchers are responsible for setting targets for the pitcher, framing pitches to induce umpire errors to benefit their team, throwing out runners on the basepaths and, most importantly, calling pitches. Every pitch is an agreement between pitcher and catcher.

Judge is involved only in plays where batted balls make it to the outfield. Raleigh has had a direct impact on every pitch of every play in over 100 games this year.

And Raleigh stands out even amongst other catchers. He is an elite framer, ranking in the 87th percentile of framing runs saved, and catches more runners stealing than average.

Another way to look at value is this: If the Yankees did not have Judge, and the Mariners did not have Raleigh, who would they be playing?

The Yankees might be looking at an outfield combination of Cody Bellinger, Jasson Domínguez, Trent Grisham and Giancarlo Stanton. None are anywhere near as valuable as Judge, but all are very decent players.

Seattle’s backup catcher is Mitch Garver, who has a 0.0 WAR and is batting .207. Garver is below average at framing and throwing out runners. Perhaps the Mariners would be playing top prospect Harry Ford, but it would be shocking for him to be as valuable as Raleigh has been.

While both players are the backbones of playoff-bound teams, the Mariners arguably need Raleigh more than the Yankees need Judge.

Catcher is an extremely physically grueling position. Pitching is hard too, but pitchers come and go, while the catcher must crouch or kneel behind the plate and sacrifice their knees for nine innings.

That is why it’s remarkable that Raleigh has caught 115 games for Seattle. And when he isn’t catching, he’s appeared at designated hitter in a further 35. He’s allowed to do that because he’s making history at the plate.

A catcher’s primary purpose is to control the pitching staff. Hitting is secondary. Raleigh doesn’t care. He leads the major leagues with 56 home runs. Judge has hit 48.

Raleigh’s tally is tied with Ken Griffey Jr. for the most in a single season in Seattle Mariners history. It’s the most ever by a switch hitter — more than Mickey Mantle ever hit in a year.

Achievements like that should be rewarded.

After a 10-game winning streak, Seattle has surged into a dogfight with the Houston Astros for the American League West title. The Astros, save for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, have won the division every year since 2017. 

Should the Mariners dethrone Houston, their leader should be recognized.

A team’s performance influencing award voting is mostly a thing of the past. But it still happens. In 2017, Jose Altuve, on that infamous championship-winning Astros squad, beat out Judge in the MVP race despite having equal WAR, a lower OPS and fewer than half as many home runs as Judge. It’s not just about the numbers.

Is that justified? Maybe, maybe not. The 2017 MVP race remains controversial. But in this case, I hope the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will look favorably upon this unlikely hero: a slugger at the position that is least expected to slug, who challenged Griffey and Mantle and took the league by storm.

Cal Raleigh is not the best at anything. There are better hitters, like Judge, and there are better defensive catchers.

But, all things considered, “Big Dumper” is the most valuable.