SEATTLE — Critics will call this a homer column. Maybe it is. Maybe it has to be, to understand why Cal Raleigh was the rightful American League MVP.

Because you had to be here, to see the signs outside Seattle businesses boasting, “Might as well go win the whole [expletive] thing.” To feel how much it mattered, as Seattle went 26-9 at home in the second half of the season. To hear the “M-V-P” chants from 42,833 fans when Raleigh sent home run No. 60 ascending into the right-field seats at T-Mobile Park.

“A catcher has hit 60 home runs!” ROOT Sports broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith bellowed on Sept. 24, barely above the roar, as Raleigh bounded around the bases. “Your MVP moment, Cal Raleigh!”

It was a season full of MVP moments, a rocket stacking records as it accelerated into space.

But on Thursday, Raleigh did not win the MVP. That award went to New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who received 355 total points and 17 first-place votes to earn the honor. With 335 points and 13 first-place votes, Raleigh finished a close second, ahead of fellow finalist, Cleveland Guardians’ third baseman Jose Ramirez (224 points).

Judge’s season, by any measure, was extraordinary. The 33-year-old right fielder led the AL in most significant offensive categories — including batting average (.331), on-base percentage (.457), slugging percentage (.688), OPS (1.144), runs (137), total bases (372) and walks (124).

But this isn’t the Offensive Player of the Year Award.

Or, it shouldn’t be.

Besides, what does “most valuable” even mean? It’s an amorphous phrase — constantly debated, never defined. It’s a Rorschach test without an answer key, an instant argument. It’s an opinion, colored by bias, helplessly human. It’s dashes of art, science and anecdote, wrapped into a riddle. It’s divisive by design.

The 30 Baseball Writers' Association of America voters for AL MVP received ballots in September that stated: “There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team.”

So it’s subjective.

But here’s what “most valuable” should mean.

It should mean that a player’s impact transcends statistics. It’s not enough that Raleigh hit more regular-season homers (60) than any Mariner — or catcher or switch-hitter — ever. It’s not enough that he did things that had never been done. It’s not enough that he led the AL in homers and RBIs (125), all while collecting bruises crouched behind the plate.

The numbers, on their own, are astronomical. In another year they’d be enough. But Raleigh’s intangible impact might matter even more.

As Judge said Thursday, when asked about the responsibility associated with playing in New York: “It’s been incredible, man. It’s not like what Cal had to do, catching all those games, being behind the plate, beating up his body, beating up his knees, man. But I just try to do my part to bring out the best in my teammates.”

Raleigh did just that, better than Judge. How do you measure his ability to buoy a besieged pitching staff? To steady a rotation that withstood injuries to Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Bryce Miller? To sit in pitchers' meetings, to memorize game plans, to dutifully block an unholy diet of diving splitters? To catch 1,072 innings, most in the AL, without a passed ball? To call 150 pitches almost every night?

For that matter, how do you measure his example? The 28-year-old catcher is the Mariners’ heart and voice, not just their biggest bat. After Seattle was eliminated from playoff contention in 2023, he made a public plea to the franchise’s frugal ownership — saying, “We’ve got to commit to winning. We have to commit to going and getting those players you see other teams going out and getting.”

Do the Mariners go out and get Randy Arozarena, Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez at the next two trade deadlines without Raleigh’s rallying cry? Are they in position to win the AL West without his invaluable voice?

In a different sense, this can’t be a homer column, because Raleigh’s case goes so far beyond the long ball.

“It’s challenging, for sure, having two swings to take care of [as a switch-hitter] and trying to manage all the workload and the [pitching] staff that comes with it,” Raleigh said of his role Thursday. “First of all, obviously the defensive side always comes first — managing games, managing plans, meetings, things like that, 13 different personalities [on the pitching staff].

“So it comes with its challenges. But it’s what I love to do. I enjoy doing it every day, and it’s just trying to stay consistent and be prepared as much as you can.”

“Most valuable” should mean more than checking boxes in blowout wins. Raleigh repeatedly met the moment. Take that win over Colorado on Sept. 24, when Raleigh roped No. 59 and 60 to help his team clinch its first AL West title since 2001. Or how he hit No. 57 — breaking the Mariners’ season mark — against Houston’s Framber Valdez, in a road sweep that effectively finished their rival. Or his go-ahead, three-run homer against Tampa Bay on Aug. 8, a miraculous moonshot that cemented Seattle’s fifth consecutive win.

“Most valuable” should mean more than offensive analytics can quantify. Raleigh carried the weight of a haunted history. He carried 49 years of a fan base’s accumulated baggage, strapping it to his back and barreling into the fray. He carried an offense that all too often featured Rowdy Tellez, Donovan Solano, Miles Mastrobuoni, Ben Williamson, etc., to the trade deadline. He carried a big stick and swung it consistently from both sides of the plate, posting double-digit homers in four different months.

Speaking of: “Most valuable” should mean verifiable impact, too. Want to see — statistically — what Raleigh meant to the Mariners? In their 88 wins in which he appeared, Raleigh slashed .285/.409/.767 with 47 homers and 99 RBIs. In their 71 losses, he slashed .200/.294/.374 with 13 homers and 26 RBIs. When Raleigh raked, Seattle won. The crack of his torpedo bat echoed for innings.

Judge was the AL’s best offensive player.

But in Seattle, where an indelible Dumper delivered a season few will ever forget? You could see, hear and feel why Raleigh was the rightful MVP.

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