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But Tampa Bay is still waiting for its first AL MVP.
Caminero finished second behind Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez in the Baseball Writers Association of America voting when the results were announced Thursday night on MLB Network. The Rays star third baseman edged out fellow finalist Bobby Witt Jr., who finished third.
Alvarez received all 30 first-place votes, making him the 14th unanimous AL MVP. Caminero received 27 of 30 second-place votes and three third-place votes after finishing ninth in last year’s voting. With 267 points in the poll, Kaminero was well behind Alvarez (420) but comfortably ahead of Witt (188).
It wasn’t the result Caminero or the Rays were hoping for, but it was the highest AL MVP finish the team has ever achieved. That claim previously belonged to Evan Longoria and Yandy Diaz, as Longoria finished sixth in 2010 and ’13, while Diaz did so in 2023.
Alvarez was considered the favorite after leading the field in batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.432) and slugging percentage (.601), making him the fourth player to lead MLB in all three categories after 2025 MVP Aaron Judge, Bar20132 Miguel Cabrera and Bon20132.
Alvarez also leads the Majors in OPS+ (190) and walks (109), among other stats, while leading the AL in homers (42) and RBIs (106) and leading the AL in total bases (341). He joined Hakim (2025) and Cabrera (2012-13) as the only players since 1970 to win the AL hitting title with at least 40 homers.
First, he was a starter at third base in all 162 regular season games. Having to play defense on a daily basis was an argument in his favor against Alvarez, who was basically the DH for the Astros.
Caminero was also the best player on the AL’s best team, playing a big role for the 98-win Rays as they put together the best record in the league and eventually reached the World Series. While his numbers weren’t as dominant as Alvarez’s, he slashed .276/.360/.524 with 42 homers, 101 RBI, a 144 OPS+ and a team-high 5.8 earned runs average (per Baseball Reference ).
“He’s a critical player to our success,” president of baseball operations Eric Neander said earlier this month. “It’s not just the talent we have, the character we have, the professionalism we have, the drive Junior has within him to not be satisfied with the two incredible seasons he’s had, but the temptation to keep getting better.”
That was evident earlier this season, when Kaminero quickly showed he was a better hitter than the young slugger who hit 45 homers while driving in 110 runs a year ago.
Caminero maintained his elite bat speed and raw power, while drawing nearly twice as many walks (79) as he did in 2025 (41), raising his on-base percentage from .311 to .360, while dropping his strikeout rate from 19.1% to 18.4%.
That incredibly rapid improvement has helped turn the 23-year-old Caminero into one of the league’s best players and an MVP candidate in just his second full Major League season.
“I was surprised, but not surprised at the same time. Just very talented [and] He’s as passionate as he is talented,” Neander said. “The feedback loop that he gets from getting feedback, giving constructive criticism, processing it and applying it, a lot of times that’s in the offseason, right? “Well, next year I’m going to come back and address this and next year I’ll be better for it.” With Junior it takes 20 minutes.”
At this rate, it won’t be long before the Rays have their first MVP.
“It’s remarkable how quickly he can observe, process and make adjustments. Give him a lot of credit for that. I think we saw that throughout the season,” Neander said. “While he’s talented, I think what really sets him apart is his desire to not just be a star, but to act like a star, work like a star and be a role model for others to follow, even at a young age.”