8 current superstars who've never won an MVP

Congratulations to Ronald Acuña Jr. and Shohei Ohtani on winning the MVP Awards this year, an achievement that will be attached to their names for the rest of their lives. Every autograph they sign -- heck, every check they sign -- they can put an “MVP” below their name and no one would blame them. This is Ohtani’s second MVP, but it’s Acuña’s first, assuring that the Braves outfielder, who has been talked about as being an MVP candidate since he was in the Minors, will end his career with at least one. Though the way he’s going, there are probably going to be some more.

Acuña’s win takes him off an impressive but still somewhat ignominious list: the best players in baseball who have yet to win an MVP. There are some great players, Hall of Famers, who never got one: Derek Jeter, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, Al Kaline, Eddie Murray, Mike Piazza. You can be an all-timer and not win one, but you’d still rather win one.

In the wake of Acuña’s victory, here’s a look at the eight best active players who have yet to win an MVP … but still have a chance to do so. Players are listed alphabetically by last name.

Nolan Arenado, 3B, Cardinals
Best finish: 3rd place, 2018, '22

Arenado took a step back defensively in 2023 -- his Gold Glove streak finally ended at 10 -- but he got better as the year went along and his offensive numbers eventually worked themselves closer to their career norms. The Cardinals will be gearing up to contend again in '24 after a miserable '23, and Arenado is central to everything they’ll be trying to do. If he has a superstar year and the team recovers, he’ll be widely credited for helping make it happen. You do wonder if he missed his opportunity in '22, though, when his teammate Paul Goldschmidt beat him out and won his first MVP.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Blue Jays
Best finish: 2nd place, 2021

In any normal year, Vlad Jr. would have won in 2021. Do not forget how supernova he went that year. He hit 48 homers and led the league in runs, total bases, on-base percentage and OPS. It was the sort of year we’d all been waiting for from Vlad Jr., and it was just his misfortune that he happened to do it at the same time Shohei Ohtani was having his first incredible season at the plate and on the mound (Corey Seager felt that pain this year). The problem for Vlad Jr. is that his last two seasons haven’t quite matched up with that '21 breakthrough. The good news is that he's only 24 years old, which means he’s going to have plenty more chances … and that he’s only going to get better.

Francisco Lindor, SS, Mets
Best finish: 5th place, 2015

It’s not ridiculous to put Lindor here. He was one of the best players in baseball by WAR this past season and really has been for a while. The reason Lindor doesn’t feel like a perpetual MVP candidate is partly because of how his career started in New York. Lindor's excellence is also built on being excellent in all phases of the game, as opposed to being the kind of prodigious slugger who MVP voters tend to gravitate toward. If the Mets have a comeback season this year or next, Lindor will surely be in the middle of it -- and deserve plenty of credit. Having turned 30 earlier this month, he’s still young enough that he could be building a Hall of Fame résumé before you know it.

Manny Machado, 3B, Padres
Best finish: 2nd place, 2022

Machado’s incredible 2022 season, the best of his career and the culmination of what we’ve all been hoping for since we first saw him as a teenager, got him all the way to second place in voting, falling just short to Paul Goldschmidt. He took a step back in '23, and his team took an even bigger one. You can’t blame Machado for that, but you do look around this team and wonder whether Fernando Tatis Jr. is more likely to win one before Machado … and wonder the same about Juan Soto -- if Soto is still in San Diego, anyway.

José Ramírez, 3B, Guardians
Best finish: 2nd place, 2020

At this point, it’s clichéd and obvious to point out that Ramírez is underrated and a little forgotten in Cleveland. It's the case every year and apparently will be the case forever moving forward (We still insist giving him a universally accepted nickname would do him a world of good). But he keeps putting together fantastic year after fantastic year. In hindsight, 2020 might have been his best chance.

Corey Seager, SS, Rangers
Best finish: 2nd place, 2023

Seager ran into the same problem as Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: having a transcendent season at the same time Shohei Ohtani was having an unprecedented one. Seager can take solace in the fact that he has won two World Series MVPs, which is a pretty exclusive club, all told.

He can take even more solace in the fact that he might just be the favorite to win the American League MVP heading into 2024. After all, Ohtani won’t be pitching next year, meaning Seager will only have to compete with Ohtani at the plate (and Ohtani might end up playing in the NL, to boot). And if Seager can stay healthy all year and hit like he did throughout '23, he might be one of the few guys who can absolutely match Ohtani in that regard. Seager is a special player. We’ve seen it several Octobers now. An MVP sure looks like it’s something that’s coming soon for him.

Marcus Semien, 2B, Rangers
Best finish: 3rd place, 2019, '21, ’23

Semien, amazingly, just pulled off his third third-place finish in MVP voting; he’s basically just putting one up every other year at this point. The key to Semien’s persistence is his consistency and durability. He has played nearly every day for several years now and is the sort of guy you plug into your lineup and know that he’s going to give you a terrific chance to win every day. His career numbers aren’t quite as sparkling as you might think with those three top-three MVP finishes, but he’s got plenty of time to get those higher, too. Does he have a consolidation year when he’s at his best start to finish, enough to win this award? It might be tough. But we’ll go ahead and pencil him in for third place in 2025 just in case.

Juan Soto, OF, Padres
Best finish: 2nd place, 2021

First off, we have to figure out where Soto’s going to be playing next year. (And in 2025, for that matter). But, needless to say, Soto is the sort of superstar who is going to end up winning one of these -- or more -- before his time in baseball is over. MVP voting is often about context, and that context can make it hard to break through when you’re on the same team as three other players who consider themselves MVP contenders just like you. We’ll see where he ends up, but it’s going to be difficult to find a place where he’s not instantly the best player on the team.