Ranking all 30 teams by MVP Award wins

When it comes to the American League and National League MVP Awards, some teams have certainly cornered the market over the years.

On one end of the spectrum, eight of MLB's longest-tenured and most storied franchises have racked up double-digit wins, collectively accounting for 58% of the 187 MVP Awards handed out between 1931 (when the Baseball Writers' Association of America began voting) and 2023. That number figures to increase on Thursday, when the Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani) and Yankees (Aaron Judge) are widely expected to take home 2024 MVP honors. On the other end, five franchises have seen only one of their players take home MVP honors, while three are still waiting for their first.

For now, here is a look at all 30 teams, ranked in order of MVP Award victories through 2023. (See here for a full list of each team's MVPs.)

• Ranking all 187 MVP Award winners

1. Yankees: 21 MVP Awards
Most recent: Aaron Judge (2022)

Perhaps not surprisingly, the team with the most World Series titles and a long list of all-time legends also features a record number of MVPs. That includes five multi-time winners: Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Alex Rodriguez. However, the Yankees have hardly been a dominant MVP team in recent decades, with 16 of their wins having come in 1963 or earlier.

2. Cardinals: 18 MVP Awards
Most recent: Paul Goldschmidt (2022)

The Cardinals are a distant second to the Yankees in World Series titles but a much closer second in MVP wins. While some Cardinals greats are on this list, including Bob Gibson, Stan Musial and Albert Pujols, St. Louis also has gotten MVP seasons from players who are often associated with other franchises, such as Orlando Cepeda, Joe Torre and Keith Hernandez.

3. Giants: 13 MVP Awards
Most recent: Buster Posey (2012)

The team’s most recent MVP might be the one to sign its next MVP, now that Posey is in charge of the Giants’ baseball operations. Barry Bonds, of course, is responsible for five of the Giants’ wins. That alone would have given him the individual record – no other player has more than three – but he also won two with the Pirates before coming to San Francisco.

4-T. Dodgers: 12 MVP Awards
Most recent: Cody Bellinger (2019)

Half of the Dodgers’ wins have come since the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958. Before that point, the boys in blue won five times in an eight-year span from 1949-56, thanks to the pioneering trio of Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella (three times) and Don Newcombe.

4-T. Reds: 12 MVP Awards
Most recent: Joey Votto (2010)

The 1970s were Cincinnati’s decade, so it’s no surprise that the Big Red Machine pulled in six NL MVP Awards over a span in which it won six division titles, four pennants and two World Series. Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan both won two for the Reds, while Pete Rose and George Foster nabbed one apiece.

6-T. Athletics: 11 MVP Awards
Most recent: Miguel Tejada (2002)

The franchise won four times during its Philadelphia years and seven more in Oakland, although not over its final 22 years there. Hall of Famers Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx, Reggie Jackson, Rickey Henderson and Dennis Eckersley are among the A’s MVPs.

6-T. Red Sox: 11 MVP Awards
Most recent: Mookie Betts (2018)

Those 11 wins come from 10 different players, with only the iconic Ted Williams reaching multi-time MVP status for the Sox. Betts might have joined that group, of course, had Boston not traded him to the Dodgers just over a year after he was an MVP and World Series winner in 2018.

6-T. Tigers: 11 MVP Awards
Most recent: Miguel Cabrera (2013)

The most recent back-to-back MVP winner entering 2024, Cabrera joined pitcher Hal Newhouser as Detroit’s only two-time honoree. With Justin Verlander having won in 2011, the team actually employed three straight AL MVP winners, while making it to at least the ALCS in each of those seasons.

9. Cubs: 9 MVP Awards
Most recent: Kris Bryant (2016)

Even during their infamous World Series title drought – which Bryant helped snap in 2016 – the Cubs enjoyed plenty of great individual seasons. Franchise icons Ernie Banks (two wins), Ryne Sandberg and Sammy Sosa were among the players to bring MVP Awards to the North Side in that span.

10-T. Braves: 8 MVP Awards
Most recent: Ronald Acuña Jr. (2023)

It might strike some as surprising that the Braves’ only two-time MVP was not all-time legend Hank Aaron but in fact Dale Murphy, who won in 1982 and ‘83. Murphy, though, was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s as an all-around center fielder.

10-T. Phillies: 8 MVP Awards
Most recent: Bryce Harper (2021)

Mike Schmidt won three NL MVP Awards in the 1980s, and three Phillies each have nabbed one in the years since: Ryan Howard (2006), Jimmy Rollins (2007) and Harper, who did so in his third season with Philly after signing a 13-year free-agent contract.

12-T. Angels: 7 MVP Awards
Most recent: Shohei Ohtani (2023)

For the first 53 seasons of Angels history, the franchise won just two AL MVP Awards, by Don Baylor in 1979 and Vladimir Guerrero in 2004. Then, Mike Trout (three) and Ohtani (two) combined to win five over a 10-year span.

12-T. Pirates: 7 MVP Awards
Most recent: Andrew McCutchen (2013)

It’s been slow going of late for the Bucs, with McCutchen capturing the franchise’s only NL MVP trophy in the 30-plus years since the free-agent departure of Barry Bonds to San Francisco.

14. Rangers: 6 MVP Awards
Most recent: Josh Hamilton (2010)

Between Juan Gonzalez (two wins) and Ivan Rodriguez, the Rangers won three of the four AL MVP Awards handed out between 1996-99. Those wins coincided with the franchise’s first three postseason trips since debuting as the second incarnation of the Washington Senators in 1961.

15-T. Brewers: 5 MVP Awards
Most recent: Christian Yelich (2018)

The first two times the Brewers reached the playoffs, they also featured the AL MVP winner, who would go on to the Hall of Fame: Rollie Fingers in 1981 and Robin Yount in ‘82. Yount would go on to win a second with Milwaukee in ‘89 – nine years before the franchise flipped to the NL.

15-T. Orioles: 5 MVP Awards
Most recent: Cal Ripken Jr. (1991)

Among the 27 teams to earn at least one MVP Award, the Orioles have the third-longest active drought, going back to the second of Ripken’s two wins. Given the young talent on their current roster, though, that might not be the case for long.

15-T. Twins: 5 MVP Awards
Most recent: Joe Mauer (2009)

Zoilo Versalles won the Twins’ first AL MVP Award in 1965, in only the franchise’s fifth season after moving from Washington, D.C., to Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew (1969) and Rod Carew (1977) would follow, before Justin Morneau (2006) and Mauer brought MVP wins to another generation of Twins fans.

15-T. White Sox: 5 MVP Awards
Most recent: José Abreu (2020)

Chicago’s past two wins actually have come following shortened seasons: Abreu in 2020 and Frank Thomas in 1994. However, that was the second straight win for the Big Hurt, who placed in the top eight in AL MVP voting in each of his first seven full MLB seasons.

19-T. Astros: 2 MVP Awards
Most recent: Jose Altuve (2017)

Before Altuve, Jeff Bagwell had the Astros’ only MVP win (1994). That one came in the NL, well before the franchise moved to the AL West in 2013.

19-T. Blue Jays: 2 MVP Awards
Most recent: Josh Donaldson (2015)

Both of Toronto’s AL MVP Awards have gone to big-time sluggers. George Bell mashed 47 homers with an AL-high 134 RBIs in 1987, while Donaldson went deep 41 times with an AL-high 123 RBIs in 2015.

19-T. Guardians: 2 MVP Awards
Most recent: Al Rosen (1953)

Cleveland has MLB’s longest active championship drought, since last winning the World Series in 1948. But the franchise also has MLB’s longest active MVP drought. José Ramírez has come close to snapping it in recent years, with one second-place finish and two third-place finishes.

19-T. Mariners: 2 MVP Awards
Most recent: Ichiro Suzuki (2001)

If you’re going to have just two MVP winners, it’s hard to have two cooler than Ken Griffey Jr. (1997) and Ichiro, who joined Boston’s Fred Lynn (1975) as the only rookies to be named MVP.

23-T. Marlins: 1 MVP Award
Giancarlo Stanton (2017)

The Marlins traded their first MVP just about a month later, as Stanton was shipped to the Yankees in December 2017.

23-T. Nationals: 1 MVP Award
Bryce Harper (2015)

The Montreal Expos never featured an MVP Award winner, but Harper became one in Washington, six years before winning his second as a member of the Phillies.

23-T. Padres: 1 MVP Award
Ken Caminiti (1996)

No, Tony Gwynn was never an MVP, only finishing as high as third in 1984. But Caminiti was, after a magical 1996 season when the Padres made the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.

23-T. Rockies: 1 MVP Award
Larry Walker (1997)

The Rockies won an NL MVP Award in only their fifth season of existence. And before you assume Walker’s absurd numbers in 1997 were just about altitude, he actually hit even better on the road that year.

23-T. Royals: 1 MVP Award
George Brett (1980)

Cleveland is the only franchise with a longer MVP drought than Kansas City, although Bobby Witt Jr. might have something to say about that before long.

28-T. D-backs, Mets and Rays: 0 MVP Awards

Three franchises have never had a player take MVP honors. Two are the most recent expansion teams: Arizona and Tampa Bay. It’s much harder to understand how the Mets are part of this group, given the number of outstanding players who have suited up for them over their 63 seasons.