Only 5 have won MVP with multiple teams
With his 2021 National League MVP Award, Bryce Harper joined an exclusive club of multi-time winners. But he also joined an even narrower list, winning an award with a second franchise (the Phillies) after previously taking home the hardware in 2015 with the Nationals.
Just five players have won an MVP Award with two franchises, since the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) began voting on the award in 1931. And only one has done so with both an American League team and a National League team.
Could Mookie Betts be the next to accomplish both feats? The Dodgers star already owns an AL MVP Award from 2018 with the Red Sox, and he has put himself in the NL MVP mix in 2023, alongside the Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr., teammate Freddie Freeman and others.
Here’s a look at each of the five players to earn MVP honors with multiple franchises.
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Bryce Harper: 2021 Phillies, 2015 Nationals
In 2015, Harper became the youngest player to be named a unanimous MVP, in a season during which he slugged 42 home runs and slugged .649 for the Nationals. After the 2018 season, he signed a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies. And in ‘21, he won an MVP Award with the club. Harper’s 2021 season included leading the Majors with a 1.044 OPS and 42 doubles. Harper won the award handily, by 74 points over runner-up Juan Soto of the Nationals.
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Alex Rodriguez: 2007 & ‘05 Yankees, 2003 Rangers
Rodriguez won AL MVP in 2003 with the Rangers, when he led the Majors with 47 home runs. Then, in February 2004, he was traded to the Yankees in a deal for Alfonso Soriano. Rodriguez didn’t win MVP in his first year in pinstripes, but he did earn the honor in 2005, and again in 2007.
Barry Bonds: 2001-04 & 1993 Giants, 1992 & ‘90 Pirates
Bonds won a record seven MVP Awards, so it’s no surprise that he’s on this list. He won MVP honors with the Pirates in 1990 and ‘92, and finished second in ‘91, before signing a free-agent contract with the Giants entering the ‘93 season. There, he won his second straight MVP Award in 1993, then added four more in 2001-04.
Frank Robinson: 1966 Orioles, 1961 Reds
To this point, Robinson is the only player to win MVP in both leagues. In ‘61, the Reds’ star followed up on his 1956 Rookie of the Year win with his first MVP Award, after receiving MVP votes in ‘56 and each year until winning it, too. Then, following the 1965 season, he was traded to the Orioles in a four-player deal. And in his first year with the O’s, the Hall of Famer won his second MVP Award.
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Jimmie Foxx: 1938 Red Sox, 1932-33 Athletics
Foxx was the first to accomplish this feat, doing so in the nascent years of the BBWAA MVP Award. In 1932, he won it for the A’s, in just the second year the BBWAA had been voting on the award. In ‘33, he made it back-to-back honors. In December of 1935, the A’s traded Foxx to the Red Sox. There, he continued his Hall of Fame path and won his third MVP Award, in a Boston uniform, in ‘38.