Former Toronto Blue Jays catcher Gabriel Moreno received down-ballot votes for the 2026 National League MVP Award.
Moreno, who now stars for the Arizona Diamondbacks, is coming off a fantastic season for the Diamondbacks, in which he won the NL batting title with a .311 average and also took home his second career Gold Glove Award as the best defensive catcher in the NL.
Now, he has also received down-ballot MVP votes.
Gabriel Moreno Finishes 6th in NL MVP Voting
On Thursday, the BBWAA announced that Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong unanimously won the NL MVP Award, as expected.
But the down-ballot votes were very interesting to see.
Moreno received three third-place votes, six fourth-place votes, three fifth-place votes, six sixth-place votes, three seventh-place votes, two ninth-place votes, and two 10th-place votes for 132 total points, finishing sixth in NL MVP voting behind only Crow-Armstrong, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz, and Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski.
Gabriel Moreno Keeps Getting Better for the Diamondbacks
When the Blue Jays traded Moreno, they were doing so from a position of strength, as the team had a catching tandem of Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen and decided that trading Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for outfielder Daulton Varsho was the best way to go.
Varsho was solid in his four years in Toronto, winning a Gold Glove Award as the American League’s best center fielder one time, but he was traded to the Houston Astros at the deadline this year and the Blue Jays now have nothing to show from this trade.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks have one of the best overall catchers in the game, as Moreno is elite defensively and is an excellent hitter as well.
The Blue Jays still have Kirk as their starting catcher, with a terrific backup catcher in Brandon Valenzuela behind him. But seeing Moreno have so much success with the Diamondbacks certainly isn’t easy for Blue Jays fans to stomach, given that they have nothing left to show for the Varsho trade.
Former Blue Jays Catcher Gabriel Moreno Gets NL MVP Votes