The New York Yankees' Aaron Judge hit his 43rd home run of the season on Sunday to become the fifth highest home run hitter in franchise history. While he trails Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh in the home run tally and runs batted in the American League, Judge has dominated all other batting metrics, keeping the debate over the AL Most Valuable Player wide open.As per MLB insider and MLB The Show streamer Adam Samuels, the Yankees captain deserves to win the top individual award this year over Raleigh."Cal Raleigh is having a great year & deserves all the praise he’s gotten & would win the MVP in another year if he wasn’t in a league with Aaron Judge who currently has a 1.119 OPS," Samuels wrote.MLB's latest poll says that Raleigh has taken the lead in the race as voted upon by insiders and experts. He has a seven home run and 10 RBIs lead over Judge, but the Yankees slugger has oliberated the AVG/OBP/SLG stat line on track to become the eighth person in history to do so.However, a major point of difference has been Raleigh's role as a backstop. In the modern game, the role of the catcher is particularly important, considering they have to manage various pitchers, go over different strategies while also playing defense.Raleigh has hit 40 home runs this season as a catcher on the Mariners team and 10 as a Designated Hitter. Meanwhile, Judge, who alternates between DH and Right Field, has hit 25 as an outfielder and 15 as DH. His right flexor strain has also reduced his playing time in defense.As of Aug. 29, the Fangraphs WAR ranks Judge to have 7.5 Wins Above Replacement compared to Raleigh's 7.3 WAR. If Judge hadn't struggled to a .222 average in the second half of the season, it wouldn't have been a contest. But Raleigh has set the record for most homers as primary catcher in history and is eyeing Mickey Mantle's record for most homers as a switch hitter.Aaron Boone makes his feelings known about Cal Raleigh winning AL MVP over Aaron JudgeNew York Yankees manager during their series against the White Sox chimed in with his opinion on the AL MVP race. As per him, despite Raleigh having a career year, Judge has been too dominant.“Yes,” Boone said. “Cal’s had a great year though and certainly put himself in the conversation. Those will be fun things to follow down the stretch with both teams in the playoff hunt, too. But it’s tough to ignore Aaron’s dominance.”As they head into the final month of the season, a lot might depend on where the two teams finish in the standings. Both the Yankees and Mariners are chasing their respective division leaders and could be crucial in determining the MVP race.