When MLB.com named its ten American League finalists for the 2026 Hank Aaron Award on 5 October, four of them were born in Cuba: Yordan Álvarez of the Houston Astros, Randy Arozarena of the Seattle Mariners, Yandy Díaz of the Tampa Bay Rays and Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox. The award, given since 1999 to the best offensive player in each league, has been won by a Cuban-born hitter exactly once in 27 years.
Fan voting closes on Monday, 12 October, at 11:59 a.m. ET. The winners are announced on Wednesday, 11 November, at the MLB Awards in Las Vegas.
The ten AL finalists
MLB.com says a committee of its journalists picked ten finalists in each league from the season’s top offensive numbers. The winner is chosen by fans at MLB.com/aaron and by a panel of past winners and Hall of Famers that includes Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Ken Griffey Jr. and Pedro Martínez. Here are the AL ten, with their full 2026 lines.
| Finalist | Team | Born | G | AVG/OBP/SLG | OPS | HR | RBI | R | SB | BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yordan Álvarez | Houston Astros | Cuba | 158 | .316/.432/.601 | 1.033 | 42 | 106 | 105 | 1 | 109 |
| Willson Contreras | Boston Red Sox | Venezuela | 130 | .275/.386/.516 | .902 | 27 | 81 | 68 | 3 | 59 |
| Ben Rice | New York Yankees | United States | 154 | .264/.363/.534 | .897 | 41 | 97 | 105 | 3 | 85 |
| Pete Alonso | Baltimore Orioles | United States | 161 | .267/.363/.522 | .885 | 43 | 113 | 100 | 5 | 81 |
| Junior Caminero | Tampa Bay Rays | Dominican Republic | 162 | .276/.360/.524 | .884 | 42 | 101 | 100 | 3 | 79 |
| Randy Arozarena | Seattle Mariners | Cuba | 154 | .281/.381/.484 | .865 | 26 | 79 | 113 | 26 | 68 |
| Riley Greene | Detroit Tigers | United States | 140 | .280/.370/.474 | .844 | 21 | 75 | 79 | 3 | 71 |
| Miguel Vargas | Chicago White Sox | Cuba | 159 | .250/.363/.474 | .837 | 33 | 93 | 106 | 22 | 101 |
| Yandy Díaz | Tampa Bay Rays | Cuba | 154 | .293/.359/.446 | .805 | 22 | 85 | 93 | 3 | 56 |
| Bobby Witt Jr. | Kansas City Royals | United States | 143 | .281/.359/.441 | .800 | 18 | 54 | 94 | 45 | 67 |
Six of the ten were born in Latin America: the four Cubans, Junior Caminero (Dominican Republic) and Willson Contreras (Venezuela). None of the ten National League finalists was born in Cuba.
One correction to some Spanish-language coverage: Shohei Ohtani, the three-time winner from 2023 to 2025, is a finalist again, but on the National League list with the Los Angeles Dodgers, not in the AL field the Cubans are competing in.
Where the Cubans lead the field
This is our comparison, not MLB’s method. Among the ten AL finalists, a Cuban-born hitter has the best figure in eight of eleven standard categories. The three they do not lead are the counting numbers built on power and speed: Pete Alonso’s 43 home runs and 113 runs batted in, and Bobby Witt Jr.’s 45 stolen bases.
| Category | Best among the ten AL finalists | Figure | Cuban-born? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batting average | Yordan Álvarez | .316 | Yes |
| On-base percentage | Yordan Álvarez | .432 | Yes |
| Slugging percentage | Yordan Álvarez | .601 | Yes |
| OPS | Yordan Álvarez | 1.033 | Yes |
| Hits | Yandy Díaz | 180 | Yes |
| Doubles | Yordan Álvarez and Randy Arozarena | 34 | Yes |
| Runs | Randy Arozarena | 113 | Yes |
| Walks | Yordan Álvarez | 109 | Yes |
| Home runs | Pete Alonso | 43 | No |
| Runs batted in | Pete Alonso | 113 | No |
| Stolen bases | Bobby Witt Jr. | 45 | No |
Álvarez carries most of that weight. He led the majors in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging, which no Cuban-born hitter had done before, and he is one home run behind Alonso. On the numbers alone he is the AL finalist the others are measured against. The panel and the fan vote do not have to agree with the numbers, though, and Alonso’s home run and RBI totals are the kind of figures that win votes.
The four Cuban cases
Yordan Álvarez, Houston Astros
.316/.432/.601, a 1.033 OPS, 42 home runs and 106 runs batted in over 158 games, with 109 walks. He won the AL batting title. Before he left Cuba he played one Serie Nacional season for Las Tunas.
Yandy Díaz, Tampa Bay Rays
.293/.359/.446 with 22 home runs and 85 runs batted in over 154 games. His 180 hits led the American League, and he is the first Cuban-born player to lead it over a full season since Rafael Palmeiro in 1990.
Randy Arozarena, Seattle Mariners
.281/.381/.484, an .865 OPS, 26 home runs, 26 stolen bases and 79 runs batted in over 154 games. His 113 runs scored are the most of any AL finalist, and his 34 doubles tie Álvarez for the most.
Miguel Vargas, Chicago White Sox
.250/.363/.474 with 33 home runs, 93 runs batted in, 106 runs, 22 stolen bases and 101 walks in 159 games. He is one of only two finalists with 100 or more walks. The season put him in a Cuban club of three with José Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro.
The one Cuban winner: José Abreu, 2020
In 27 seasons of the award (1999–2025), 54 trophies have been handed out, one per league per year. One went to a player born in Cuba: José Abreu, the White Sox first baseman, in the American League in 2020. In that 60-game season he hit .317/.370/.617 with 19 home runs and 60 runs batted in, and he was also the AL’s Most Valuable Player. Rafael Palmeiro, José Canseco and Tony Pérez all played before the award existed or without winning it, so the list is Abreu and nobody else. A win for any of the four this year would make a second Cuban-born name on it.
How this was checked
The finalist lists, the voting dates, the panel and the announcement date come from MLB.com’s announcement of 5 October. CiberCuba’s report of the same day independently names the same four Cuban-born AL finalists. Every 2026 line in this piece is from the MLB Stats API final regular-season totals, and every player’s birth country is read from the same database, matching both “Cuba” and “CUB”. The list of past winners is the MLB Stats API award record for both leagues, 1999 to 2025, with each winner’s birth country checked the same way; CiberCuba also names Abreu as the only Cuban-born winner. Birthplace is the test throughout, not descent.
More on Cuba Dugout
- Yordan Álvarez led the majors in average, on-base and slugging
- Yandy Díaz wins the AL hits title
- Miguel Vargas joins Canseco and Palmeiro in a Cuban club of three
- Mesa Jr. and Pagés clinch two Division Series on the same night
- Cubans in MLB 2026: the record year
- Cubans in the Chicago White Sox
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