It’s been a while since a Houston Astros player won the American League MVP award despite all the success they’ve had in recent years.

In fact, the last Astros winner was Jose Altuve in 2017.

The main reason why their players haven’t won this award is that others have had historic seasons during this stretch. Plus, the arrival of Shohei Ohtani’s greatness also made it virtually impossible for anyone else to win.

However, with the Japanese phenom potentially leaving the AL and not pitching in 2024 due to an elbow injury, that opens the door for others to win.

Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker could especially benefit from this and bring home their first prestigious MVP honors.

It seems like the writing is on the wall that Alvarez will eventually win an MVP at some point during his career.

His power numbers will always be eye-popping and keeps him in the mix for the entire season. His third place finish in 2022 seemed like it could propel him to one soon, but injuries caused him to miss six weeks in 2023, stunting his numbers.

Alvarez finished 13th in MVP voting this past season. That feels like it will be more of an anomaly in his career than the norm and he should be one of the heavy favorites to win in 2024.

Tucker might find himself in the conversation as well.

He had a stellar 2023 season that saw him hit .284/.369/.517 with 29 homers and an AL-leading 112 RBI. He was also just one home run away from the coveted 30-30 club after stealing 30 bases.

His numbers earned the right-fielder a fifth place finish in MVP voting, the highest of his career. He’s improved his results every year since 2021, finishing 20th, 15th and now fifth.

Pedigree suggests that Alvarez has a real chance of winning his first MVP award in 2024 with Ohtani not pitching and potentially moving leagues, but Tucker could be a major sleeper pick as well.