Yahoo Sports national MLB insider Russell Dorsey explains why the battle between the Mariners and Yankees sluggers for this year's American League Most Valuable Player award is the most intriguing storyline to watch over the second half of the season.

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There's plenty of storylines to watch around Major League Baseball as we enter the second half, but the storyline everybody should keep their eye on is the race for AL MVP between Cy Riley and Aaron Judge.

now, Cal Riley had a monster first half.

38 home runs, the second most for a player before the All-Star game, was also the AL starter behind the plate and the home run derby champ.

He's just 11 home runs away from breaking Salvador Perez's home run record for a catcher.

Now, on the other side, Aaron Judge has had a pretty damn good first half himself, hitting .355 with 35 home runs, just 3 less than Cal Riley, and looks to be the first player to repeat as AL MVP since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and 2013.

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Now, there's plenty of time in the second half to determine who actually wins the AL MVP award.

But one thing is sure.

both Judge and Riley are putting up historic numbers, and this should be the best MVP race we've seen in quite some time.