New York, NY -- A-Rod captures AL MVP

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was named the American League Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career.

Rodriguez first captured the award as a shortstop with the Texas Rangers in 2003 and became the first Yankee honored as MVP since the 1985 triumph by Don Mattingly, who now serves as New York's hitting coach.

Finishing a close second in the voting was Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who would have become the first designated hitter to win the award.

Rodriguez received 16 first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, 11 second-place tallies and one third-place vote for a total of 331 points.

Ortiz garnered 11 first-place votes and 17 second-place votes for 307 points.

"I've been in a lot of these races, and a lot of them I've finished in second or third place," said Rodriguez, who was second in the voting in 1996 with Seattle, third in 2000 with Texas and second with the Rangers in 2002. "I thought David had as great a chance as I did. I thought defense was probably the determining factor."

Last year's winner, Vladimir Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, finished third. He received one first-place vote and 196 points.

Rodriguez, Ortiz and Guerrero were the only players named on all 28 ballots.

"I would certainly trade his World Series championship for the MVP trophy," Rodriguez said of Ortiz, who won the World Series in 2004 with the Red Sox. "That's the only reason why I play baseball."

Boston's Manny Ramirez finished fourth in the voting and Cleveland's Travis Hafner was fifth. Paul Konerko of the World Series champion Chicago White Sox was next, followed by Texas' Mark Teixeira and three more Yankees -- Gary Sheffield, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter.

In his second season with the Yankees, Rodriguez set a club record for home runs by a right-handed hitter with 48, topping the old mark of 46 set in 1937 by the legendary Joe DiMaggio. Rodriguez's home run total led the American League and was the most by a third baseman in league history, eclipsing the 46 hit by Troy Glaus of the Angels in 2000.

Rodriguez is only the fourth third baseman to win the AL MVP, joining Cleveland's Al Rosen in 1953, Baltimore's Brooks Robinson in 1964 and Kansas City's George Brett in 1980.

It marked the 19th time a Yankee has been honored as league MVP -- most of any team in baseball history. DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle each won three MVP awards, while Roger Maris captured two while with New York. Lou Gehrig, Joe Gordon, Spud Chandler, Phil Rizzuto, Elston Howard, Thurman Munson and Mattingly each won it once.

Rodriguez also became the fourth player to win the MVP at two positions, joining Detroit's Hank Greenberg, who won in 1935 as a first baseman and in 1940 as an outfielder; Milwaukee's Robin Yount, who first won as a shortstop in 1982 and then as an outfielder in 1989; and St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan Musial, who won as an outfielder in 1943 and '48 and as a first baseman in 1946.

The 30-year-old Rodriguez joined Barry Bonds, Jimmie Foxx and Frank Robinson as the only players to win an MVP award with different teams.

In addition to his home run numbers, Rodriguez also drove in 130 runs, finished second in the league with a .321 batting average and led the AL in runs scored with 124 and slugging percentage at .610. He also played a very solid third base, which may have been the difference in the balloting.

"I think defense, for the most part, being a balanced player and also saving a lot of runs on the defensive side was a major factor here," Rodriguez said of the voting. "Ortiz is an unbelievable offensive player. I'm privileged to play against him, compete against him. When I do play against him, I think he motivates my game to go to new heights."

Ortiz was an unbelievably clutch performer for the Red Sox, but may have been hurt in the voting because of his status as a designated hitter. He led the majors with 148 runs batted in while batting .300 with 47 home runs.

Guerrero finished his second season in Anaheim with 32 homers, 107 runs batted in and a .317 batting average.

A total of 28 players received votes.

The National League MVP will be announced Tuesday.