PHOENIX — With MLB Spring Training just around the corner, now is the time for predictions and betting futures. You can guess who will win the division, who is making the playoffs, and who will win the World Series but you can also bet on individual player awards like Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year for both leagues.
Hosts Paul Francis Sullivan of Locked On MLB and Millard Thomas of Locked On Diamondbacks went through each of the player categories and looked at the futures odds from FanDuel, Sullivan tried to guess who the top entries were and both hosts gave their thoughts about some of the guys and even made some dark horse picks for each award.
First up, we have National League MVP odds. In what may come as a surprise to some but not others, Juan Soto of the San Diego Padres leads the pack at +550 with last year’s MVP Paul Goldschmidt (+950), Mookie Betts (+950), Ronald Acuña Jr. (10-1), and Manny Machado (10-1) rounding out the Top 5.
But Acuña, Machado, Nolan Arenado and Fernando Tatis Jr. all have the same odds (10-1) so it’s really a Top 7 for National League MVP. Thomas thinks a good dark horse pick for NL MVP could be Austin Riley of the Braves who is sitting at 20-1.
In the American League, the perennial favorite is Shohei Ohtani (+220) who finished second in 2022 to Aaron Judge (+600) who is second on this list. Ohtani’s teammate and another perennial MVP pick Mike Trout (+800) is third followed by last year’s Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez (+900) and Yordan Alvarez (12-1).
Thomas thinks Rafael Devers could be your dark horse pick for AL MVP. He’s currently sitting at 35-1 and as Thomas says, he’s probably the best player on the Red Sox right now so he could have a breakout year.
Next up, we have NL Cy Young and last year’s winner Sandy Alcantara (+500) is favored right now to be a repeat recipient.
Behind Alcantara, you have Corbin Burnes at +700, teammates Justin Verlander (+700) and Maz Scherzer (+750), and rounding out the Top 5 is Aaron Nola at 12-1. Sullivan thinks Max Fried at 13-1 is a good surprise pick for NL Cy Young.
Thomas likes Kyle Wright at 50-1 and both hosts mentioned Logan Webb of the Giants at 40-1 as a good dark horse pick for NL MVP.
Some people may be surprised by the top pick for American League Cy Young but they shouldn’t be because he usually got votes when he was pitching for the Mets during the first nine years of his career and won the award in back-to-back years (2018 and 2019).
That’s right, Jacob deGrom of the Rangers is the favorite to win the Al Cy Young at +600. Right behind him in second and third are Gerrit Cole (+700) and Dylan Cease (+900).
In the fourth slot is another guy who switched leagues from 2022 to 2023, Carlos Rodon (10-1), and finishing up the Top 5 is Alek Manoah at 10-1.
Shohei Ohtani is close to the Top 5 at 12-1 odds nut Sullivan thinks Framber Valdez (20-1) could be a good pick for AL Cy Young. Both Thomas and Sullivan added that if you wanted to be daring, there are two guys making comebacks this season, Tyler Glasnow (35-1) and Chris Sale (100-1) who could earn you a big payout if they win.
And finally, who will win Rookie of the Year in the NL and AL? Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks is the favorite at +350 in the National League, followed by Jordan Walker of the Cardinals (+750), Miguel Vargas of the Dodgers (+750), Kodai Senga of the Mets (+750), and Cade Cavalli of the Nationals (12-1).
And in the American League, Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles leads the way at +280 with Hunter Brown of the Astros at +750, Masataka Yoshida of the Red Sox at +800, Grayson Rodriguez of the Orioles at +900, and Triston Casas of the Red Sox at +900.
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