Mike Trout Currently Biggest Favourite To Win MVP Award at +120

Published on March 17th, 2017 5:10 am EST
The 2017 Major League Baseball season is set to get underway in a couple of weeks, much to the delight of fans who have been starved for action since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series last fall.

As of this moment, the Chicago Cubs are 5/1 to repeat as World Series champions this season, while teams like the Boston Red Sox (15/2) and Cleveland Indians (8/1) trail close behind.

The point of this article, however, is to look at the top betting favourites for both the AL and NL MVP awards.

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It should come as no surprise that Mike Trout, who is widely regarded as the single best player in all of baseball, is the biggest favourite to win a MVP award. According to the bookmakers, Trout is slightly worse than a coin flip (+120) to win this season. Trout, however, will have to overcome the fact that the Angels aren't expected to contend this season, which will dent his chances to win the MVP title.

Over in the National League, Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs is the betting favourite at +200. This is obviously a strong choice, especially given that the Cubs will likely be contending for another title this season, though Bryant will have very stiff competition in the form of Bryce Harper, who is currently listed at +300 to win.

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Here are the ten biggest betting favourites to win the MVP awards for both leagues this season:

AL MVP

Mike Trout, +120
Josh Donaldson, +500
Manny Machado, +650
Mookie Betts, +750
Carlos Correa, +900
Jose Altuve, +1200
Francisco Lindor, +1600
Miguel Cabrera, +1600
Gary Sanchez, +2500
Robinson Cano, +2500

NL MVP

Kris Bryant, +200
Bryce Harper, +300
Corey Seager, +600
Nolan Arenado, +1200
Paul Goldschmidt, +1200
Any Pitcher, +1200
Anthony Rizzo, +1200
Joey Votto, +1600
Buster Posey, +2000
Justin Turner, +2500

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Given the way that this season is likely to play out, I would prefer to back a combination of Kris Bryant and Bryce Harper using "dutching" - if either man wins the NL MVP award, the total return will be 71.43%.