MLB MVP and Cy Young Favorites Heading into the 2021 Season
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With Spring Training winding down, the MLB season is almost upon us. Subsequently, the MLB futures are getting filled out on many sportsbooks. DraftKings has unveiled their top picks for both the NL and AL MVP and Cy Young awards. As always, there are some clear favorites in each of these categories; however, there are also some great dark horse bets available.
These odds were posted on DraftKings as of March 25th and will be changing as the season approaches and kicks off. However, you can get some of the best odds right now, before the season has begun, as every player still has a chance.
NL MVP Odds
NL MVP Favorite: Mookie Betts +750
NL MVP Favorite Dark Horse: Francisco Lindor +1,200
The odds on favorite is the man who finished second in NL MVP voting last year, Mookie Betts. However, I do not believe that Mookie will be too upset coming in second as he brought home a World Series ring following the 2020 campaign. There really is no one as consistent and likely as Betts is to win the award this year. However, there are a ton of NL candidates.
One dark horse to keep an eye out on is Francisco Lindor, and while his odds are still rather short at +1,200, he is currently 8th on DraftKings to win the award. Lindor is not only a solid-fielding shortstop but is a guy who will crush the ball all year with his new club, the Mets.
AL MVP Odds
AL MVP Favorite: Mike Trout +225
AL MVP Favorite Dark Horse: Shohei Ohtani +2,200
The favorite in the AL is no surprise with Mike Trout, unarguably the best player in baseball by some margin. However, his teammate Shohei Ohtani has a massive advantage when looking at paths to winning the 2021 AL MVP vote. Ohtani pitches and hits. If Shohei can be a great pitcher and a great hitter, I do not see how he does not win this award. After all, what is more valuable than getting a top-end starter and a core bat, all in one player.
NL Cy Young Odds
NL Cy Young Favorite: Jacob deGrom: +425
NL Cy Young Dark Horse: Aaron Nola +1,200
Jacob deGrom is the clear favorite for the NL Cy Young, and unless he gets injured, it is hard to see how anyone has a better season than him. Aaron Nola will need to showcase even more growth in his age 28-season and 7th year in the big leagues if he wants to take home this award. Nola did sport a 3.19 FIP and a 1.079 WHIP in 2020, and those are some fantastic numbers that could see him get close to the NL Cy Young in 2021.
AL Cy Young Odds
AL Cy Young Favorite: Gerrit Cole +350
AL Cy Young Dark Horse: Jose Berrios +1,700
While Cole is the favorite to win the AL Cy Young, the new MLB policy to check for foreign substances on the balls pitched will likely lead to a totally unrelated drop in Cole’s numbers (wink). A guy who I like because of his pure talent is Jose Berrios. He has a long road to get to a CY Young level season, but I think that some offseason adjustments could get him there.
