Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player 2023 Odds: Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. Lead The Way

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Major League Baseball awards the AL and NL MVP in November after the completion of the World Series.
Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. are the current favorites in the AL and NL, respectively.
Last year's AL-winner, Aaron Judge, can be found at +750 in the market.

The MVP races in the AL and NL have long been considered to be one of the most prestigious in all of sports. The honor dates back to 1911 when the Chalmers Award was given to the professional baseball player with the highest batting average. By 1924 the sport was honoring a player from each league who fit the description of being a "player who is of the greatest all-around service to his club." Sportswriters voted for who they felt was the best player back in the 1920s and that tradition continues to this day. The Baseball Writers' Association of America have been awarding MVPs since 1931. And unlike many other sports including the NBA and the NFL, the Writers do not tie team performance to their criteria. Many MVPs in both the AL and NL have come from teams that have failed to qualify for the playoffs. By contrast, there has never been an NBA MVP whose team failed to make the playoffs. Sportsbooks have updated MVP odds in both leagues and generally leave these markets open until the very end of the regular season.

AL MVP Odds

Team	Odds	Probability
Shohei Ohtani	-250	71.43%
Aaron Judge	+750	11.76%
Marcus Semien	+2500	3.85%
Wander Franco	+2500	3.85%
Mike Trout	+2500	3.85%
Valdimir Guerrero Jr.	+2500	3.85%
Randy Arozarena	+2500	3.85%
Bo Bichette	+2500	3.85%
Yandy Diaz	+5000	1.96%
Adley Rutschman	+5000	1.96%
Corey Seager	+5000	1.96%

This is beginning to feel like Ohtani's award to lose. The multi-versatile superstar is 6-2 on the bump with a 3.29 ERA. He is second in the AL with 105 strikeouts. From the dish he's been nothing short of spectacular, belting 22 HRs (MLB-best), driving in 54 RBIs (4th in MLB), all while hitting a steady .301 (5th in AL). If he avoids any major injuries, he'll cruise to his second MVP award.

NL MVP Odds

Team	Odds	Probability
Ronald Acuña Jr.	-140	58.33%
Freddie Freeman	+500	16.67%
Mookie Betts	+900	10%
Corbin Carroll	+1600	5.88%
Luis Arraez	+2500	3.85%
Juan Soto	+2500	3.85%
Fernando Tatis Jr.	+3300	2.94%
Paul Goldschmidt	+3300	2.94%
Sean Murphy	+4000	2.44%
Pete Alonso	+4000	2.44%
Matt Olson	+4000	2.44%
Max Muncy	+5000	1.96%
Austin Riley	+7500	1.32%
Will Smith	+7500	1.32%

Unlike the American League, the NL is wide open on the MVP front. Ronald Acuña Jr. is the leader, in the eyes of sportsbooks, at the moment mainly because of his bat. He is second in average and fifth in slugging in the National League. Freddie Freeman is right behind Acuña Jr. in a handful of meaningful batting categories, but he can't come close to his work on the base paths. Acuña already has 29 stolen bases, which is far and away the most in the NL. One challenger to keep an eye on is the Marlins' Luis Arraez. He is batting .378, which is 40+ points better than anyone in the bigs at the moment.