2017 MLB Awards Finalists Odds

2017 MLB Awards Finalists Odds

Each of the major MLB award races are down to three finalists. However, based on the odds, the several of them aren’t expected to be very close.

AL MVP

NL MVP

BetOnline has Jose Altuve as a substantial favorite in the American League, though I don’t believe that should be the case. Aaron Judge has a better fWAR and better hitting statistics in most categories other than batting average despite his lengthy second half slump (Judge 2nd half OPS was still .939, Altuve’s was .944.) Houston had a loaded lineup and would have been a playoff team regardless. Without Judge, the Yankees would have been closer to a .500 ballclub. My vote would go for Judge, but I don’t think the voters will have the same opinion.

BetOnline isn’t offering the NL MVP for some reason, but lucky for us we have PaddyPower. This is expected to be one of the closer award races. In fact, arguments could be made for several players who weren’t named finalists. With 59 long dongs, Giancarlo Stanton is favored. He was tied for the NL lead in fWAR with Anthony Rendon, slightly ahead of Joey Votto and over one “WAR” ahead of Paul Goldschmidt. However, Goldschmidt is the only one of the three who made the playoffs if that’s something you care about.

AL Cy Young

NL Cy Young

The Cy Young races both played out almost exactly how they were expected to in the preseason. However, both pitchers who were ranked 2nd in the preseason odds are now favored.

Chris Sale kind of blew it in the AL, but Corey Kluber did everything humanly possible to steal it away from him. Halfway through the season, Sale was looking like a lock while Kluber was still 20/1 after returning from a month long DL stint. After Kluber came off the shelf, he pitched like freaking ’99 Pedro Martinez, eventually overtaking Sale in ERA and several other statistical categories.

The NL Cy Young race of Kershaw vs. Scherzer lived up to the hype, even with Kershaw missing several starts. Though Kershaw holds the edge in several categories, it would be tough to not give the award to Scherzer, who logged 25 more innings.

AL ROY

Player	11/8 (BetOnline)
Aaron Judge	-10000
Andrew Benintendi	+3300
Trey Mancini	+10000

NL ROY

Player	11/8 (BetOnline)
Cody Bellinger	-10000
Josh Bell	+5000
Paul DeJong	+5000

Rookie of the year odds are never posted before the season…I guess the books are afraid. If there were odds, I’m sure Andrew Benintendi would have been the preseason favorite. Though Benny Biceps put together a fine season, Judge’s monster season has guaranteed at least the Rookie of the Year award, if not MVP. He posted several rookie records, most notably home runs and walks.

The NL Rookie of the Year race was also a runaway. Cody Bellinger’s 39 home runs in Los Angeles would’ve been much more impressive any other season, but he was kind of overshadowed due to Judge. Thanks for showing up Josh Bell and Paul DeJong, but you have about as much of a chance as I do to win this award.

AL Manager of the Year

Manager (TEAM)	11/8 (BetOnline)
Paul Molitor (MIN)	-225
AJ Hinch (HOU)	+275
Terry Francona (CLE)	+500

NL Manager of the Year

Manager (Team)	11/8 (BetOnline)
Torey Lovullo (ARI)	-165
Dave Roberts (LAD)	+170
Bud Black (COL)	+500

This award probably provides the most value on the plus money dogs because voters will have different approaches on how to vote. Should the manager of the best team win or should a manager of an overachieving team win?

Both favorites managed teams that were expected to have losing seasons, but made the playoffs. I think that if I were to throw a few bucks down on any of these six names, it would be Bud Black. The Diamondbacks overachieved, but the Rockies did, too. Black also did a great job of managing several young pitchers at Coors Field, which is never an easy task. At +500, Black is a good longshot in my opinion.

This is probably the last MLB post you’ll see in a while. Have a good hot-stove season and get ready for props and futures in the spring!