Spring training is in full swing, the World Baseball Classic looms, and Opening Day will soon follow.
We're looking ahead toward the various award races, including the American League and National League MVPs. Unsurprisingly, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are leading the pack, but there may be value further down the board.
Below, I analyze the AL and NL MVP MLB odds for the 2026 season and explain why Wyatt Langford and Jackson Merrill are excellent sleeper options for your futures predictions.
Odds to win 2026 AL MVP
| Player |  |
|---|---|
 Aaron Judge |
+225 |
 Bobby Witt Jr. |
+550 |
 Cal Raleigh |
+850 |
 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. |
+1300 |
| Julio Rodriguez |
+1300 |
 Nick Kurtz |
+1500 |
 Jose Ramirez |
+1500 |
 Gunnar Henderson |
+1600 |
 Roman Anthony |
+1700 |
 Junior Caminero |
+2200 |
| Pete Alonso |
+2200 |
 Yordan Alvarez |
+2500 |
| Jeremy Pena |
+2500 |
| Cody Bellinger |
+3000 |
 Corey Seager |
+3000 |
| Carlos Correa |
+3000 |
 Zach Neto |
+4000 |
| Wyatt Langford |
+4000 |
 Byron Buxton |
+4000 |
| Alejandro Kirk |
+4500 |
| Adley Rutschman |
+4500 |
 Tarik Skubal |
+5000 |
Odds from DraftKings, one of our best betting sites. Sign up with our DraftKings promo code, or get one of our other sportsbook promos.
Odds last updated on 2-25.
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Odds to win 2026 NL MVP
| Player | |
|---|---|
 Shohei Ohtani |
-125 |
 Juan Soto |
+750 |
 Ronald Acuña Jr. |
+1200 |
 Fernando Tatis Jr. |
+1600 |
 Alex Bregman |
+1900 |
 Elly De La Cruz |
+2200 |
 Bryce Harper |
+2200 |
| Kyle Tucker |
+3000 |
 Ketel Marte |
+3000 |
| Kyle Schwarber |
+3000 |
 Paul Skenes |
+3500 |
 Rafael Devers |
+4000 |
| Pete Crow-Armstrong |
+4000 |
| Mookie Betts |
+4500 |
| Manny Machado |
+4500 |
 Jackson Chourio |
+5000 |
Odds last updated on 2-25.
MLB MVP futures bets
Before Opening Day, I don't like to focus too much on the chalk picks. There's no real value in betting on Shohei Ohtani at -125 or Aaron Judge at +225. Feel free to disagree, but both players have some injury history, and even if they didn't, I don't want to invest too much before a regular-season pitch is thrown.
And this way, if either Judge or Ohtani comes storming out of the gates, I can abandon the market entirely or invest differently as more information comes in. For now, I like to target a couple of players who are a little further out on the fringes with upside.
Check back as the season progresses for more MVP picks, as I update my analysis as the data flows in.
| Bet | Odds | Bet date | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wyatt Langford |
+4000 | February 25 | 0.25 |
| Jackson Merrill |
+5500 | February 25 | 0.25 |
The Texas Rangers raced outfielder Wyatt Langford through the minor leagues after selecting him fourth overall out of Florida in 2023. He was a polished college hitter, and while the major-league results are a tad underwhelming so far, he's an appealing option to break through in 2026 and reach the highest plateau.
He is a legitimate five-tool talent, not unlike Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony. The difference is Anthony is +1700 entering his second season (first full year), while Langford is +4000 entering his third. I expect Langford to take strides in his strikeout rate, which was a high but not catastrophic 26.4% last season. He doesn't have a history of high K%, and we shouldn't expect it to be the norm now.
Langford also rips the shit out of the ball. He ranked in the 87th percentile in barrel rate, 82nd in average exit velocity, 81st in hard-hit rate, and 90th in walk rate. He has patience and makes good, hard contact with consistency. He also plays strong outfield defense and was in the 88th percentile in sprint speed. A 40-40 season isn't the craziest outcome to consider.
On the National League side of things, San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill was just shy of winning Rookie of the Year in 2024, and expectations were sky-high. But injuries limited him to 115 games, and he stole only one base after swiping 16 as a rookie. He also saw his strikeout rate spike from 17% to 22.4%. As with Langford, we can anticipate positive regression based on past performance in the minors.
He was still an above-average hitter (116 wRC+, 3.0 FanGraphs WAR), but it was a step down. His expected slugging was still in the 86th percentile, and he lifts the ball at an elite level, rarely hitting grounders. If he can push his hard-hit rate and exit velocity back to where they generally sat in 2024, a much better outcome is in the cards.
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Previous MVP winners
Here are the last 10 winners of the AL and NL MVP Award, with Shohei Ohtani leading the way as a four-time winner, with two in the AL and two in the NL. Only Frank Robinson has also won MVP awards in both leagues.
Barry Bonds holds the record for most MVP awards (seven)
The New York Yankees have won the most MVPs in MLB history with 25, while the St. Louis Cardinals are second, leading all NL teams, with 21. No player for the Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets, or Tampa Bay Rays has ever won MVP.
Previous AL MVP winners
| Year | American League Winner |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Aaron Judge |
| 2024 | Aaron Judge |
| 2023 | Shohei Ohtani |
| 2022 | Aaron Judge |
| 2021 | Shohei Ohtani |
| 2020 |  Jose Abreu |
| 2019 | Mike Trout |
| 2018 | Mookie Betts |
| 2017 | Jose Altuve |
| 2016 | Mike Trout |
Previous NL MVP winners
| Year | National League Winner |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Shohei Ohtani |
| 2024 | Shohei Ohtani |
| 2023 | Ronald Acuna Jr. |
| 2022 |  Paul Goldschmidt |
| 2021 | Bryce Harper |
| 2020 | Freddie Freeman |
| 2019 | Cody Bellinger |
| 2018 | Christian Yelich |
| 2017 |  Giancarlo Stanton |
| 2016 |  Kris Bryant |
Popular MLB futures markets
- MLB World Series odds
- MLB Cy Young odds
- MLB Rookie of the Year odds
- MLB playoff odds
- MLB HR title odds
MLB MVP odds explained
Most sportsbooks will display odds in the American format as listed above. When Goldschmidt ran away with the MVP award in 2022 his odds had a minus (-) sign ahead of the number for a large part of the season.
- Paul Goldschmidt -6000
That means that a bettor in August had to wager $6,000 to win $100 by betting on Goldy to win MVP. Before the season starts, almost every player will have a plus (+) sign ahead of their odds.
- Shohei Ohtani +200
That means a bettor would have profited $200 for a $100 wager on Ohtani before the season started.
If American odds aren't your thing, simply use a tool like our odds converter to switch the odds to decimal or fractional format. Most online sportsbooks also give you the option to change the odds format that you see.
MLB MVP FAQ
Yankees OF Aaron Judge is back in front now that he's off the IL.
Los Angeles Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani is the betting favorite to win NL MVP.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge won his second AL MVP trophy after hitting 58 home runs with a .322/.48/.701 slash line.
Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani became the first pure DH in MLB history to win an MVP.
Of the 33 players to have multiple MVP trophies, Barry Bonds is far and away the leader with seven. Ten other players have won three and no one besides Bonds has won more.
AL and NL MVP awards are typically announced in mid-November after the World Series has been played. The 2023 awards were announced on November 16.
Since 1931, members of the Baseball Writer's Association of America (BBWAA) have submitted ranked ballots. Two writers from each MLB city vote for the awards in their respective league.
