MLB MVP 2019: Final Odds and Predictions for AL and NL Awards

After a week of trophies being handed out, the 2019 MLB season officially concludes Thursday with the announcements of the AL and NL Most Valuable Player awards. 

This was a particularly interesting year for both prizes. Neither league had a consensus MVP favorite throughout much of the season, and as any good race does, they both lasted until the end of September. 

Let's take a look at all six finalists' odds to win MVP and make a prediction on who takes the prize.

2019 MLB American League MVP Odds and Prediction

Odds

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels: -140 (bet $140 to win $100)

Alex Bregman, Houston Astros: +100 (bet $100 to win $100)

Prediction

The state of the AL MVP race is incredibly telling in that there is a third finalist: Marcus Semien of the Oakland Athletics. But he is such a long shot to win this award that there aren't any odds listed for him. And that makes sense, as this truly is a two-horse race.

In one corner, we have Mike Trout, who has come to be the New England Patriots of the AL MVP award—even though he doesn't always win, he's almost always a finalist. 

For the eighth straight year, Trout was a straight-up megastar for the Angels, setting career highs in home runs and slugging percentage while leading MLB in on-base percentage and the American League in OPS. He's as good as he's ever been, and considering his career history, that is saying something.

However, Trout's injury-shortened season and subpar team performance might make him the bridesmaid once again, this time to Alex Bregman. 

Bregman's numbers do not resemble Trout's—that is much too high a bar for almost anybody—but he had a marvelous season on the best regular-season team in baseball, ranking in the AL top five in categories as luminous as WAR, home runs, and runs batted in. 

The 25-year old's second-half performance was especially notable, as he slugged .338/.463/.671 over 68 games while hitting 18 home runs and drawing 52 walks to just 32 strikeouts. Plus, Bregman moved from third base to shortstop when Carlos Correa went down and added effective defense at the hardest position on the diamond for a good period of time.

Trout shouldn't feel bad that an injury lessens his chances at a third MVP award; history suggests he'll be back in our minds this time next year. But this year, Bregman gets to shine.

Prediction: Alex Bregman

2019 MLB National League MVP Odds and Prediction

Odds

Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers: -200

Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers: +175 

Anthony Rendon, Washington Nationals: +800

Prediction

Now this is an MVP race! Anthony Rendon is coming off a career-best season and raked the ball in the playoffs on his way to a World Series title, yet as the odds suggest, he is in a distant third place here. 

This is almost definitely either going to Cody Bellinger or Christian Yelich, and there's a great case to be made for both. Like Trout, Yelich put up goofy numbers this season, leading Major League Baseball in slugging percentage and OPS and the National League in batting average and on-base percentage. He was even perhaps on pace to win the coveted Triple Crown before succumbing to a fractured kneecap in early September.

The Triple Crown may not mean as much as it once did, but his dominance in those statistics confirms what we have all been watching for two years: This is one of the best players in baseball.

But Yelich's path to repeat is blocked by Bellinger. A former Rookie of the Year, Bellinger fell victim to a sophomore slump in 2018, but reemerged on the scene with a vengeance in his third season. He put up career highs in home runs, runs batted in and most other relevant slugging categories, not to mention leading all of Major League Baseball in WAR.

The Los Angeles Dodger also combined a deadly bat with outstanding outfield defense, recently picking up his first Gold Glove, and played all 162 games, a rarity in this day and age.

In a down year, Yelich might have been able to win this award despite missing the last three weeks of the season. But with such a formidable opponent in the race this year, he will take a back seat for now.

Prediction: Cody Bellinger

Odds via Sports Betting Dime.