MLB MVP 2021: Final Odds and Predictions for AL and NL Awards

Three players from the American and National Leagues are waiting patiently to find out who will be named the Most Valuable Player of both leagues. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Shohei Ohtani and Marcus Semien in the AL and Bryce Harper, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the NL were named MVP finalists last week. 

All of the finalists have to wait until November 18 for the winners to be announced. The MVPs will be named on the last day of Major League Baseball's award week. 

Guerrero and Ohtani are viewed as the front-runners in the AL. They did battle throughout the season with monstrous home runs and clutch hits. Semien had a fantastic season, but he may come up short in comparison to the two generational superstars. 

Tatis was the top candidate for NL MVP in the first half of the campaign, but injuries and San Diego's struggles down the stretch hurt his resume. 

Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies did not make the postseason, but the outfielder put forth his best effort possible to lead his team to the NL East title.

Soto's MVP campaign was hurt by the Washington Nationals' trade deadline firesale, but he performed well enough to be in the mix alongside Harper and Tatis. 

The available odds for the MVP races can be found on DraftKings Sportsbook.

American League

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

The prevailing thought process is that the AL MVP is down to Guerrero and Ohtani.

Semien's tremendous season in Toronto is worthy of recognition, but he played second fiddle in most instances on his own offense to Guerrero. 

Guerrero produced better numbers across the board compared to Semien. He hit three more home runs and had nine more RBI than the middle infielder. 

Guerrero also finished with a better batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and OPS than Semien. 

The comparisons get much more difficult when you put Guerrero and Ohtani's numbers up against each other. 

Guerrero finished with 48 home runs, 111 RBI and splits of a .311 batting average/.401 on-base percentage/.601 slugging percentage and 1.002 OPS. 

Ohtani was close behind in some categories. He hit 46 long balls and drove in 100 runs. The left-handed hitter had splits of .257/.372/.592/.965.

The Los Angeles Angels designated hitter holds an edge on Guerrero with 26 stolen bases and eight triples. 

Ohtani's pitching numbers will also be taken into consideration when breaking down the MVP race. He was 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA and 156 strikeouts. 

If the AL MVP came down to two hitters, Guerrero would have the edge, but the uniqueness of Ohtani's skill could push him over the Toronto first baseman. 

Prediction: 1. Ohtani, 2. Guerrero, 3. Semien

National League

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

Harper carries an advantage in a few spots over Soto and Tatis. 

The Philadelphia outfielder led the league in slugging percentage and OPS. He was the only NL MVP finalist to be involved in a pennant race down to the final week of the regular season.

Harper was a driving force in Philadelphia's NL East push. He finished with 35 home runs, 84 RBI, a .309 batting average and 100 walks. 

Soto made a push during August and September, even though the Nationals were well out of any postseason race. 

The left-handed slugger led the majors in walks and on-base percentage. He had 29 home runs, 95 RBI and a .313 batting average. 

Tatis had 42 home runs, but he did not have an edge over either Harper and Soto in a significant amount of categories. 

If you add in San Diego's late-season struggles, Tatis may be lacking the first-place votes required to win MVP. 

Soto was easily the most valuable player to the Nationals after the trade deadline, but he did not create a massive amount of separation between himself and Harper. 

Harper is at a disadvantage in some statistical categories, but you can make a strong argument that the Phillies would not be in the NL East race until the last week if he was not on the roster. 

Harper produced a 1.231 OPS in August and a 1.115 September OPS. He hit 18 home runs and batted over .300 in each of the final two months. 

The late-season surge should have done enough to earn Harper a majority of first-place votes and his second-career NL MVP.

Prediction: 1. Harper, 2. Soto, 3. Tatis

Statistics obtained from Baseball-Reference.