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2024 World Series MVP Odds and Predictions

We’re nearing the end of October and for baseball fans that means one thing – the start of the World Series.

There aren’t any surprises in terms of which teams will be competing in this year’s Fall Classic as we’ll get to watch the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers battle it out for the Commissioner’s Trophy – two of the MLB’s top clubs during the regular season.

Recent MVP Winners

However, the beauty of the World Series is that we often see unsung heroes step up to the plate – literally and figuratively – to help their team win the MLB’s ultimate prize. That’s where the World Series MVP Award comes in.

The World Series MVP Award, now known officially as the “Willie Mays World Series MVP Award,” has been handed out since 1955 to the player deemed to have the most impact on his team’s performance in the World Series. Editors of Sport Magazine originally gave out the award but is now voted on by a committee of reporters and officials during the final game of the World Series.

On September 29, 2017, the award was renamed in honor of Willy Mays and in remembrance of his famous catch with the New York Francisco Giants during Game 1 of the 1954 World Series.

Corey Seager of the Texas Rangers earned the honor last fall, while Stephen Strasburg of the 2019 Washington Nationals is the only pitcher to be named World Series MVP in the past nine years.

2024 World Series MVP Odds

Here’s how the World Series MVP odds shake out ahead of the 2024 Fall Classic, per BetUS:

Player	World Series Odds	Player	World Series Odds
Shohei Ohtani	+220	Aaron Judge	+400
Juan Soto	+450	Mookie Betts	+850
Giancarlo Stanton	+850	Max Muncy	+850
Kiké Hernandez	+2200	Teoscar Hernandez	+2200
Tommy Edman	+2500	Gleyber Torres	+3000
Freddie Freeman	+3000	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	+4000
Will Smith	+4000	Jack Flaherty	+5000
Carlos Rodon	+5000	Austin Wells	+6000
Yoshinobu Yamamoto	+6000	Anthony Volpe	+10000
Anthony Rizzo	+10000	Luke Weaver	+10000
Walker Buehler	+10000	Gavin Lux	+12500
Michael Kopech	+15000	Blake Treinen	+15000
Jasson Dominguez	+15000	Clay Holmes	+15000
Landon Knack	+20000	Clarke Schmidt	+20000
Chris Taylor	+20000

One of the biggest storylines heading into the 2024 World Series is the head-to-head matchup between Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani, who are already the leading candidates for the regular season MVP award in their respective leagues.

Ohtani has continued his dominance into the postseason, notching 12 hits, three homers and 10 RBI through 11 games up to this point, including a hit and an RBI during the Dodgers’ NLCS-clinching win against the Mets.

Yankees and Dodgers MVP Hopefuls

While the Yankees find themselves in the World Series for the first time since 2009, you could argue that Judge has not been the club’s top performer leading up to the Fall Classic.

Despite his dip in performance this postseason, you’ve got to respect Judge’s ability to break out at any moment. His MLB-leading 58 home runs and 144 RBI are two big reasons why he remains the Yankees’ most likely recipient of the World Series MVP award.

Outside of Ohtani and Judge, there are plenty of others who have made their case as players to watch out for as potential World Series MVPs.

What the Oddsmakers Think

Shohei Ohtani comes into the Fall Classic as the odds-on favorite to be named World Series MVP, sitting at +225 at BetOnline and Sportsbetting.ag, +220 at BetUS, or +200 at Bovada and MyBookie. The fact that the Dodgers are considered favorites across the board according to World Series odds certainly plays into Ohtani’s line as he’s the best player on the team that every book is expecting to win.

Aaron Judge slides in behind Ohtani at +500 at BetOnline and Sportsbetting.ag, +450 at Bovada, and +400 at MyBookie and BetUS.

The first thing that stands out to me is that a position player has won the award in eight of the past nine years, so pitchers are generally out of the question. Digging deeper, the World Series MVP has had +1,500 odds or longer in seven of the past nine years – with Corey Seager being the only exception at +475 in 2023 and +800 in 2020.

Who Will Win World Series MVP?

With that in mind, I’m looking past the pitchers as well as the obvious choices like Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge.

Based on his performance in the ALCS, I’m a big fan of taking Giancarlo Stanton as World Series MVP at +850. Stanton’s five home runs rank first among all remaining players while his 11 RBI trail only Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman, who both have 12.

Stanton has been a consistent force throughout the postseason, collecting at least one hit and one RBI in seven of his nine appearances, so he’ll almost certainly be in the mix if you believe the Yankees will win.

Shifting over to Los Angeles, Edman makes for a sweet longshot pick, coming in at +3,300 at Bovada. Unlike the more consistent Stanton, Edman really exploded in the NLCS where he picked up 11 of his 12 RBI – four of which came in the series clincher.

The outfielder has been batting fourth or fifth for the Dodgers behind Ohtani and Mookie Betts, so he should have ample opportunity to keep piling up the RBIs.

Betts should also get a shoutout as a more straightforward pick for the favored Dodgers, coming in at +900 at MyBookie. The former Red Sox star has 62 career RBI against the Yankees – tied for his most versus one club in the regular season – and obviously has plenty of experience playing at Yankee Stadium.