Some AL Awards Races Still Have Value

It isn't quite awards season in the world of sports, or even entertainment. Sure, we had the ESPYs yesterday, but those are some of the most pointless awards I've ever seen. Frankly, it is a bit shocking they get as many players as they do to attend the awards. In any case, it made me start to wonder what we should be betting on for awards with half of the MLB season behind us. Let's focus on the American League here.

The MVP race is essentially over. Shohei Ohtani is -800 to win the award, and that number can of course drop, or he could get injured. There are numerous stories written about how amazing he is and how he is potentially the best player ever, so we won't spend a ton of time on him here. Don't take the bet because at this point, you're not getting any type of value. Also, if you needed someone to tell you that with him at -800, you probably shouldn't be sports betting. Are there any people that could sneak up on Ohtani and win? Well DraftKings is offering +500 for any other player to win, which does have some value. Again, Ohtani could get injured, and someone could have an amazing second half. Keep in mind, a lot of writers have recency bias so it is possible a huge second half from a guy like Randy Arozarena or Vlad Guerrero could vault them into MVP consideration. Those are the two guys I could see sneaking up on Ohtani.

Ohtani basically has the MVP award already, so we need to turn to other awards. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

An award that does have some value still is the American League Cy Young. This one doesn't have as clear of a winner. Right now, Framber Valdez is the leader on the board at +200 and he is leading the league in ERA. I'm as big of a Valdez supporter as anyone, but he hasn't been quite as dominant or consistent as he was last year. I couldn't blame you for betting on him, but there are two other guys that I think are better options right now. So who do I think you should take flyers on? Shane McClanahan was my bet before the season and he still has some solid value at +800. He is the best pitcher on one of the best teams in the league. He is second in ERA, but his innings are lower than all but two pitchers in the top 20. His WAR is top 10, top 20 in strikeouts, and is tied for the most wins in the American League. He is worth taking a shot as I do expect him to be one of the three finalists. The other one that I think is of value is Gerrit Cole. Cole is +400 for the Cy Young award right now. He's 9-2 with a 2.85 ERA and leads the Majors in WAR. He also has the second most quality starts in the Majors, tied with Framber Valdez at 13. I'd take both Cole and McClanahan.

As far as Rookie of the Year, I really don't have a great bet here. Currently, Josh Jung is the leader at +120. Not much of a surprise as he's hitting .280 with 19 home runs and 56 RBIs. That would be a good start to a year for the majority of players, especially a rookie. The second favorite is Masataka Yoshida, and you could argue that he has a better year thus far - .316 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs. The edge for Jung is that his team is in the division race. Gunnar Henderson is not someone I'd bet on - 92 strikeouts in 268 at-bats is not clean enough for me. I kind of like Logan Allen as a deep long shot. If he can be the Ace of the Guardians staff and they take the division, I think there is a reasonable shot for him to take the award home. Again, I'm not personally betting on it. If I had to, I'd probably take Yoshida at +250.

The Cy Young, in my opinion, is the one that offers clear paths and good value on players. The Rookies are too hard to judge right now and anyone could come from nowhere to win the award. The MVP award is already won, essentially. So, if you're going to bet on anything, I'd take McClanahan and Cole.

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