With the 2024 World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers set to begin, the MVP race is a fun market to bet. Juan Soto is the favorite for the Yankees, while Aaron Judge’s struggles make him a less attractive bet. Meanwhile, Anthony Rizzo presents an enticing longshot with huge potential. Here's why Soto and Rizzo are worth considering for your MVP picks.
World Series MVP Pick: Juan Soto (+550)
The first one I like is perhaps the most obvious one, and that is for Juan Soto to win World Series MVP. I’ve talked plenty about why I love the New York Yankees in this series, and one of the most crucial players will be Soto and his unbelievable playmaking. His teammate, Aaron Judge, has better odds to win it than he does at +500. I’m not sure that is entirely accurate when you consider how each has played so far in the postseason.
Judge has really struggled for the most part since the regular season has come to an end, and historically has struggled in the playoffs. This season, he’s batting .161 so far with 13 strikeouts and two homers. Compare that to his regular season, where he batted .322 on the year. In 2022, the last time New York was in the postseason, his average was .139. In fact, in seven seasons where he has played in the postseason, just three of them did he bat over .200. These issues are well known for him, and I can’t back him at these odds to win the MVP award.
However, Soto has been a different story. He’s batting .333 so far this postseason, with three homers and eight RBI. His ability to take walks is also very underrated, as he has seven of them this postseason, and even gets intentionally walked at times because he is so good. He’s only been in the postseason three times, in 2022 with the Padres and in 2019 with the Nationals on the way to a World Series. He is familiar with this big stage and has been here before, and we know of his legendary play that season to help bring a championship to Washington.
If the Yankees do win the World Series as I think they will, Soto to me is the most likely to win MVP.
Longshot World Series MVP Pick: Anthony Rizzo (+12500)
If you want to get a bit nuts with this prop, I think you could do a lot worse than taking Rizzo to win the World Series MVP. The 35 year old veteran has always been the definition of a leader, and was one of the key components to ending the 108 year drought to bring the Chicago Cubs a championship. He may not be the player he once was in Chicago, but he has a ton of postseason experience, and is another Yankee that has played in and won a World Series in the past. That is invaluable when you get on the biggest stage in the game.
This postseason, he has only had 14 at-bats, but he has made them count. He has six hits in those at-bats with a double and two RBI, batting .429. He’s a left-handed bat that has been incredibly reliable in the past and has had numerous clutch moments throughout his career. Perhaps he will have another one in the World Series that can earn him the award. Obviously, this is a longshot at 125/1 odds, but just a sprinkle for some beer or pizza money is certainly worth a play.
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