Cabrera, Scherzer Favored For Awards
With the Detroit Tigers favored to win the World Series, Triple Crown candidate Miguel Cabrera is currently the bookies’ choice to win the AL MVP award.
Despite sporting only the fifth best record in the American League, the Detroit Tigers remain the bookmakers’ favorites to win the pennant and emerge as World Series champions this season.
On its most recent MLB Futures list, leading sportsbook Bovada has the Tigers at 13/2 to win the Fall Classic, narrowly beating out the National League favorite St. Louis Cardinals, currently sitting pretty with odds of 7/1.
It’s not only the Futures list that Detroit is favored on either. The club also finds itself well-represented on the bookmakers’ shortlist for American League honors, with Miguel Cabrera and Max Scherzer favored to take home the AL MVP and Cy Young awards respectively.
2013 AL MVP Odds
As we head into the second half of the season, Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera continues to have a solid shot at repeating last year’s Triple Crown-winning efforts.
Leading the league in RBIs (95) and batting average (.365), Cabrera is just one category shy of winning an unprecedented second consecutive Triple Crown award. As it stands, the big-time hitter is second in the league in home runs scored (30), but with his prowess at the plate could very realistically be moving up that list shortly.
In addition to the Triple Crown categories, Cabrera is also on course for a career best year in runs, hits, walks, on base percentage, and OPS. This success has seen the 30-year-old installed as the favorite to walk away with MVP honors for a second straight year. Odds of this occurring currently stand at 2/3.
Cabrera won’t have it all his own way though. The player leading the league (and majors) in home runs is Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis. With 37 wall-clearing blasts, Davis has been a revelation this season, leading the Orioles to contention in the ultra-tough AL East.
Davis is second to Cabrera in both RBIs (93) and batting average (.315), meaning the 27-year-old Texan is chasing his own shot at the Triple Crown this year. That in itself is a story and a half.
Max Scherzer is an MVP and Cy Young candidate.
Davis currently has 2/1 odds of winning the AL MVP award.
Outside of the two Triple Crown contenders, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout is third on the bookmaker’s list at 6/1. Trout is hitting .322 with 15 homers and 59 RBIs this season, numbers that don’t quite match those above. Still, if the 21-year-old can somehow get his club to rally – something that looks highly unlikely given the hole it has dug for itself – he could be up for an MVP award for that alone.
Another of Detroit’s standouts also finds himself in the MVP conversation. Pitching ace Max Scherzer (13-1, 3.19 ERA) is currently 25/1 to win the award having finished the first half with just one loss. However, with the bats making noise in the American League, it’s unlikely he’ll get a look in come October.
2013 AL Cy Young Award Odds
Scherzer needn’t spend too much time worrying about walking away without the MVP award; the right-hander is currently favorite to win the American League Cy Young award.
Despite having his unblemished record spoiled by the Texas Rangers heading into the All-Star break, bookmakers like Scherzer’s chances going forward. With Justin Verlander (10-6, 3.50 ERA) and Doug Fister (7-5, 4.02 ERA) not so much struggling as failing to reach the high plateau each has set out in recent years, Scherzer has become the ace of the Tigers’ staff and looking dangerous going forward.
Odds of Scherzer winning the AL Cy Young currently stand at 3/2.
Undefeated Boston Red Sox ace Clay Buchholz (9-0, 1.71 ERA) is currently second on the list with odds of 9/2. The right-hander has been a big part of Boston’s resurgence this season, and with an impeccably low ERA, is sure to remain near the top of this list for the rest of the season.
The AL West triumvirate of Felix Hernandez (10-4, 2.53 ERA), Yu Darvish (8-4, 3.02 ERA) and Bartolo Colon (12-3, 2.70 ERA) round-out Bovada’s top five Cy Young prospects.
Hernandez continues to make the Seattle Mariners a tough team to beat when he takes the mound, and has been assigned 11/2 odds. His teammate Hisashi Iwakuma (8-4, 3.02 ERA) – who is also featured in top 10 at 25/1 – is providing adequate backup in the Pacific Northwest.
Darvish is considered 15/2 to take the award, while Colon – who is enjoying a resurgent season – is 10/1.
The retiring Mariano Rivera is a Cy Young longshot.
Detroit’s Justin Verlander sits just outside the top five at 12/1. Matt Moore (13-3, 3.44 ERA) of the Tampa Bay Rays – the only pitcher other than Scherzer to win 13 games in the majors so far – follows, with odds of 15/1.
New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera (1-2, 1.83 ERA) also finds his name on the list, with odds of 20/1. The All-Star Game MVP has saved 30 games this season, but is very much a longshot. Texas Rangers closer Joe Nathan (1-0, 1.36 ERA) might have something to say about Rivera winning the award, particularly as his numbers are in theory better than the Sandman’s.
More of Bovada’s player props, including NL MVP and Cy Young lists, can be found here.
Bovada’s list of team props can be found here.
