Pro Baseball Futures: Ohtani Draws Major Wager for AL MVP

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The first pitch of the 2021 MLB season is just two days away, and many futures markets are up at William Hill Nevada. Let’s take a look at the current American League MVP odds, where there are 65 players listed.

Some stipulations for this market are that a player must play in at least one regular season game for action and there is no minimum amount of regular season games that are needed to be played for action.

A William Hill bettor is hoping that an Angels player can deliver a heavenly payout, but not the one who has already captured multiple AL MVPs.

After opening at 60/1 on Feb. 17, Shohei Ohtani is now tied for the second-lowest AL MVP odds at 15/1 with Alex Bregman and Aaron Judge. Those three trail three-time award winner Mike Trout, who opened as the +200 favorite and has since shifted to +250.

Ohtani slightly dropped to 55/1 on Mar. 11 and then fell even further to 40/1 two days later. He was then displayed at 30/1 on Mar. 16—the price where one Nevada bettor made a significant wager. A $30,000 bet was placed on Ohtani 30/1 to win AL MVP for a total potential payout of $930,000, which is the largest 2021 MLB MVP futures wager taken thus far at William Hill.

After that wager was put down on Mar. 19, Ohtani’s odds resided at 18/1. Then he reached his current 15/1 standing on Mar. 21.

Overall, Ohtani leads the way not just in total dollars wagered at 68%, but also in total number of tickets at 23% among all 2021 AL MVP futures bets at William Hill.

“There’s definitely some Angels love in the futures markets,” said Nick Bogdanovich, Director of Trading for William Hill US. “We get crushed with the Angels for World Series. We certainly don’t want Ohtani to win MVP. But it’s still early. Once the [NCAA] tournament is behind us and baseball starts playing every day, those markets are going to pick up even more.”

There’s also noticeable betting interest on Trout. He ranks second in total dollars wagered at 19%, highlighted by a New Jersey bettor staking $10,000 on Trout +230 for a total potential payout of $33,000.

Trout has also collected 4% of the total number of tickets, along with Judge, DJ LeMahieu (22/1), Tim Anderson (75/1) and Eloy Jimenez. Jimenez’s odds were taken off the board after he ruptured his left pectoral tendon, which will cause him to be sidelined for several months.

Check out William Hill’s latest 2021 AL MVP odds below as well as the betting trends for Shohei Ohtani.

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