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2022 AL MVP odds: Vlad Jr. favored over recent winners Trout, Ohtani

Michael Owens / Getty Images Sport / Getty

It took a season unlike any we've seen in MLB history to prevent Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from winning his first AL MVP award. Oddsmakers don't expect such a hurdle this time around.

The Blue Jays star slugger is the +300 favorite to win the award in 2022 after finishing as the AL runner-up last year. Right behind him is three-time winner Mike Trout (+375) and reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani (+400), whose two-way exploits carried him past Guerrero in an epic race.

Here are the current odds to win the 2022 AL MVP at Barstool Sportsbook:

PLAYER ODDS
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. +300
Mike Trout +375
Shohei Ohtani +400
Bo Bichette +1600
Rafael Devers +1800
Corey Seager +1800
Aaron Judge +2200
Brandon Lowe +2200
Jose Ramirez +2200
Yordan Alvarez +2200
Jose Abreu +2200
Matt Olson +2800
Luis Robert +2800
Kyle Tucker +2800
Jose Altuve +3300
Marcus Semien +3300
Wander Franco +3300
Tim Anderson +4000
Xander Bogaerts +4000
Byron Buxton +4000
Carlos Correa +4000
George Springer +4000
Alex Bregman +5000
Anthony Rendon +5000
Giancarlo Stanton +5000
Mitch Haniger +5000
Salvador Perez +5000
Eloy Jimenez +6000
Randy Arozarena +6000
Javier Baez +6600
Josh Donaldson +6600
Max Kepler +6600
Austin Meadows +6600
Yoan Moncada +6600
Jeimer Candelario +6600
Michael Brantley +8000
Nelson Cruz +8000
Joey Gallo +8000
D.J. LeMahieu +8000
Trey Mancini +8000
Matt Chapman +10000
Yasmani Grandal +10000
J.D. Martinez +10000

Guerrero nearly hit for the triple crown in 2021, finishing third in the AL in batting average (.311) and leading the league in on-base percentage (.401) and slugging (.601). He also clobbered an MLB-best 48 home runs, the most ever by a player 22 or younger, and led all of baseball in runs (123) and total bases (363).

Still, he fell short against Ohtani, who is positioned to build upon his stellar 2021 campaign. The two-way star hit 46 homers while posting a 3.18 ERA with a 9-2 record in 23 starts. He'll almost certainly play both ways again in 2022, but he'll likely have to clear his otherworldly numbers from last year to repeat as MVP.

Don't forget about Trout, the winner of this award in three of the past eight seasons. The last time the Angels star opened at longer than +200 to win MVP was in 2014, when he cashed as a +500 preseason favorite. He's been favored in every year since, though last year's injury-marred season and the emergence of his teammate has knocked him off the perch heading into his 12th MLB season.

There's a big drop off after those three, with Bo Bichette (+1600), Rafael Devers (+1800), and Corey Seager (+1800) the only players priced shorter than +2000. Further down the board is Jose Ramirez (+2200), who finished sixth in 2021 and has three top-three finishes in recent years, and 2020 AL MVP Jose Abreu (+2200) - just ahead of teammate Luis Robert (+2800), whose raw power makes him an intriguing dark-horse candidate.

Keep an eye on a pair of Tampa Bay teammates, too. Former mega-prospect Wander Franco (+3300) looked every bit as good as his No. 1 ranking would suggest in his first season with the Rays and seems destined to win an MVP at some point, if not this season. Teammate Randy Arozarena (+6000) has looked like the best player in baseball at times during the postseason, but the reigning Rookie of the Year is yet to channel that full superstardom into the regular season.

C Jackson Cowart is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on Twitter (@CJacksonCowart) or email him at [email protected].

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