2026 MLB Predictions: RotoWire Staff Picks for MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year
To celebrate Opening Day, I asked everyone involved in our MLB coverage to give me their picks for this year's division winners, pennant winners, World Series winners and major awards winners. I've broken down our picks for each race below, and you can find all 19 sets of responses I received at the bottom of the article.
Yesterday, I published our picks for the divisions, pennants and World Series. This article contains our picks for the award winners. For some of the awards, our answers lined up with the bookmakers' odds, which you can find on our MLB Player Futures pages, but for others, there was some disagreement.
Get in on the MLB action at BetMGM this season using the BetMGM bonus code for a generous welcome offer.
AL MVP Picks
| Player | RotoWire Staff Poll | Best Available Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron Judge | 8 (42%) | +225 (theScore) |
| Bobby Witt Jr. | 5 (26%) | +550 (theScore) |
| Julio Rodriguez | 3 (16%) | +1700 (DraftKings) |
| Roman Anthony | 2 (11%) | +2000 (FanDuel) |
| Junior Caminero | 1 (5%) | +2700 (FanDuel) |
Aaron Judge has won the last two AL MVP awards, and he's the clear favorite according to both the odds and our experts to win a three-peat. That would make him just the third player in MLB history to do so, joining Barry Bonds and Shohei Ohtani. Last year's AL MVP race was a close-fought contest between Judge and Cal Raleigh, but no one on our panel picked Raleigh this year, despite him having the third-best odds (+1100). Instead, Raleigh's teammate Julio Rodriguez, who has three top-10 MVP finishes including a sixth-place finish last year, earned three votes. Bobby Witt Jr., who finished second behind Judge in 2024 and fourth last year, is seen as the second-favorite by both our writers and the bookies. Among the underdogs, 21-year-old Roman Anthony and 22-year-old Junior Caminero both found at least one member of our panel willing to bet on them putting it all together at a very young age and unseating the two-time defending champion.
NL MVP Picks
| Player | RotoWire Staff Poll | Best Available Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Shohei Ohtani | 9 (47%) | -115 (Caesars) |
| Juan Soto | 3 (16%) | +900 (DraftKings) |
| Ronald Acuna Jr. | 3 (16%) | +1200 (Caesars) |
| Francisco Lindor | 1 (5%) | +3500 (BetRivers) |
| Kyle Tucker | 1 (5%) | +4000 (BetRivers) |
| Jackson Chourio | 1 (5%) | +5000 (FanDuel) |
| Pete Crow-Armstrong | 1 (5%) | +5000 (FanDuel) |
Shohei Ohtani has won three straight MVP awards and four of the last five, so it's no surprise that he comes at an incredible -115 price to start the season, which implies that he has a greater than 50 percent chance of winning yet again. Our expert panel didn't go quite that far, but we did come close, with just shy of half of us picking Ohtani to add to his growing trophy cabinet. Juan Soto and Ronald Acuna Jr. have a clear lead on the rest of the pack trying to chase Ohtani down according to both our experts and the odds, but things differ after that. None of our group picked Fernando Tatis Jr. (+1900), Corbin Carroll (+2500) or Elly De La Cruz (+3000), who ranked fourth through sixth on the best NL MVP Odds. Instead, veterans Francisco Lindor and Kyle Tucker as well as young outfielders Jackson Chourio and Pete Crow-Armstrong all earned a single vote.
AL Cy Young Picks
| Player | RotoWire Staff Poll | Best Available Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Tarik Skubal | 7 (37%) | +350 (DraftKings) |
| Garrett Crochet | 7 (37%) | +425 (DraftKings) |
| Cole Ragans | 2 (11%) | +1500 (BetRivers) |
| Hunter Brown | 1 (5%) | +1500 (DraftKings) |
| Bryan Woo | 1 (5%) | +2000 (Hard Rock) |
| Dylan Cease | 1 (5%) | +3000 (DraftKings) |
Tarik Skubal won this award for the second straight season last year, and the bookies have him as the slight favorite to go for a three-peat, a feat that's only been accomplished by Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux. Last year's runner-up Garrett Crochet trails Skubal slightly in the odds but earned just as many votes as Skubal among our expert panel. Jacob deGrom, who ranks third according to the best AL Cy Young odds, failed to earn a single vote from the RotoWire MLB staff, with four other pitchers picking up at least one supporter. Cole Ragans was the only other pitcher to receive multiple votes; his 4.67 ERA last year hid a 2.52 SIERA, making him a strong underdog choice if he can manage to stay healthy. Hunter Brown, Bryan Woo and Dylan Cease picked up one vote apiece.
NL Cy Young Picks
| Player | RotoWire Staff Poll | Best Available Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Skenes | 8 (42%) | +250 (BetRivers) |
| Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 4 (21%) | +650 (DraftKings) |
| Cristopher Sanchez | 3 (16%) | +900 (Caesars) |
| Logan Webb | 2 (11%) | +2000 (Hard Rock) |
| Shohei Ohtani | 1 (5%) | +3000 (DraftKings) |
| Kodai Senga | 1 (5%) | +12500 (Caesars) |
Here we finally have an award where no one is looking for their third straight victory, though both the odds and our expert panel see last year's winner Paul Skenes as the clear favorite. We're in lock step with the books on the second and third favorites for this award, as well, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto edging out Cristopher Sanchez for second place. Logan Webb, who sits tied for fifth in the best NL Cy Young odds, is the other pitcher to earn multiple votes, though none of our writers picked Chris Sale, who has the fourth-best chance according to the bookies. Meanwhile, one of our experts picked Shohei Ohtani to earn his first Cy Young Award, one of the few boxes left unchecked in his career. Yamamoto and Ohtani aren't the only Japanese pitchers to earn votes, though, as one of our writers went way down the board to pick Kodai Senga.
AL Rookie of the Year Picks
| Player | RotoWire Staff Poll | Best Available Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin McGonigle | 6 (32%) | +800 (Hard Rock) |
| Trey Yesavage | 4 (21%) | +1300 (FanDuel) |
| Kazuma Okamoto | 2 (11%) | +600 (DraftKings) |
| Samuel Basallo | 2 (11%) | +1100 (DraftKings) |
| Tatsuya Imai | 2 (11%) | +1600 (FanDuel) |
| Carter Jensen | 1 (5%) | +650 (Hard Rock) |
| Munetaka Murakami | 1 (5%) | +950 (FanDuel) |
| Jacob Melton | 1 (5%) | N/A |
Last year's winner Nick Kurtz was off the radar before the season, as he'd played a grand total of 12 professional games at that point. This year's winner could be off the radar as well, but there are tons of good candidates, with eight different players earning at least one vote from our writers. Kevin McGonigle is our panel's top choice and will get the chance to make his case right away after making the Tigers' Opening Day roster. Last year's breakout playoff star Trey Yesavage earned the second-most votes, but he'll have to shake off the right shoulder impingement that has him opening the year on the injured list quickly if he's to give himself the best shot. The AL race features three experienced pros from Japan in Kazuma Okamoto, Tatsuya Imai and Munetaka Murakami, all of whom earned at least one vote here. One of our experts even went off the board entirely to pick Jacob Melton, who remains just barely rookie-eligible after getting into 32 games for Houston last season but was sent down by the Rays to start the year.
NL Rookie of the Year Picks
| Player | RotoWire Staff Poll | Best Available Odds |
|---|---|---|
| JJ Wetherholt | 6 (32%) | +500 (BetMGM) |
| Sal Stewart | 6 (32%) | +900 (Hard Rock) |
| Nolan McLean | 3 (16%) | +425 (Hard Rock) |
| Konnor Griffin | 2 (11%) | +400 (FanDuel) |
| Bubba Chandler | 1 (5%) | +2000 (FanDuel) |
| Carson Benge | 1 (5%) | +2200 (FanDuel) |
The NL Rookie of the Year race is still wide open, but not quite as wide open as the AL race, at least according to our experts, with six different candidates picking up at least one vote. While Konnor Griffin is the bookies' favorite, he earned just two votes after failing to make the Pirates' Opening Day roster. Nolan McLean is second-favorite according to the books, but he earned just three votes from our panel. Our experts are split between JJ Wetherholt and Sal Stewart for the top spot. Wetherholt will be making his debut on Opening Day after earning a spot with the Cardinals in camp, while Stewart has already shown us what he can do at the major-league level, as he recorded an .839 OPS in 18 games last September.
