Evaluating the 2026 MLB Betting Market
Baseball is back! With Opening Day on the horizon, it’s time to look at the betting market from a New York Mets point of view. Where can we find the best value? Which players have the best chance to win any of the individual awards? Let’s take a deeper look!
All Odds Presented By FanDuel
WORLD SERIES
New York Mets (+1300): Just as they did last year, the Mets enter the 2026 season with the fourth-shortest odds to win the World Series. They only sit behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (+210), the New York Yankees (+1000) and the Seattle Mariners (+1200). Good value is certainly there. Of course, knocking the Dodgers out in a five or seven-game series come October will be a difficult task. But if anyone in the National League is equipped to do so, why can’t it be the Mets? With Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean at the top of their rotation, they have arms to compete with the Dodgers. If one of Kodai Senga or David Peterson can bounce back, a deep postseason run is a very strong possibility.
NATIONAL LEAGUE MVP
Juan Soto (+700), Francisco Lindor (+2200), Bo Bichette (+8000), Luis Robert Jr. (+15000) and Marcus Semien (+20000): The possibility of Juan Soto winning the MVP is very real. He got off to a slow start in 2025. Despite that, he still finished third in MVP voting. With a better April and May, maybe things would have unfolded differently. Soto has also openly talked about his desire to win the MVP this offseason. That only increases my level of confidence in him to actually make it happen. If Shohei Ohtani takes a step back and Soto has a strong second season with the Mets, he will be the guy to end the MVP drought in Queens.
Francisco Lindor at +2200 provides fantastic value, especially when you consider how close he got to winning the award in 2024. My only hesitation revolves around the latest injury he is recovering from. Last month, Lindor underwent surgery to repair a stress reaction in his left hamate bone. That is an injury that has affected other players’ power in the past, at least in the short-term. Not every case is the same, so that could look different for him. If Lindor is close to 100% for Opening Day, he could factor in for the award as well.
NATIONAL LEAGUE CY YOUNG
Freddy Peralta (+2200), Nolan McLean (+5000), Kodai Senga (+10000) and Clay Holmes (+15000):
Freddy Peralta is coming off a career year, one that resulted in him finishing fifth in Cy Young voting. 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA may have been enough to compete for this award in the past, but not in today’s game, certainly with some of the arms the National League has to offer. Peralta is tied for the seventh shortest odds, most notably behind Paul Skenes (+240), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (+500) and Cristopher Sánchez (+650). If Peralta is going to truly be in contention for this award, he is going to have to outdo what he did a season ago in Milwaukee.
If you’re looking for a sleeper pick in this market, Nolan McLean jumps off the page. Don’t be fooled by the discourse following his two outings in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. McLean is one of the most talented young starters out there. He was fantastic down the stretch last season, pitching to a 2.06 ERA over his first eight big league starts. The Mets depended on him, and he delivered. McLean doesn’t have the experience the arms ahead of him have on this list. But if he continues on this trajectory, who’s to say he can’t be in the mix for the Cy Young as a rookie? I love a sprinkle on this.
NATIONAL LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Nolan McLean (+280), Carson Benge (+2200) and Jonah Tong (+6000):
This is where things get very interesting for the Mets. For all the reasons I listed above, McLean is the betting favorite to win Rookie of the Year. A few names are not far behind him in terms of what the odds say, including Konnor Griffin (+400), JJ Wetherholt (+550) and Sal Stewart (+700). If you are looking for value, McLean at +280 isn’t great. That being said, it’s worth looking at if you want to put that in an award winners parlay.
Carson Benge is in a completely different bracket value-wise. With him making the Opening Day roster, the path towards everyday playing time will be there right from the start. Benge played his way onto the roster, slashing .366/.435/.439 with 15 hits and five runs batted in across 46 plate appearances in spring training. If he can contribute at a high level, likely towards the bottom of the Mets order, he could very well be in the running for this award. At +2200, this is another nice value option.
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