2024 New York Yankees futures odds: Can the Yankees win the AL East? Juan Soto, Aaron Judge MVP odds
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Despite scuffling to an 82-80 record last season and the fact they toil in a tough AL East, there is plenty of optimism surrounding the Yankees ahead of the 2024 season.
Let’s examine New York’s chances of finishing atop the division, as well as the odds of either of the two biggest reasons for the hype surrounding the Bronx Bombers – Juan Soto and Aaron Judge – snagging MVP honors.
It’s been a long time since the Yankees went into a season with tempered expectations, and as alluded to above, last year’s struggles aren’t forcing much of a reevaluation of the team’s prospects.
Naturally, the acquisition of Soto, and to a lesser extent, the arrivals of Alex Verdugo and Marcus Stroman, are helping fuel the optimism. So too are the expectations that both Giancarlo Stanton and Carlos Rodon can revert back to previous form, as well as that Gerrit Cole can continue his usual run of excellence.
New York’s World Series odds – which reside in the +800 to +1000 range as of March 1 – are even notably shorter than those of division mates like last year’s AL East darlings, the Orioles (as long as +1500), the Blue Jays (+2000) and the Rays (+3500).
The first two clubs finished with 17 and seven additional wins, respectively, than the Bronx Bombers a season ago, and both figure to be serious threats again. Baltimore’s recent acquisition of Corbin Burnes could especially be a game-changer, especially if the O’s bats are able to prove last season wasn’t a fluke.
Therefore, while the Yankees have reason to feel good, gone are the days where their lineup outpaced the rest of the division by a significant margin. Naturally, the price isn’t bad here by any stretch, but New York does have enough question marks attached to make this less than a high-confidence wager.
Never mind that Judge has conceded he’ll probably have to manage some degree of pain in his toe for the remainder of his career – oddsmakers and the betting public don’t seem to doubt the prodigious slugger’s ability to power through and continue to offer standout numbers.
Judge’s talent and body of work support the notion, with the fact he managed to still slug 37 homers in only 106 games a year ago the latest evidence that faith could well be justified.. Nearly half those round trippers, 18 to be exact, came after his return from a near two-month absence.
If the body holds up, we already know Judge is capable of 50+ homers,100+ RBI and a .300 or better average, all thresholds that would put him in the driver’s seat for MVP honors in any given year.
Judge snagged the award in 2022 with Stanton in the first season of what is now a two-year funk and without Soto in the same lineup. If the former can get back to even half the hitter he previously proved to be and Soto delivers his usual numbers, Judge could undoubtedly be more than enough of a beneficiary to soar to another MVP.
That said, oddsmakers don’t seem to think there’s that much less of a chance of the reverse being true – Soto thriving in his latest new environment and reaping the rewards of sharing a lineup with a player the caliber of Judge, to the extent he puts up career-best numbers.
There was about a season’s worth of time within the last two years where Soto seemed to have lost some of the luster he’d acquired during his stellar Nationals career. The richly talented outfielder struggled upon his much-heralded trade to the Padres midway through 2022, and he was just “okay” by his standards during the first half of 2023 (.265 average, .898 OPS, 15 homers, 47 RBI).
However, the post-All-Star-break period of the ‘23 campaign saw Soto seemingly return to his usual level of prominence, producing a .286 average, .966 OPS, 32 extra-base hits and 62 RBI across 72 games.
As a left-handed hitter playing half his games in Yankee Stadium, Soto could see a nice bump in his already impressive power numbers – he’s coming off having slugged a career-high 35 homers last season, with 12 of those at a pitcher-friendly home field of Petco Park.
With Judge likely to hit directly behind him on most days and a chance to face more pitchers that aren’t as familiar with him as many NL arms are, Soto is worth taking a stake on at this price.
