The Cubs won the NL Central in 2020, but their playoff run ended quickly.
And with Theo Epstein stepping down from his role atop the baseball operations department, the future of the team and the Cubs' championship core is in flux.
And while different Cubs players have fought through their own struggles in their own various ways since that championship run, they still have some high-level, MVP-caliber players.
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Not surprisingly, when PointsBet sports book recently released odds for 2021 NL MVP award it included some familiar names:
| Player | Odds |
| Mookie Betts | +500 |
| Christian Yelich | +700 |
| Ronald Acuña Jr. | +750 |
| Cody Bellinger | +800 |
| Freddie Freeman | +800 |
| Fernando Tatís Jr. | +1000 |
| Juan Soto | +1000 |
| Nolan Arenado | +1000 |
| Bryce Harper | +1200 |
| Ketel Marte | +1400 |
| Trevor Story | +2000 |
| Eugenio Suarez | +2000 |
| Kris Bryant | +2000 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | +2000 |
| Pete Alonso | +2500 |
| Jacob deGrom | +2800 |
| Manny Machado | +3000 |
| Rhys Hoskins | +3000 |
| Marcell Ozuna | +3000 |
| Corey Seager | +3500 |
| Javier Báez | +4000 |
Odds provided by our partner, PointsBet.
Kris Bryant and Javier Báez have been the focal point of MVP conversations on the north side in recent years. Bryant won the award in 2016 and Báez finished as a runner-up for the award in 2018.
MLB
Bryant has the better odds between the two at +2000 ($10 bet wins $200). Of the players with odds, Báez's +4000 ($10 bet wins $4000) are the longest before the field.
Ian Happ is not on the odds list, but he did earn an MVP vote this past season. Could he be a dark horse contender for the award in 2021 if he improves on his play from a shortened 2020-season.
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