Even though Nevada can’t post odds on voted-upon events like player awards, we thought we’d throw some mock odds out there to give some perspective on where the top contenders might stand on a Vegas board. We’ve also enlisted the help of Sporting News baseball writer Jess Spector for his opinions on the MVP. Jesse does not have an official vote on MLB awards, and while SN editor Justin McGuire and reporter Ryan Fagan do, they are not allowed to disclose their thoughts prior to voting....

MLB odds: Current baseball lines from Vegas The Cardinals have lost six of their past nine games, including a 2-1 defeat to the Mets in 14-innings last night, but still maintain a comfortable 3.5-game lead in the NL Central over the Cubs. The Mets aren’t quite comfortable with their role as a first-place team, with the pre-season favorite Nationals breathing down their necks, but they still hold a one-game lead in the NL East....

MLB odds: Current baseball betting lines Charlie Morton has been impressive in both starts since coming back from hip surgery and takes the mound for Pittsburgh tonight as a -120 favorite over Willie Perez. Morton has been a major contributor of the Pirates’ outstanding 13-game run by winning both his starts and allowing only three earned runs combined over 14 innings of work. His stinginess also contributed to a team ERA of 2....

Check The Linemakers on Sporting News’ odds page for current baseball lines from Las Vegas. Pittsburgh Pirates -127 (vs Chicago Cubs)Francisco Liriano (7-6, 2.92 ERA) vs. Jon Lester (6-8, 3.26 ERA) The NL Central rivals are both in on playoff position, owning the wild-card spots for now, despite playing in the toughest division in all of MLB. The Cubs are red-hot: they swept the Brewers in Milwaukee and are 11-4 in their past 15 road games....

Travis Ishikawa, San Francisco vs. St. Louis, 2014 NLCS, Game 5, 9th innings (Michael Wacha) Magglio Ordonez, Detroit vs. Oakland, 2006 ALCS, Game 4, 9th inning (Huston Street) Chris Burke, Houston vs. Atlanta, 2005 NLDS, Game 4, 18th inning (Joey Devine) David Ortiz, Boston vs. Anaheim, 2004 ALDS, Game 3, 10th inning (Jarrod Washburn) Aaron Boone, New York Yankees vs. Boston, 2003 ALCS, Game 7, 11th inning (Tim Wakefield)...

So of course, he was asked about that again before Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Busch Stadium. MORE: The 10 greatest Cardinals of all time | Postseason schedule “I mean, as a kid growing up in 1964 they were putting a new roof on our house,” Maddon said Friday afternoon, “and these dudes from Weatherly with the Hinkle Brothers were the roofing company, and they were all Yankee fans, and of course, I was a 10-year-old Cardinal fan so I would stand up on that roof every day during the summertime when they were fixing it and give them a hard time about the Yankees vs....

MORE: Full schedule, TV times for MLB playoffs Good. Very good, perhaps. It pales in comparison to Kelly’s post AL wild-card game play, though. That is recycled from Norm’s involvement in the Drake/Meek Mill war of 2015, but it doesn’t matter. Play the hits, buddy!

Los Angeles announced Wednesday it will start 25-year-old Walker Buehler against the Nationals at 8:37 p.m. ET on Thursday on TBS. Buehler gets the nod over three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and 2019 Cy Young contender Hyun-Jin Ryu. The youngster who played his college baseball at Vanderbilt went 14-4 with a 3.26 ERA this season. Of all of the Dodgers starters, he possesses the best fastball averaging 96....

It’s Opening Day, which means we’re in for roughly six months of prognostication about who’s going to win what, who’s going to surprise and who’s going to disappoint. Of course, nobody really knows anything because predicting baseball is mostly a fool’s errand. But it’s always fun, because we all get to look back in October and see just how wrong we were. RIVERA: Meet MLB’s All-Fun Team for 2021...

Every Thursday Sporting News Fantasy will provide a snapshot of the upcoming week’s major league baseball schedule. Weekly leaguers should note how many games each team plays, as well as which players will gain/lose at-bats because of interleague play. Daily leaguers should note first-pitch times and Monday/Thursday off-days. RELATED: Top pickups | 2-start SPs SCHEDULE INFO FOR 5/18-5/24 Teams with five games (6): Pirates, Nationals, Reds, Royals, Twins, Yankees...

Hitters sure do love Coors Field. Padres outfielder Matt Kemp joined the Rangers’ Shin-Soo Choo as players to hit for the cycle in Colorado this season. Like Choo, Kemp capped his feat with a ninth-inning triple in San Diego’s 9-5 win. Kemp started the game with a two-run homer in the first, added a single in the third, then connected on an RBI-double in the seventh. The triple in the ninth drove in Yangervis Solarte, giving Kemp four RBIs on the night....

For decades, MLB produced highlight films and various mini-documentaries that were beloved among baseball fans. Most of them are not easily found today, aside from the occasional bootleg video on YouTube. And though MLB already has lots of cool stuff on its MLB Vault YouTube page and its newly updated, searchable video archive at MLB.com, there are still many untapped archival possibilities. Classic games, forgotten gems, blooper videos, team documentaries and more are probably just sitting on a server or in a warehouse somewhere, and that’s not good for anyone....

New York was reportedly looking to add at least one starter before the trade deadline and had been linked to Tanner Roark, Trevor Bauer, Madison Bumgarner, Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Robbie Ray, Marcus Stroman and Mike Minor. But, the Yankees failed to come away with any of those players and instead made just one move — acquiring minor leaguer Alfredo Garcia from the Rockies in exchange for Joseph Harvey....

Smith, a 2013 first-round pick, is one of New York’s top prospects and has flashed his potential during a few brief stints in MLB. The 23-year-old first baseman, however, has been passed on the team’s depth chart by young star Pete Alonso, which could lead the Mets to consider trading him. “He is certainly a player other teams will target,” an unnamed talent evaluator told MLB.com recently. “There will be a substantial market for Smith....

Given the organization’s approach, it makes sense that a cornerstone player such as second baseman Chase Utley wants to stick around. Utley was asked Monday by MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki if he would agree to waive his no-trade rights if the Phils decided to start over. Utley doubted it would come to that. “Well, you’re creating situations that aren’t necessarily going to happen,” Utley told Zolecki. “I guess we’d have to see at that point, but I don’t plan on going anywhere....

We all remember the 2014 Royals, 48-50 after a loss on July 21 and eight games back in the American League Central, storming back to take the division lead in mid-September before settling for a wild card, then rolling through the American League playoffs to win the pennant before losing a heartbreaking seven-game World Series. These teams are the reasons that you don’t want to give up in baseball, because if there is talent on your roster that has underperformed, a late spark can make all the difference....

While the Yankees just missed out on Japanese super-star Shohei Ohtani, they did land another big fish, reeling in reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton in a trade with the Miami Marlins. The trade, in addition to the Marlins’ deal with the Mariners sending Dee Gordon to Seattle and their trade with the Cardinals to off-load Marcell Ozuna confirms months of speculation and rumors: the Marlins are in “Everything Must Go” mode....

New York may want outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Red Sox in exchange for the 25-year-old right-hander, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported Tuesday during an appearance on “Get Up!” Olney added (via NBC Sports Boston): But, a deal between the two teams is unlikely, according to multiple reports, including The Athletic. The Mets acquired Diaz, along with Robinson Cano, in exchange for two top prospects — Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn — and other pieces in the offseason....

Kansas City is focused on trading outfielder Billy Hamilton, reliever Jake Diekman, first baseman Lucas Duda and right-hander Ian Kennedy before the July 31 deadline, according to a report from MLB.com, which cites an unidentified league source. The Royals already completed a pair of deals this week as they sent catcher Martin Maldonado to the Cubs and Homer Bailey to the Athletics. Diekman, 32, holds a 4.97 ERA in 44 appearances this season while Kennedy, 34, a former starter, has recorded 14 saves and a 3....