The history of World Series MVPs is littered with legends: Yoshinobu Yamamoto in 2025, Stephen Strasburg in 2019, Manny Ramirez in 2004 and as far back as Don Larsen in 1956. Bob Gibson won after throwing three complete-game shutouts in 1967. Reggie Jackson hit five home runs in 1977, including three in Game 6.
David Freese hit the game-tying triple in the ninth and the walk-off home run in the 11th in Game 6 in 2011. This year, the Fall Classic's hero will come from either the Milwaukee Brewers or the Tampa Bay Rays, two franchises vying for their first World Series title. The names are just as talented, though perhaps not as famous: aces like Jacob Misiorowski and Drew Rasmussen, sluggers like Jackson Chourio and Junior Caminero.
Will one of them join the vaunted list? Or will someone else step up and shine under the brightest lights of October? Here are your CBS Sports MLB experts' predictions for World Series MVP, plus odds.
Mike Axisa: Aaron Ashby had a case for NLCS MVP. He threw 6 ⅔ scoreless innings in three appearances during the four-game sweep of the Dodgers. Brewers manager Pat Murphy leans on Ashby so much -- SO MUCH -- that I can see him throwing something like nine innings in the World Series, which would be an enormous workload for a reliever.
Ashby is so good and he's going to be asked to get the biggest outs of the game multiple times in the series. A reliever has not been named World Series MVP since Mariano Rivera in 1999. The stars are aligned for Ashby to end that drought this year.
Kate Feldman: If the Rays are going to win this thing, they're going to do it on the back of Junior Caminero and, well, that's usually the guy who wins MVP. The 23-year-old star is not just one of the most fun players to watch in MLB -- he's also one of the best. He's hitting just .273/.351/.455 in the playoffs this year, but he heated up in the back end of the ALCS: 4 for 12 with a double, a home run and 3 RBI.
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