Few states in America have the connection to the National Pastime that California does, with four franchises calling the most populous state in the nation their home, including the reigning World Series champions in Los Angeles.
Between the 2025 preseason World Series favorite L.A. Dodgers (who hold +300 odds of repeating on DraftKings Sportsbook across California sports betting) and teams in the middle to bottom of the MLB pack like the Los Angeles Angels, Sacramento Athletics and San Francisco Giants, there’s no shortage of hardball in California.
That got us at BetCalifornia.com thinking about which MLB teams have seen the most MLB awards, whether it be the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, MVP or Manager of the Year, with California teams well represented on the list in both leagues.
Rank | Team | Total |
1 | Los Angeles Angels | 11 |
T2 | Cleveland Guardians | 10 |
T2 | Tampa Bay Rays | 10 |
4 | Detroit Tigers | 9 |
T5 | New York Yankees | 8 |
T5 | Oakland Athletics | 8 |
Thanks to the larger-than-life exploits of outfielder Mike Trout and the former presence of Shohei Ohtani, the Angels have the most awards of any AL team since 2000, with 11, as Trout has won three MVPs in the AL (2014, 2016 and 2019), while Ohtani won two in 2021 and 2023.
Overall, the Halos ranked ahead of other AL franchises like the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays (10 awards each), Detroit Tigers (nine awards), New York Yankees and A’s (eight awards each), illustrating how much of an impact two generational talents can have on a franchise.
Rank | Team | Total |
1 | San Francisco Giants | 11 |
T2 | Atlanta Braves | 10 |
T2 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 10 |
T2 | Miami Marlins | 10 |
T5 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 8 |
T5 | St. Louis Cardinals | 8 |
In the Senior Circuit, the team with the most awards since 2000 is the Giants, with 11, posting one more than their rivals from L.A., the Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves, who each have 10 award winners since 2000.
Throw in the Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals, who have produced eight award winners each this century, and you have the full leaderboard in the NL covered, though no franchise has as many accolades of late as the Bay Area’s oldest baseball team.
Of the two teams in the NL that call California home, the Dodgers lay claim to the most recent award winner, as Ohtani added his third MVP honor in Tinseltown last season, his first with the club, bashing a career-high 54 home runs and 130 RBIs for the World Series champs in 159 games played.
USA Today photo by Mark J. Rebilas.
Author
Christopher Boan is the lead writer at BetCalifornia.com, specializing in sports betting issues in the western United States. He's covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
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