It’s All About the Dodgers
Los Angeles Running Away with NL West
Go against the Dodgers in any marketplace at your own risk. LA has opened a massive lead in the NL West, where every other team is struggling to see .500. What on earth has happened to the Padres?
The Dodgers are +200 in World Series betting odds. The Padres are now +5500. You get the idea there aren’t many who think NL West teams are going to menace LA in the postseason.
The Atlanta Braves got their act back together against the Mets, and they sit as the second choice when it comes to National League teams in baseball World Series odds. Atlanta is +1000. Hot on the Braves’ tail in the NL East is Philadelphia. If you got in on the Phillies when they were awful, good for you.
Their current MLB odds to win World Series are +1200. That is probably about a third of where they were when Rob Thomson was fired, and Don Mattingly took over.
The bigger picture comes with the other NL teams when it relates to the Dodgers. The Brewers are +1100 in MLB futures. It can be argued that three or four other teams in the NL are better than any team in the American League.
The problem for those is that only one NL team gets to the World Series and will face an AL team that may not be as strong as the competition the Dodgers face in the NL playoffs.
The key to making MLB futures bets on anyone in the NL has to be factoring in whether you are getting the actual value you deserve because it will be such a gauntlet to get to the World Series, let alone win it.
Rays Looking Like Value in the AL
The Yankees continue to be the AL choice in future odds MLB. Play them at your own risk at +550. This is a team that has fallen on hard times and is now languishing behind the Rays in the AL East. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is +1600. This is where the challenge is: Figure out what team will make it through the postseason to represent the AL in the World Series.
Yes, it is mano-a-mano, best-of-seven, but the Dodgers figure to be heavy chalk no matter who comes out of the AL. Guessing and betting on the team from the AL to make it to the World Series will be a test … for a different reason. As good as the teams are in the AL, is as moderate as the teams are in the AL. The Rays and Yankees are the teams with strong records in the AL, but the Yankees are faltering.
Does anyone think the White Sox are going to win the World Series. They are battling the Guardians for first in the AL Central. Chicago is +4000 while Cleveland is +3500. Are those odds long enough to risk them winning a seven-game series for the MLB championship? That’s the challenge.
Figuring out where the value is. You can hedge and play different teams in the AL to try and discern which team will come through to get to the World Series. No matter who they play, the team figures to be an underdog.
We are past July 4, and World Series betting odds are spot on with teams that are thriving and nose-diving, except the Yankees. Keep an eye on the Bronx Bombers in this market because if they keep tumbling, their number has to rise.
